Consistency in Online Business: What It Is, What It Isn’t, How to Make It Work For You
I’ve heard several people online lately condemn “consistency” and I've seen people refer to it as impossible, harmful, elitist, ableist, inhumane.
And I was surprised.
In my experience, consistency is more supportive and sustainable for managing your energy while getting results in your business.
I have also worked and am friends with many entrepreneurs who have all sorts of obstacles to their energy and capacity. Whether it's chronic illness, mental health struggles, neurodiversity, or just life circumstances, they've all found their own ways to be super, super successful, and each of them had consistency built into their approach.
Without consistency, we’re on a rollercoaster ride. And that’s exhausting.
Where’s the breakdown in how we’re hearing the term?
As always, it’s in how we’re defining it.
So in this post, I want to talk about consistency in marketing and business, and also give you nine humane ways you can create systems that support your consistency in a sustainable way, no matter what your energy capacities are.
Consistency: what it is and isn’t
How I’m Seeing It Defined:
Doing a bunch of things the same way day after day, a full eight hour workday jam packed with tasks that you can never escape from. See also: The Grind.
How I Define It:
The result of business systems built with simplicity and intentionality.
The real magic is in the simplicity. It’s the only way that consistency is possible. Because when something is simple, you can do it.
But if the plan is too complicated, then you won't be able to consistently keep up with it.
And then you’ll never see the results.
Simplicity is how we can free ourselves from stress and anxiety and worry. Because if we’re stressed/anxious/worried, we won’t have the energy or capacity for consistency.
Consistency isn’t ableist because it’s not the result of a neurotypical brain, or regular high energy, or a clear schedule, or any of that.
Consistency comes through preparing the structures, both in our time and in our workflows, that can keep our business running even when we run out of steam.
We know consistency pays off in business. And it’s not about the hustle. It’s not about the grind.
It’s that foresight which allows you to get good results without feeling frantic or busy or self-harming.
And consistency is available to you.
What Happens Without Consistency
Consistency is about gaining traction around who you are, who you serve, and how you help. It allows people to know what you're about, and to be able to think of you when they need the kind of help you provide.
You need a strategic plan in order to reach sustainable consistency.
Because when you don't have that strategic plan in place, or you’re not sticking with it long enough to see what is working and what isn't, you’ll eventually get to chasing your tail, and that leads to overwhelm and burnout.
I absolutely do not want that for you. It's better to solve one type of client with one type of offer and sell it in one type of way, and get freaking good at that (simplicity!), before you branch out to more offers.
HuSTLe IS uNHeALThY. AND hUSTlE Is WHaT hAPpENs WIThOUt COnSIStENcY.
A train runs on momentum. It exerts an enormous amount of energy to get moving.
But once it’s in motion, it will run for miles even after the engine is turned off because the momentum is so great. Big ships are the same way.
Momentum is the force that creates consistency in speed, in forward motion. And we can do so much more in our businesses when we have this at our disposal.
Starting and stopping is part of hustle culture. And hustle is what we have to do to stay ahead if we haven’t built consistent momentum.
Consistency is more humane than starting and stopping because momentum will carry us through the hard times.
I view consistency as the way for us to liberate ourselves from “The Grind.”
It allows me to successfully run my business without me having to be physically present for more than an average of 25 hours a week.
It's what enables you to do a lower volume of day to day work and see a high ROI from your time and energy efforts.
The magic is in the plan built on tiny efforts. The tiny and simple systems will have your business like a train flying through the countryside.
Nine Components to a Consistency Plan that Works for YOU
#1: Focus on Marketing Platforms That Work With Your Personality
Use platforms you like being on.
I gave up LinkedIn ages ago because I was frustrated every time I visited. So now, I’m on Instagram instead.
I have clients who do the opposite, because that’s what works for them.
What makes sense to your brain and your personality? Use those marketing channels.
#2: Batch Work Based On Energy, Not Tasks
Use your high energy times to do pre-work. Use your low energy time to manage the day-to-day demands.
Get things ready to go when you feel good so they are out the door even when you feel bad.
For example: We know that emails that rotate between selling and high quality content are better for readers and businesses. So batch your email writing on days/weeks you feel at a higher energy level, and schedule it to go out later.
If you do it in a different way, as long as that way is working for you, you can stay consistent with it, and you have built time into your schedule for it, then by all means, do it the way that works for you.
You can always change the plan later.
#3: A Schedule that is Optimal For YOU
An example of this is my focus on CEO Time every Monday. It allows me to set myself up for success, it always gives me time to work on my business.
Also, I'm not having to go right into the week coaching clients.
I've also set up my coaching call hours to be when I have the most energy and when I am showing up the best.
So pay attention to your energy levels throughout the day and week, and create a schedule based on that.
#4: Leverage tech to automate your efforts
UsE a SCHeDUlER fOr YOUr mEEtINgS
If you're booking in client calls and discovery calls, it’s worth the money to invest in a scheduling software like Calendly or Acuity.
