3 Ways to Stay Consistent

Whether you’re just starting your business or whether you’ve been in business for ages, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “consistency is key” more times you can count. Consistency usually comes touted as one of the main catalysts of successful entrepreneurs. And it sounds easy enough, right? Stay consistent. However, as many a budding (and established!) entrepreneur have discovered, being consistent is one of those things that can often be easier said than done.

This post will give you 3 key ways to stay consistent in a way that works for you, not just by following a script someone else recommended.

So first of all, let’s talk about why consistency is important.

It makes you recognisable.

When you’re consistent, people start to recognise you and remember your message. This keeps you at the forefront of their minds and paves the way for them to become clients.

It positions you as an expert.

When you consistently show up and continue to share your knowledge and message, you position yourself as an expert on that particular topic.

It makes your efforts measurable.

If you’re trying a million different strategies and changing them up every week, it makes it impossible to see what’s effective and what’s not. Being consistent in your strategy (and in showing up) helps you see exactly what’s working and tweak what’s not.

It builds your know, like and trust factor.

Even when it seems that no one is watching, they are. If you’re not receiving much traction on your content, don’t get discouraged. Keep going. There are always people in the shadows who don’t interact, but when you stay consistent, you build that know, like and trust factor, which is the key to a sustainable business and continual growth.

Keep in mind to always keep your ideal client in mind and share intentionally.

Which brings us to how you can stay consistent.

1. Write it down and schedule it.

Write it down.

Did you know that we’re 42 times more likely to achieve our goals if they are written down? We’re more likely to be productive if we’re physically seeing what we need to do instead of just thinking about it. So write it down. Schedule things out. Organisation is going to make your life easier in the long-run for a plethora of reasons, including keeping you consistent.

It’s important to keep in mind that just as you don’t need to have the same goals as anyone else, you also don’t need to follow the schedule of anyone else. You’ve likely heard that it’s imperative to post on social media once per day or send a newsletter once per week or something similar. The list goes on and on. But at the end of the day, what works for someone else’s business may work differently for yours.

Be realistic.

Remember that it’s far more important to create a schedule that feels good to you and that you will stick with. Therefore, be realistic. Setting stretch goals is great, just make sure you can keep up with the schedule you set. It’s much better to get one intentional social media post out per week consistently than planning to do one per day and ultimately not do anything.

Schedule it.

Get clear on when you want to create, share and engage. You can then reverse engineer accordingly and fit these slots into your schedule. Map out how often you will create, share and engage and then schedule it in your calendar.

2. Create consistent content.

As listed above, I recommend three main categories: create, share and engage. This is because we’re constantly needing to create content, share that content and engage with our audience. Doing this on a consistent basis is going to increase your visibility, increase your authority and ultimately, connect you with more clients that convert.

Sometimes we don’t feel like creating content. Maybe we’ve had a bad day or we’re not feeling so hot. But that’s part of staying consistent. Continuing to show up even when we don’t really want to or its not convenient is one key thing that separates success stories from those still busting their tails and not seeing progress.

Batch.
It’s soooo much easier to create content from a place of inspiration than when you’re just slogging through it. One way you can mitigate having to create content when you feel awful is to batch.

Batching can work in many facets of business, but for the purpose of this post we’re going to talk about batching content. Batching is essentially a way to create several different content pieces in one sitting. Maybe you feel especially inspired and content is just flowing out of you. Keep writing. Keep that flow going. Then you’ve created several different pieces and days or even weeks’ worth of content that you can schedule.

Sometimes life happens and unexpected things pop up. When you’ve batched your content and have a solid schedule in place, it’s a lot easier to navigate and continue to stay consistent in spite of curveballs life can throw your way.

Repurpose.
In addition to batching to save time and keep you consistent, you can also repurpose your content. Take snippets of blog posts to create your social media posts or newsletter. Take that live video you did and break it into posts and add it into your queue later on. Whatever platform you prefer to share content on, remember that you can repurpose.

Make a list of content ideas.
Inspiration can hit at random times. An idea for a Facebook live, blog post, podcast topic or more may pop in your head when you’re in the shower, walking your dog, going to sleep or other random times or places. Create a list of content ideas so that you can quickly write down those ideas. You can then refer back to that list when you’re creating your content or stuck for ideas on what to write about.

Consolidate your lists.
You can write these down wherever, but make sure you consolidate your lists. Additionally, you can install apps on your phone like Asana so you’re able to quickly jot ideas into your phone or on your computer when you think of them.

3. Plan ahead and follow through.

Plan ahead.
Many entrepreneurs will set up their schedule on Sunday for the week ahead. If you don’t work weekends, alternatively, you could schedule everything for the following week on Friday or Monday morning. I know I keep saying this, but truly, there is no one-size-fits-all and you’ll find the best fit for you along the way.

If you have an overarching monthly plan, that’s great! Keep it up! Though also spend a few minutes checking in for the following week so you can make necessary tweaks prior instead of as you go.

Follow through.
Perhaps the most important point is this: follow through. A neatly organised schedule and amazing content don’t mean anything unless you’re actually following through.

A goal without a plan is just a dream. And a plan without action won’t take you anywhere fast.

The amount of time you show up, the platforms you use, and the content you share will all be different for you than someone else. Just show up in a way that feels good for you, provides value for your audience and is consistent – whether that means once per day, week or month or some variation in between. If you find that your calendar isn’t working very well, tweak it.

The important thing is to keep showing up, stay consistent, and keep going.