Be CONSISTENT!

Consistency plays a role in every aspect of your business. People take comfort in getting exactly what they expect...based on their past experience with you.  

So, what you post, your marketing strategy, your content, how you act, dress and relate to your clients all must be consistent.

Consistency is what allows you to grow your business; it’s the underlying secret sauce to success.

A strong brand identity requires doing less things the same way over an extended period of time. You may need to pass on the good to obtain the great. Often times, wisdom is deciding what NOT to do for the greater good of a tightly defined brand and the ability to maintain consistency. 

We have to be willing to pass on some very good ideas, products, styles of photography, marketing approaches, sales processes and much more in order to be consistent. 

This is what got Relationship portraits off the ground. They had one look, one purpose, simple product offerings and looked the same in every home. We would hear, “That must be a Walden portrait!” Some clients would ask me, “Can you do my Relationship portrait in color?” or “How about sepia tones?” or “Why don’t you sell metal prints?” and on and on. 

Our determination to be tightly defined allowed our message to be clearly understood. Then consistency allowed it to take root and it elevated our success more quickly than it would have otherwise.

ONE: Start with a plan.

As Tim often says, don't procrastinate until you have the perfect plan. Just make a plan, work on it and let time and experience tweak it.

It's ok to start small. If you bite off more than you can chew, you will not be consistent. Maybe your plan is as simple as to post 3 times a day on Facebook or add 2 images each week to your Instagram. 

Whatever it is, doing it consistently is more important and you can add more complexity once you are consistent with your basic plan.

You have to be honest with yourself about what is possible...and don't burn yourself out. 

When I started these Tuesday Tidbits, I posted them every week. I knew that being consistent was the goal in order to build readership. When our studio needed me to write a blog for our newly created website, I knew I couldn't do both, so I decided to do each on an every other week rotation. Consistency.

And honestly, I still don't have the studio blog posting on a consistent schedule (yet), but I will. The important idea here is that we made a plan together and now, we are working the plan.

TWO: Work the plan.

This sounds easy, but it is not always easy. Executing the plan may require systems and structure that you will need to put in place. It may be a social media scheduler or a simple checklist on your iPhone. 

We are constantly searching and learning about new ways to keep in touch with our clients, consistently, as they go through each stage of doing business with us. 

For example, client onboarding is now more important than ever to make each feel special, so we are upping our game in that area. We depend on our studio software and our website email systems to help us as we can't manually do it all ourselves anymore. It was hit and miss before we started using some automation tools, but we feel we are now in a much better place.

One word of caution...using a system to connect with your clients needs to feel personal, not automated.

How you work the plan depends on you, but just like making the plan, taking action is more important than what the action is. 

THREE: Keep evaluating the plan and adjust as needed.

Nothing stays the same. Some ideas may work and others may not. Be honest and adjust your plan when needed. Don't get stuck. 

We meet every week to go over our marketing plan and evaluate where we currently are and what we need to do for the next week. Sometimes, we cross out entire ideas as we sit and discuss them...sometimes, we add more ideas. What we understand is that it is a living document that will change and grow with time.

Consistency is more important than perfection.