And then instead of going back and forth to schedule calls, you can give people a link and they can book in and even fill out an intake form.
It’s going to save you from feeling like you have to be checking your email constantly, and also from having to do that back and forth dance, which will majorly protect your energy.
UsE AN eMAIl PROvIDeR tHAt sCHeDuLEs EMaILS
Active Campaign, ConvertKit, Mailerlite, Flowdesk, MailChimp.
All of those allow you to pre-write an email and schedule it so you can flow with your capacity.
sCHEDuLE pODCaST EPIsODeS rIGHT aFTEr THeY ARE rECoRDEd.
I use Libsyn to upload my podcasts, schedule them, and have them shared with all other podcast platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
#5: Create workflows and procedures for client onboarding
Trello. Airtable. Notion. Asana: doesn’t matter what the second brain is but you need one.
With my last Rebellious Success Launch, I wrote out a whole launch plan in Notion.
As new insights and steps arose, I added them to the plan to capture my learnings because I know that months from now, when I'm launching again, I'm not going to remember all the small details from before.
So by capturing it all in there now, all of my systems and workflows for later are updated.
Yes, it can feel a little bit tedious at the moment. But it's going to serve me so well in the future.
#6: Easy-to-duplicate Templates and Graphics
Don’t redesign the wheel each time.
It’s nice to have brand elements even if you haven't paid someone for formal branding because at the very least, you know what fonts and colors you are going to use on a recurring basis.
You can also make various templates for things that you’re going to make a lot of, like different types of Instagram graphics. Canva is helpful for this. And that enables you to just speed up your whole workflow process so that you can be more consistent.
#7: Trust your gut and listen to your body
Bodies are organic matter, and as a part of that, are seasonal.
Whether a monthly cycle or an annual one, we can plan for the dips and rises.
I know for myself that my capacity drops in winter. So I plan ahead for it. That way, instead of being mad about my energy levels in the frigid depths of December, I aim to use this time as a quieter, more foundational time to work on projects and things that set me up for success the rest of the year.
All organic life operates this way.
The winter is when you reflect on the previous year:
What were your wins? What were your losses? What are you gonna try to do differently? What's the plan for the new year? And then you start to plan, what are we going to grow? What else do we need to have in place? What do I need to learn to be better?
In spring, you start to grow your little seedlings. And then in late spring, you plant them out.
And then in summer the days are long, and you're outside and you're working in the fields.
And then in the fall, you harvest your crop, and you put up what you can put up for winter.
It's all cyclical. Because you aren’t a robot.
It’s easy to assume that at every point during the year, we should be exactly the same as another season. We should just be robotic machines and we should always be at top capacity.
And that just is not how it is.
It’s GOOD to listen to our bodies.
Get curious about what it wants to tell you.
#8 Don’t just do what you see other people doing.
It’s easy to feel FOMO when we see what other people are doing in their businesses.
Because we're all digital, it's easy to see what everyone else is doing.
But you do not need to be doing what everyone else is doing or seems to be doing to get results.
Focus on doing what works for you, and doing it long enough and consistently enough to get results.
#9 Track what’s working. Then iterate.
Data does not have to be massively complicated.
Intrinsically, I am not drawn to data. But I can see data as an awesome tool that will enable me to keep getting better results without doing more.
Keep it simple. And give yourself some time to actually gather the data and monitor what is working, what is not working, etc.
In Summary: The Plan is the Gift
We don’t get to simplicity and consistency overnight. We need a proactive plan.
STArT bY aNTICIpATInG yOUr cAPAcITy fLUcTUAtIOn.
What pace allows you great results without feeling frantic?
lEVErAGe TEcHNoLOGy (FREE OR PAID)
Automate efforts where you can so that you can get traction in a few places and get that appearance of consistency.
That way, even if you aren't physically showing up every week to write that email or to record that podcast or to do whatever it is, to other people you are showing up there. And you're being visible to them on their end as a way to keep you top of mind.
KEeP An eYe ON ThE sYStEMs, NoT tHe sCHeDUlE.
Having systems and routines that support you rather than a to-the-minute schedule is the key to long term sustainability.
If I have a system and routine and overall sales and marketing plan that supports me and I can be consistent with them, I can be flexible in the actual minutiae of my life.
The less boxed in I feel, the more I want to show up for the work that I know will move the needle forward in my business.
Conclusion
With a robust and nuanced understanding of what it takes to be consistent, we can dispel the myth that “consistency” requires steady energy, predictable bodies, and constant productivity.
Consistency is the result of systems that operate on their own with even less work and oversight from us than before. Consistency emerges from simplicity. And simplicity is built through conscious prep work that gives us all the room to be where we are and take care of ourselves in the moment.
Want more insight on the simple systems that lead to freedom and consistency? I’m here to help.
