The surprising reason people are inconsistent with marketing

I’ve noticed something about myself, and some of my entrepreneur friends.

You may be in this boat, too.

It goes like this...

We learn that something is really effective for marketing. Let’s say video, for example.

We know that making videos consistently is a great way to connect to our ideal client and get our message out there. And live video is even better.

So we decide -- and declare -- that we will make one video per week and go live once per week.

We tell our followers (maybe we even make a promise) that they can expect to see us on a live video every week.

It starts off great. For two weeks, maybe even three, we go live once a week.

And then we forget. Life happens. Our live video appearances dwindle and then we stop doing it altogether.

But we made a promise.

Now we feel guilty and even ashamed for not keeping our promise, not being consistent, and not doing this thing that we KNOW would be really great for our business.

What happened?

Aside from the inevitable distractions of life, it’s hard to keep going when we make these commitments for a few reasons.

1. Only our mom and our best friend watch our videos.
2. No one joins us live, and only a few people comment so we feel like you’re speaking into an empty room.
3. We get tired of hearing our own voice. 🙋🏼‍♀️
4. We don’t get any clients from it.
5. And some of us simply rebel against rules and commitments. (Maybe that's why we're entrepreneurs.)

This is tricky because a few things are happening here, but I have some good news for you.

Let’s tackle each one of these reasons.

1. It only FEELS like only 2 people are watching your videos, but if you really check, there are probably a lot more people watching.
2. Some things take time to grow, so if we keep going, people will notice and they’ll show up. They’ll watch the replays. And we’ll get better at asking engaging questions that encourage comments.
3. After nearly 7 years in business, I’m definitely tired of hearing my own voice, so this one is for me. But then I have to remember that I’m not doing it for me. I’m doing it for my clients. So if this one resonates with you, try to think of your ideal clients and keep going… for them!
4. It’s possible (but not likely) that we’ll get all the clients we want from doing 3 videos. ;) We have to keep going. They’ll see our dedication and they’ll reach out, especially if we invite them to the next step and start a conversation.
5. This is a tough one and my best advice is to not make the promise. Commit to yourself and set an intention but you don’t have to declare it to your audience.

Even though we’ve been told to make the declaration so we stick to it, I think the surprising reason that some of us are inconsistent is because of the declaration.

So if that’s you, give yourself some grace and just do your best. Create a list of topics so you have something interesting to talk about. And allow yourself to change your mind.

I always say that consistency is key, and I truly believe that. But we don’t have to declare it. We just have to do it.

If you’ve tried something like video or even newsletters and you fell off the wagon, hop back on and keep going (no need to apologize… just go) and know that it WILL get better. People will start to show up and your business will benefit.