For those of us who are expanding our businesses online and trying to use online marketing to grow, consistency is often something that is overlooked, even though it’s so important for growth. As we know, there are thousands of online business owners out there trying to make their messages heard, and there are more and more emerging every day. But the truth is, only a small percentage of online businesses actually reach their goal of 6-figures and beyond, while the majority end up getting lost in the noise. 

If you want to stand out, make an impact, and build that freedom-based lifestyle you want, consistency is your key. The great thing about being consistent is that it’s available to ALL of us, no matter what, at all times. I like to use the analogy of going to the gym – we can’t just go once a month and expect to see the results we want – we have to show up consistently and work towards the desired outcome over time in order to truly see progress and results. 

I know that it’s not always easy, and I know there are certain roadblocks we all experience at one point or another. So today, I’m going to breakdown some of the most common pitfalls I see fempreneurs experience, AND share 6 consistency secrets to help you take your business to the next level through online marketing. 

8 Consistency Pitfalls Entrepreneurs Experience

Why do most entrepreneurs get stuck in these common pitfalls that keep us from being consistent? This is what I see most frequently, and what leads to fempreneurs giving up on their dreams. 

• Showing up to a networking event once, then never going again
• Building a Facebook Group then letting it grow cobwebs
• Giving a talk that didn’t quite go as planned and deciding not to do that again
• Consistently changing the way you talk about your offer, or changing your offer
• Changing who your ideal client is
• Creating a Meetup Group but not posting events
• Sending a newsletter once or twice a year
• Visual branding that changes with the seasons or with everything you post

It wasn’t until I got consistent with my brand and figured out how to stay consistent with my offers, my ideal client, and marketing my offers to my ideal client that I truly was able to see success. Through this journey of trying to find my own consistency in my business, I’ve learned several tricks and strategies for staying consistent – so I’m going to share them with you today. 

Get Clear About What You do and Who You do it For

This one may seem like it should be obvious… actually, I almost didn’t even include it in this list because it’s so basic. However, it’s so important that if you overlook it, you won’t be able to serve anyone. If you don’t have this nailed down, then nothing I say in the rest of this blog post is going to make a difference or help you. This is step one – the most important thing you can do for your business. Once you do this, you’ll be able to speak to what inspires your ideal client, solve their problems, meet them where they’re motivated, and truly grow your business.

Streamline Your Marketing Strategies

It’s easy to try to jump on every trend and feel a need to do everything at once. But what’s actually important is to streamline this, choose 1-3 marketing strategies and get good at those before you add others into the mix and try to show up everywhere. For example, focus on your Instagram page and your Facebook Group – then, only after you see consistency and success with those, should you add in more channels and strategies. 

I get it, it can be tempting to want to try it all. And we know that our audience needs multiple touch points to remember us and be motivated to buy. However, trying to tackle all of them and actually ending up doing none of them well is WAY worse than just being in one or two places. Focus on growth in one or two places first, especially if you’re just starting out, then work on expanding after you’ve mastered those. I recommend that whichever you choose to build up first, you choose a high-touch, high-impact platform like Facebook Lives, Youtube, or public speaking opportunities. 

Create Content Categories

As a coach, healer, or online expert, a huge piece of your online marketing is creating content. Content marketing is something that positions you as an expert on your topic and delivers value up front so that your audience can see and trust in your expertise. But, it can be hard to know what to talk about! Thinking about what to post online can be a huge drain on your energy if you don’t have a system in place to do it effectively – it’s so easy to drop the ball here. Trust me, I’ve been guilty of this in the past too. 

Once you choose which online platform you’re going to focus on, define the categories for the types of content you want to post there. For example, you could share: engagement questions, inspirational stories, behind the scenes, client transformations, and how-to's. That way, when you’re creating content, you can stay consistent within your own system and always have something to post. This helps take away the overwhelm and open the door to consistency. 

Plan Ahead

I have found that it’s difficult to be consistent if you’re not planning ahead. Life happens, as we know. If you don’t plan ahead, then when something comes up, you end up dropping the ball on your consistency. This can be as simple as putting a networking event in your calendar and showing up. But when we’re talking about content marketing and showing up online, it can often take more work than that. 

I recommend creating a content library – this helps you save time by having content blocked out in advance so you don’t have to think about it every day when it’s time to post. It does take longer up front to write content for a larger block of time, but I recommend doing it while you’re inspired, that way you have content ready to post consistently with your schedule, even when life gets in the way. 

Create Consistent Visuals

Consistency isn’t only about timing and schedules – it’s also about the look and feel of what you’re sharing. Consistent visuals include things like your imagery style, logos, fonts, colors, patterns, etc. All of those visual elements come together to create a consistent visual brand, which helps you be memorable and stand out online. Visuals are the first things people notice when they come across a piece of content – so being memorable helps you be more consistently recognizable with your audience. 

Master Your Messaging

If you want to stand out and be remembered for something specific, it’s important to be consistent with your messaging. For example, the title you call yourself (i.e., Brand Strategist, Business Coach, etc.), the services you offer, the topics you write about, the challenges you help your clients overcome, the specific words and phrases you use throughout your brand, and the tone of voice and personality that shine through your work. 

If you have been feeling discouraged in your business, before you take a look at what’s not working and consider giving up, I want you to take a really close look at your consistency. Are you throwing in the towel too early? Consistency will help your business grow and stand out, and help you pick up momentum to get where you want to go – but only if you’re being consistent from a place of clarity. Setting your foundation and getting clear on your message are the first steps. 

If you’re looking for a little more guidance and want to take this more in-depth, consider joining us in the Impact Tribe! Not only do I have courses specifically focused on building your brand, we also have monthly content prompts and graphics to take the guesswork out of showing up online! Learn more and join us today at the link below.