How to stay consistent (without going crazy)?

How to stay consistent (without going crazy)?
By InBusiness

Can I make a confession? One the challenges that I’ve been working through recently, is how to remain consistent.

Being consistent in creating and sharing great content online. Consistency in creating a rhythm with campaigns and marketing. Consistency in systems that make doing business sustainable.

This is my first year in business. It’s been all consuming, all in. It’s always on my mind, there’s never enough time in the day to get through all the things I’d like. And I’m always aware of things I could be doing that I haven’t gotten to yet. 

Why is consistency so hard?

I’m curious what you think… why do you think it’s so hard?

Is it because you’ve got a to-do list longer then you could ever complete? Because you’re focusing so hard on meeting your client’s requirements that you don’t have time to focus on your own brand? Because life gets busy or hectic. And something gets dropped?

Is this just me? Or can you relate?

If yes, and we agree it’s hard and it can happen to anyone — how do we process through it and come out the other side, without giving up? Here are a few thoughts that I had as a bit of “life in practice” kind of thing, and I’m keen to know your thoughts. Jump on social, and let me know how you go.

1. Focus on what you did well

Gosh we’re hard on ourselves sometimes! In truth we’re probably harder on ourselves than anyone else would be on us.

For me, I took stock and thought OK, “what did I do that was OK this month?”

  • I’ve talked with clients.
  • Run workshops.
  • Run events that help to grow my list.
  • Gone to networking events.
  • Worked on my positioning and sales conversations.
  • Completed some training as part of my Kerrie Nairn scholarship for speaking.
  • Had some brilliant mentoring and encouragement.

After I compiled that list I thought, OK. That’s not too bad. How about you? How can you focus on the positives of the last month?

2. Keep up the automation aspects of social media

Automation has definitely helped. The systems that I have set up have worked.

Knowing what my key words were. Knowing what my go-to blog and news sites are. Having a system to scan the sites and my key words. Having a system to schedule that content.

Creating systems and relevant automation will definitely help you to stay consistent. So that when you don’t have time to create your own content, you will still have relevant content to share with your community.

That’s called “content curation”. It means scanning and identifying content that is relevant to your brand and your audience, and then sharing it. It’s helpful to give you credibility on those topics and it helps to serve your audience with useful information.

How I set up this system is the 3 S’s: Scan, Store and Schedule.

Scan: I scan content on Feedly.com (which is a content aggregator – think of it as all your news sites in one). I also set up Google alerts based on my keywords that send me a daily digest email.

Store: I use Evernote to store the useful articles I see.

Schedule: I use Buffer.com to schedule my content.

If you want to get super techy I use a web app called Zapier to automatically share the articles that I like from Feedly.com to populate Buffer (my scheduling account). If you’re interested in this hack, get in touch and I can send you the video of how I did it.

Have you got a social system set up? Want more info? I talk about these tips in detail in a previous blog.

3. Plan to get back in the rhythm

I know that it’s not enough just to create a one-off piece of great content on social media; it needs to be consistent, or it won’t stand out.

I know consistent content is proven to get clicks.

I know creating regular newsletters will build a community.

So if I know it works, why don’t I do it consistently? To answer that, I think we need to examine the root cause of the problem. And do you know what is?

Planning.

Before my Scan, Store, Schedule comes this important word – PLAN.

  • Plan out a content pipeline of blog or newsletter ideas.
  • Even better a content plan that aligns to campaigns or events in your business.
  • Even betterer, being ahead of the game and writing that content so you have a stockpile of content.

So then when life throws a curveball, or a client books you for every waking moment… you’re not thrown off course. Your system works and you stay as consistent as clockwork.

So do you have a plan? Are you looking 12 months, 3 months or 1 month ahead?

Or have you been acting like me recently, and just responding reactively to things on your schedule week to week?

Great time to get a plan going

As we approach the end of the year, it’s a brilliant time to set time aside for planning next year. For dreaming up ideas. For pre-writing content if you have some down time.

Hey, if you’re based in Sydney, maybe you’d like to plan with us? I’m partnering with The Copy Collective’s Maureen Shelley to help businesses to craft up their 2018 marketing and content plan in a 1day workshop. It’s ideal for businesses who know they’d benefit from time and space to knock it out in 1 day, with support and tips to make it the best marketing plan yet. If you’re interested, or know someone who is then I invite you to check it out.

If you’re not in Sydney, drop me a line as we’re recording the content so we can share it.

Planning your content will give you precision and punch. It will help you get a return on your investment, and will ultimately help you achieve the goals you want. So as my bookings slow down over Christmas, I know I’ll be making the most of these next few months to set myself up for the year ahead. When February comes with full force, I tells ya I’ll be ready. 

So… what has Pantene taught us about consistency?

As the wise soapy oracle of Pantene once said – “It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.”

It’s not always easy, yet I know that it’s worth it. It’s a bit like washing your hair – if you let it go unwashed for too long, it goes a bit manky and smelly.

So in the interest of avoiding a smelly, manky brand. I’ll be upping my game, are you with me?

About Kirryn Zerna

Kirryn Zerna is an award-winning speaker, trainer and mentor. Her passion is to help businesses to get the attention they deserve. What’s unique about Kirryn is her broad experience across industry. She draws on over a decade of experience in marketing communications, strategy and social research working with businesses both large (Westpac, Department of Industry, NSW Small Business Commissioner) and small (consulting agencies, small businesses and high profile individuals). Kirryn holds a Bachelor of Management, Masters of Management and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a regular contributor to Smart Company, Inside Retailing and Westpac’s Ruby Connection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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