I’m not a big fan of consistency. I like that in my world, every day is different and I like to shake things up. 

But when it comes to marketing, consistency is the key to success. And here’s why…

When you consistently create marketing content, you show up in front of your audience over and over on a regular basis. They get to know you and through that regular engagement, they learn what you’re about and they learn to trust you. At the same time, it puts you in a position to get to know them better, which will help you do a better job of giving them what they want. You’ll serve them better - and all of this helps you build a mutual relationship with your audience. This helps you make more sales because they understand what you do and they trust you, and that will help you grow your business.

So, consistency is worth the effort… if you can figure it out. It’s not easy to get consistent and it’s very easy to fall out of it.

So how do you get consistent in your marketing? Well, it turns out...

There's a secret to getting consistent in our marketing.

There are two parts to this:

First, you have to decide that you are IN on the thing you’re going to do.

Second, you have to commit to that decision.   This is where it sticks or it doesn’t.

Here’s how it works…

First, you have to decide that you’re going to do a particular thing. Let’s say you decide to blog.
That decision steps you over the threshold. You’ll likely blog at least once.

But will you blog consistently in the future? That’s where part 2 comes in...

You have to commit to that decision. And this is where things get tricky. You can’t just say you’re committed. You have to have a reason or sense of purpose that ties you to it.

I have found that understanding the value of the thing that I’ve decided to do is what helps me commit. 

For example, last year I was thinking about expanding my marketing to include either YouTube or a podcast, but I couldn’t decide which one to do. So I sent the people on my email list this question:

I could really use your help with this decision. Can you answer this one question?

Which of these do you prefer to do?
a. Watch a video on YouTube
b. Listen to a podcast
c. Something else...?

Out of more than 25 replies (which was a lot for me!) more than 30% of the responses said that they’d actually prefer “something else” - a written version, perhaps as a blog. 

So I have to admit, this response took me by surprise! I was seriously expecting them to pick either YouTube or podcasting. But then I realized two things: 

(1) My audience is filled with introverts, many of whom prefer to write. The fact that they also prefer to read makes perfect sense!

(2) My audience is telling me what they want. I should give it to them!

What was exciting was that I already had a place to blog; I just needed to use it.

And my point here is this: I was fully capable of blogging and had even tried to blog regularly but could never get it going. But when I suddenly understood WHY I needed to blog, I decided to blog AND I became committed to it. I’ve been blogging on a consistent basis ever since! 

With all of this in mind, I invite you to answer these questions:

• What is the marketing activity that you’ve decided to do?
  I recommend you pick just one thing.
• What is the reason or value behind that one marketing activity?
  How will it help your business? How will it help your audience?

When you do this - When you commit to the choice you make - it can feel like there’s magic at play. You are choosing to stand in integrity with your audience, with your business, and with yourself in a way that perhaps you don’t do with other things. This is how you play bigger, and that is why you get more powerful results for your marketing and your business.