Method to Scheduling Posts

By: Akira B.  

Before you begin to schedule posts, you’ll need posts to schedule. Take a quick refresher glance at the last Morning Dew Discussion Art Takes Time and So Should You and then come back here. 

☆ Welcome back to Curiosity’s Corner ☆

Okay! Now that you’ve built your buffer, are you ready to start sharing your posts? If the answer is yes, then we move to our first step: 

Planning Your Schedule

Consider how many pieces of art, cosplay, photography, writing, etc you have saved in your buffer and how quickly you can create a new one to replace it. Let’s use Illustrations as an example. 

Say you spent a month making 5 full illustrations and have five works in progress in various stages. Determine how much is feasible for you to post without depleting your entire buffer in the next three weeks. In this case, let’s say you post consistently once a week, leaving you with two illustrations for next month while you work on your unfinished art to get those to completion. Now, while you have posts going up automatically, you’ll have time to focus on the art you want to make in your ‘queue’.

Unfortunately, I do have to add the addendum that since social media is subjected to the ✨algorithm ✨ it’s probably ‘ideal’ that you post more than once a week, but it’s better to do what’s comfortable and healthier for you. 

Work within your means, not the means of society.

This brings us to the next step: 

Prioritizing When & Where You Post

Not every platform needs to see your posts at the same time! In fact, paid platforms should always get your posts first. Those are the Patreon, Ko-Fi, etc viewers that want to financially support you after all. The rest can be listed in order you’re most to least active in.

Let’s say you have a Ko-Fi, an Instagram, and a Bluesky. Your Ko-Fi gets first priority because, well, again, they’re supporting you financially. Maybe your Bluesky is on the high rise and gaining more followers, so you make that your second priority while Instagram trails in last. This should deter the stresses of trying to post everything everywhere all at once. 

Now here’s where personal intuition comes in. Continuing with our example, do you want your Ko-Fi posts to be every Monday, beginning the week or maybe on a Saturday, when there’s a bit more free time in the day? Same goes for your Bluesky and Instagram. What days do you feel best work with your schedule? 

Let’s say you’ve decided that every Monday you’ll schedule a post for Ko-Fi, Wednesday goes to Bluesky, and Friday is Instagram. And for each one, they’re all scheduled for 12pm, right at the lunch hour. So at the beginning of each month (or the end of it, depending on how you want to swing it) you take the time to schedule a month’s worth of posts without having to actually worry about posting. And all the time that you aren’t posting is now spent, drawing, reposting, retweeting, reblogging, resting, etc. Don’t forget that your art deserves to be shown more than once. Boosting it is not a crime. 

So, what’s next?

Scheduling 

The majority of these platforms actually have built in scheduling systems (including Instagram if you have Meta Business). And the ones that don’t, there are plenty of social media schedulers online that you just have to sift through and see what works best for you. 

The point of all of this is to build a routine. Routines help consistency and when you’re consistent and dedicated, you’re more likely to build a habit out of it. While it may help your viewership successes, it’ll more importantly benefit your mental health and overall relationship with your art. 

Now go forth and make your social media experience even better.

This Curiosity’s Corner won’t provide Catch Sheets for you, however, I recommend you use a planner/calendar that suits your needs in effort to remain organized and efficient in your efforts. 

Happy creating! 

-Akira B.