Communicating is a HUGE challenge for education leaders: listening, sharing, and building support are an ongoing challenge at school and in the community. While it may initially feel like a big investment of time, social media can open doors, leverage time, and build support.

The Getting Smart team lives in social media. We use it to learn, to advocate, and to share innovations in learning. Here are 25 tips on how to quickly ramp up your social media presence and extend your #Edsocial impact:

5 Learning Strategies

Track relevant hashtags on twitter (I use Hootsuite) Use a reader to scan key blogs (I switched from iGoogle to Ustart & Feedly) Like causes/companies and track on Facebook Learn about your audience and growth (we use Sprout Social and Google Analytics) Open a doc for good question you receive; use for future blogs

5 Impact Strategies

Blog at least weekly about what you learn Tweet 5-10/day about what’s catching your attention Follow people doing good work Use hashtags/handles when you tweet Capture contacts in a CRM database for easy sharing

5 Leadership Strategies

Write a weekly staff blast Publish a weekly community blast Make contact information available publically Create multiple points of entry Create opportunities for discussions and feedback

5 Brand-Building Strategies

Use simple crisp graphics Create a clean easy to navigate homepage Add Facebook & Twitter icons to homepage Blog weekly and make it easy to share Keep branding between all channels cohesive

5 Survival Strategies

Carve out learning and sharing hour every morning Don’t obsess the rest of the day Haters will hate; pick your battles Clear your inbox twice daily; flag/prioritize follow ups Turn it all off and go for a walk

Let’s continue the conversation at iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium. I’m leading a social media conversation on Tuesday at 4:30pm. We’ll use #EdSocial.

Tom is a director at iNACOL.