You either love social media or you hate it. It’s incredibly polarizing when I talk to business owners for the first time. As the generational gap widens and technology becomes more and more powerful (no, a robot did not write this), producing media is an important part of the growth of your business.
When we talk about producing media, we aren’t talking about advertisements for new programs you are launching, or posting your holiday hours on your Facebook page. While there’s a time and a place for things like that (read: it’s not your public Facebook page), your media presence is important because you are building an audience.
If developing an audience is so important, why do so many business owners struggle with their ability to build their media empire? Perfection is sometimes paralyzing, and that’s usually where the owner gets lost.
Here’s how to overcome this problem and start to build your media empire.
It Doesn’t Need To Be Perfect
Yes, an artistic Instagram feed with specifically laid out photos, quotes, and testimonials on the grid is aesthetically pleasing. Your customers however are not buying your services because they clicked on your profile and saw a perfectly laid out grid.
Chances are, they clicked on one of your aesthetic posts and read your caption. They most likely clicked a link you included, and read a little more to learn about you. After learning about you, they deemed you were a great fit for them, and they converted on your service offering.
I challenge you to weigh the time it would take you to make that perfect grid, get the appropriate captions cultivated, and post them at specific days and times so the grid aligns perfectly. While you were getting all of that set up, your competitors down the street have already made a new sale simply because they have been making posts every couple of days about how they can solve their customer’s problems.
Perfection doesn’t sell. Consistency does. Something is better than nothing!
How To Build Consistency
There is no ideal timing structure that you should follow. The social media sites will tell you different, but at the end of the day, the right plan to follow is the one you will actually carry through. For those that social media comes easy to, posting everyday might not be a difficult task for them. For others, even getting 1-2 posts up throughout the week is a strenuous task.
Determine what is realistic for you, and start there. Your goal from there is to execute and make sure you stick to that cadence. You’re not worried about how perfect the content is, you’re committed to getting 1-2 posts up per week, for weeks on end.
It’s Not The Actual Content, It’s The Habit
After committing to a cadence that you can stick to and is realistic for you, understand that it’s not about the actual content that you are producing. It’s about developing this habit. I produced bad media for many years before I found my voice, found a routine, and understood how to tell my client’s stories. Even this business is going through the same process as we speak.
What you’re trying to focus on is building the habit of publishing. Your 1-2 commitment will turn into 3-4 days, and those 3-4 days will soon turn into everyday.
Before you know it, you will have a full content bank that your customers can use to read more about you, your Vision and Mission, and what your services are about. You will refine your voice and content as you go, but you need to build the habit first.
Social media is an important piece to everyone’s business, especially service-based businesses. There’s so much potential that can happen when we tell our client’s stories. Build the habit of publishing first, so you can work on changing the world after.
Our clients learn to build their publishing skills, their storytelling skills, and develop best social media practices through our Good Day Mentoring Program. Book a call with our Mentor team here.