Once upon a time, I was a writer/yoga teacher who wanted to combine the two and start a wellness blog (stop me if you’ve heard this one before). When the first post was published, I told readers that I’d be posting every Monday at 11:00am. The feedback was generally positive – my post was well received and shared a few times on social media.
To go along with the blog, I started posting on Facebook and Instagram about yoga and wellness in general, and the questions started rolling in. I was pretty psyched — I really wanted to help people learn about wellness, and this seemed like an awesome start.
However, I didn’t follow through with posting the following week. In fact, I didn’t even post again until two weeks later – and not even on a Monday. After that, I’d say a good 10 days went by before the next one posted. Needless to say, my regular Instagram interaction died off as well.
Posting about myself was weird to me. I felt like I was forcing my life down people’s newsfeeds, and all kinds of thoughts came up. I would talk myself out of posting with reasons like, “I don’t have enough content,” or, “Who am I to be giving advice?” and the biggest excuse, “What if people think I’m full of myself?” On and on the thoughts came in, and out my motivation went.
Needless to say, the hype over my potential brand fizzled out. I could maybe blame the content, but I don’t think that was it. Personally, I follow accounts that post regularly, as most of us do. We don’t read one good blog post from someone and then wither away while we hope for another to come out. No one was waiting for my next post, and my inconsistency only expanded their growing disinterest.
Building Trust in Your Brand
Consistency plays a crucial role in two different ways when it comes to building a brand. First, you need to be consistent with your post cadence so that you become part of your follower’s daily feed. Second, and arguably more important, you need to consistently educate, encourage, and empower (the 3 E’s) your followers, to start building rapport. Sticking by the 3 E’s will nurture your followers to become consumers of what you are selling or promoting.
In the health and wellness world, there are so many people writing about the same topics that I was. However, what makes those who succeed stand out is their ability to constantly show up on their blogs and platforms. While being an expert in your field is definitely important to having a successful business, that only gets your foot in the door. It’s the consistency that keeps you there.
Get to Know Your Schedule
So, along with the obvious lesson in my own story of social media/blogging inconsistency, the second biggest thing that I learned was to be realistic about when to post. At the time when I wanted to launch my blog, I was working three jobs and finishing grad school. I was having a hard-enough time remembering to feed my cat every day, let alone committing to publish a blog post every week.
Meet yourself where you are. What I mean by that is, find the social media platform that works with your schedule. Don’t overcommit yourself by making unrealistic content promises. For example, if you have a schedule that changes every week, stick to something like Instagram stories to keep consistency. You can film or take photos on the go and even share from other accounts. Or, if you find you have the same amount of time every week to write and post a blog, maybe that’s the best route for you. You don’t need to start on every single platform right out of the gate.
You can also make life easier and use a free social media aggregator. Basically, all the work is done ahead of time. You take your photos, write your captions, and then plug your posts into upcoming dates on your aggregator — then it’s one less thing to worry about that week. (I would still monitor the channels, though.)
The Look and Feel of Your Brand
Side note: This isn’t about just when you’re posting, but what you’re posting — as in your overall message and aesthetic. If your brand has a feel-good, positive vibe with bright colors and rainbows, and then all of a sudden, you’re posting about how traffic sucks in the rain with black and white photos, you might throw off your audience.
Pick a color scheme, a consistent font, logo, and tone, and stick to it across all of your platforms. Eventually, you’ll want your audience to know your brand from miles away without having to see your name first. The idea is to have them become familiar with your product or service, and the consistency in image and delivery will resonate.
The Bottom Line
Time for a little tough, yet honest, love. Producing your brand, blog, and social content will seldom be convenient for you. As it shouldn’t be. If you want to grow your brand and followers, it is hard work – so take it on as a passion rather than a project. The more you put yourself out there, the more you remind viewers that you’re reliable and trustworthy — and essentially, you’ll build your business one post at a time.
Sometimes we all need a lil inspiration to make sure we are consistent with content within the 3 E’s. So, if you’re feeling like it’s a creativity boost you need, check out our tips for reigniting your spark here.