'Consistent' does NOT mean 'constant.'
You do not need to post to Instagram every day.
You don't need to push a podcast episode out, come rain or shine, every single week of the year.
Your business will not collapse if you don't send a newsletter out for a couple of weeks.
To me, being consistent simply means you're on the ball more often than not. It doesn't mean you're on the ball all of the time.
Tune in to this episode to learn:
- Why consistency is pointless without the S word.
- Why you don't always have to be consistent and how to know when you can 'slack off' without breaking your business.
- What happened when I didn't post on Instagram for a whole month.
Click “play” on the podcast player below to tune in!
Resources Mentioned
Transcript
Ok this title may have been ever so slightly click baity because the fact is that consistency with online marketing in particular is important, we all know that.
But consistency is useless without the S word, and i'll explain what that is in a bit.
There are even times in business where you don't HAVE to be as consistent anymore.
So if you're interested in a gentler and smarter approach to consistency, keep listening.
First of all, we need to stop confusing 'consistent' with 'constant'
You do not need to market constantly. You don't need that pressure. When you put that expectation on yourself, you end up feeling like you're on a marketing hamster wheel or a content creation hamster wheel.
To me, consistent simply means you're on the ball more often than not. It doesn't mean you're on the ball every single day.
So pick a marketing schedule that would feel sustainable to you. Something that isn't every day if that's not within your capacity. And don't feel bad about not being able to show up on socials or post something daily - it's rare that anyone with a life and no team can do this. If you can outsource it - great! If not, don't pressure yourself. You'll be consistent with your marketing if it feels sustainable. That's the key to consistency.
You don't always NEED to be consistent.
If you are going through a challenging or busier than normal season of life, don't also add the pressure to be consistently marketing to your already toppling todo list. Same goes for if you're struggling right now with an illness, grief or something else that's hard. If you don't have the capacity to hire out your marketing then give yourself permission to take a break from it or better yet, try to automate it. Or focus only on 1-2 marketing avenues, and pause the rest for now. It can feel scary, but there's peace in believing & trusting that even if say you stop posting on Instagram for a while and it damages your reach, you're resilient and smart enough to build it up again when you're ready.
I haven't posted for a month to Insta because I've been busy with other things, but my insights still show my account engagement is growing and that's just from a post i made a month ago. So I hope that makes it a little less scary to take a break if you need it.
Another time you don't need to be as consistent is when you've built your business and credibility. I remember interviewing Maya Elious years ago and asking her why she stopped live streaming so often and she said, "because I don't have to. I've built my community and my reputation thanks to that, I don't HAVE to live stream much anymore."
Consistency is most important when you haven't built your community, credability, and grown an audience of people who would love to buy anything you offer. So when you've done those things, you can ease off on being consistent with certain types of marketing, like live streaming.
Another time you may not want to prioritize consistency is if you're not in a growth phase. If you are in a season where you just want to focus on nurturing the audience of potential clients that you've already built, you can get clients from that instead of focusing on growth. That might look like nurturing your email list instead of consistently posting to instagram, or asking for referrals and creating a referral program.
Consistency is pointless without strategy.
You can consistently post let's say an IG post every day. But without strategy, those posts will hear crickets. They won't get engagement. And they won't lead to clients.
I see a lot of business owners unsure what they should post and that's where you need to start. Because you can't have consistency without strategy.
Consistency compounds, it builds momentum and helps you grow and get in front of more people.
But strategy is what converts those people to loyal followers and clients. One without the other isn’t as effective.
About Nesha
Hey there! I’m Nesha, 10-year traveling entrepreneur and host of The Simple Business Show. I teach freedom seekers how to make a full-time income online without working full-time hours, so they have the time, location and financial freedom to live the lifestyle they dream of.
Looking for more ways I can help you? Here they are:
Organize & Automate - Join 1200+ students and learn how to organize your entire online service-based business in just two weeks (on the side of your regular routine!) so you can stop stressing and fall back in love with your business.
Simple Sales School - Learn how to get a consistent flow of clients so you can build the income & financial freedom you desire.
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