Happy 2021!
If you missed today’s episode of Mind Your Business, I gotchu…twice actually! You can watch the replay in the video below, read the summary or both! Here is how to show up consistently on social media:
Identify your why for wanting to show up consistently
People have various reasons for wanting to show up on social media. If your quest is to show up consistently on social media, then you definitely need a strong why, This is what will keep you going especially when the going gets tough. So what’s your why? Is it to create brand awareness, attract your target audience, to be an authority, etc? For our small and fabulous businesses, social media is a wonderful gift. We have the opportunity to reach more people than our physical location permits.
BUT showing up consistently IS hard work, especially in the beginning. What with all the other aspects of our businesses, managing staff, delivering orders, bookkeeping, etc. Now, this is exactly why your ‘WHY’ for showing up is important. Always keep that in view so you can keep the main thing the main thing, as the saying goes.
Decide what consistency means to you
I have heard many gurus say show up every single day. In fact, follow some big brands on Twitter and you’ll see they tweet at least twice an hour. Here is the thing, a lot of these brands have a Social Media Management team. You and I have, well, you and I. So my thing is this, decide what showing up consistently means to you at a given period and do it. When your condition changes, you can make a corresponding decision.
For instance during the lockdown in 2020, I had so much time on my hands and could do daily live videos to promote my online courses. The results were just amazing. I was working from home full time. Later in the year, I had to travel for work. I was out by 8am and in by 4.30pm. During this period, I was also coaching the third cohort of Group Coaching For Startups.
Seeing how intense my schedule was, I decided to focus on what really needed to be done in terms of showing up. I limited my social media engagement to hosting Mind Your Business, blogging and Weekly Book Reviews only. These were the non-negotiables, all others could wait. Even with this, it was not a funny joke.
For real
I recall writing a blog and sending it to my email list while on a bus ride returning to Kumasi. I was tired and the ideas were not coming, but giving up was not an option. Why? I’d read Steven Pressfield’s War Of Art and listened to Marie Forleo enough to know perfection was not my goal here. I joked to my mastermind group that I was in survival mode during that period haha. Mind you, had I not been committed to showing up by keeping my ‘why’ in view, I would have so given up.
As I type this now, I have a small window during which I can show up a bit more and I am fully utilizing that. I know things will change once I start moving about and will be happy to switch again. What helps is to decide on the non-negotiables and commit to it as regularly as possible. The question is; given how your life is right now, how many hours per day/week can you dedicate to social media? Is it enough to post once daily, once every two days, etc? Remember also, that the bulk of the work is in planning and content creation (PS: For those who sign up for my Content Creation Online Workshop, I’ll show you the strategy that is working for me now) Consider this as you decide what consistency means to you.
Plan your content calendar
Disclaimer: the fact that you have a plan does not guarantee that you’ll post as per your plan or that you will get the results you seek. What this does is to give you direction and focus. For me, that is priceless! Confession: I used to struggle with how to plan, thankfully not anymore. I invested money in paying others to teach me and time to practise what I’d learn. If you’ve decided to invest in my Content Creation Online Workshop, I gotchu 🙂
Prepare to create
On Sunday night, I planned to make a burger for my boo’s breakfast. I knew I had all the ingredients already so the plan was to make it fresh right before he left for work at 7.00am. At 6.40am, I opened the fridge and couldn’t find the bread. No problem, I’ll make a quick omelette, I thought. I cracked the eggs, checked the vegetable bowls…Oh Lord, none left! Oats? Naaa he doesn’t like it much. Time was running out. Thankfully I found some leftover pancake batter and started whipping it to fry. Just then he came into the kitchen, it was time for morning prayers. Boy! I asked for a few more minutes…ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens when you plan without preparing haha! You feeling me?
Create your content
A good plan and preparation really makes content creation easier because you are already clear on what you want to create. You just go ahead and create or have it created. Then you post or schedule it.
Like I’ve mentioned, we will cover the social media content creation process during the workshop which you can join live or purchase the replay. For now, establish your why for wanting to show up consistently on social media and decide what consistency means to you. Of course, you can go ahead and plan, prepare and create your content if you have a strategy that works. Otherwise, see you at the workshop!
Ama xx
PS: Showing up on social media doesn’t have to be a ???. Join me on this workshop and let’s learn the strategies, skills and tools to make it a ???
