Consistency in business is your number one responsibility as a business owner. Why? Because you don’t want to confuse your customers.  Consistency does a lot for you and for your business, including:

• Teaches people what to expect from you. 
• You become more efficient at repeatable tasks. 
• You get better results and deliver higher-quality results.
• It is easier to measure progress and success. 
• It is also easier to find areas for improvement.
• Consistency leads to achieving your goals faster!

Consistency in Branding

Branding is how your company is visually presented to the world and to your customers. Your brand should be similar and make sense in everything you do. For example: if you’re a web designer and your brand or logo is of a girl milking a cow – you’d better draw a very clear reason why or you’ll confuse your customer. 

Your brand should be the first thing to catch someone’s eye. Being consistent means that every time someone sees your brand, they will automatically associate that with you and/or your company. You can brand a company, like I did with Creative Raspberry, or you.

A great example of a company brand is Nike. The Nike swish is recognizable worldwide for that company. Taylor Swift is a personal brand. You also have brands like Gwenyth Paltrow – both a personal brand and a company brand (Goop). Of course, it didn’t start that way, but evolved into her name being synonymous with Goop. 

Here’s more on branding from Branding Magazine. 

Consistency in Messaging 

We’re human with lots of life experiences and lots of things to share. BUT in our business, we need to share business stuff. That doesn’t mean not letting your customers get to know who you are as a person. And depending on your business. Your messaging should reflect your business personality and what your business is about. It should not sway too far off course. 

Here’s an example of something I’m currently struggling with. First, let’s look at what’s working. I’m a marketing coach. I actually know a lot about business as well. I sprinkle business concepts into my writing as they pertain to marketing. Last week, was all about building business systems. Business systems are crucial to every part of a business, including marketing. While it was a business tip it applies to marketing.

That’s an example of staying the course of a marketing coach but dipping my toes in another topic. Now, here’s where things get muddy. I am also a firm believer in gratitude. I have a daily gratitude practice. I believe gratitude has helped me in every part of my life, including business. But does sprinkling tidbits about gratitude confuse my readers? Right now, I’m experimenting with talking about gratitude in my Friday Instagram posts. However, last Friday I think I really confused my readers. The comments were a 180 from where I’d expected. This week’s will be slightly different. 

Think of your core message. Stay within a few feet to each side of that message. If you’re a massage therapist that works on the side as a bookkeeper, you will confuse your customers if you talk about both simultaneously. The best thing to do is completely separate those two businesses. On the other hand, if you’re a massage therapist and you dabble in herbalism or aromatherapy, those are other healing arts. When you talk about complementary topics be sure to tie those back to your message.

Consistency in Posting 

Yes, it’s that social thing again. If I was being totally honest, I still don’t fully embrace social media. I always regarded it as a necessary evil. I’m just now starting to enjoy posting. I can’t recommend enough to focus on one social platform at a time. I don’t want overwhelm in my life. I don’t want you to overwhelm yours. There are more than 3.81 billion social media users. It’s the least expensive way to get your message to your customers. But you must do it consistently and target the right people. 

When just starting out, be realistic. 

1. Choose one platform. Do your homework to learn where your ideal customers are. That’s your platform. If you have a B2B company, your customers are likely on LinkedIn. If you’re B2C, you’ll be on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Don’t become an expert in every platform. Just choose one and go.
2. Set up a reasonable schedule. I’m here to tell you, posting every day will not work when you’re starting out. It takes too much time when you’re also leaning how to use the features of whatever platform you’re using. Depending on the platform, post two to three times a week. With LinkedIn, you can post once a week, but the content needs to be on fire! 
3. Learn to automate. As quickly as you can, learn to automate. I use Hootsuite’s free version. It works for me; however, you can only schedule five posts across two social channels at a time. That means that if you’re posting three times a week, you will need to pre-schedule every 10 days. See what’s out there. Start small and free, if possible. 
4. Give yourself a break. You’re learning! So, give yourself a break.  

Now get out there and spread some consistency! 

OK. I really laughed at myself after recording yesterday’s Insta reel. I left it hoping at least one other person would laugh, too! But here it is again: get out there and be consistent! 

You’ve got this and I’m here to guide you.