Hey there storytellers,
I saw over 500 instances of the word ‘consistency’ in the email newsletters I’ve received to my inbox. It’s not some secret advice or unknown trick to be consistent, but it also tends to have a rebound effect of causing us to push way past the point of burnout.
How can we balance consistency and sustainability? In our algorithm-driven culture, is such a thing even possible?
I believe so. And even if outside forces rewarded a content treadmill, in the last year I’ve realized that the cost is too high when it comes to managing your energetic capacity.
My health crises forced me to face some harsh truths: I may have been consistent in some ways, but the identity of writer/creator I most wanted to nurture was not being prioritized in my life.
This is my fourth installment to the series I’m dubbing ‘CPAC:’ Creating & Promoting Amidst Chaos. I started it with the intention of writing it twice a week, but wrote out the 4-6 topics ahead of time. I framed it as a “limited series” and that took some of the pressure off that I was putting on myself to write weekly or even twice weekly indefinitely.
So much of starting and showing up is getting out of your own head and into action. I can help clients and those who attend my workshops do this, but struggle with it myself. Action is the counter to overthinking. Now this process of writing it becomes fairly simple to get into flow and make it a part of my week.
If you’re looking for how to re-center your creative practice or marketing habit, I have some ideas for you.
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NEWSLETTER EXCLUSIVE:
Rethinking creative consistency beyond content frequency
Do your values align with the time you spend?
We’ve talked about values and alignment before (many times really), but to me consistency always boils down to our actions lining up to what we value.
This seems so obvious, but a lot of people don’t sit down and narrow down their personal lives (or their businesses) to 3-5 core values. And when you think everything is a value, you don’t prioritize and can’t focus.
Ask me how I know.
Have you done this for yourself? If you lead others, do they know what the organization values (with tangible examples)?
James Clear was on a mindfulness podcast promoting Atomic Habits, and he said a statement that has resonated with me since: “The actions we take daily are a vote for the person we are.”
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating and reflecting on annually, if not quarterly.
This made me realize a painful truth: as someone who treasures stories and community, I hadn't done much of each in the last year or so. I have a science fiction novel that I had written more of during my nursing day job than since I've been self-employed. Ouch.
Not to be scary, but as a trans person under the current regime, I've been thinking a lot more about death and what would happen if I disappeared. I keep wondering what legacy I'd leave.
And while I think we neglect to understand the impact we have on others, I don't have long-lasting pieces in a body of work I can point to and know will outlive me. It's shitty that fascism has become an urgent catalyst to get me into action, but I'll take advantage if it means creating stories and stealing the joy where I can find it.
Messaging consistency matters more to fuel growth
Of course you knew I was going to talk about messaging, but I want to approach it from a different perspective.
As of last February, I'm entering my third year of doing business as Max Wilde Stories (For context, I started a previous marketing biz in 2018 but went on hiatus during the pandemic).
I've never been that consistent on social media, blogging, or YouTube. I'm usually focusing on others' content more than my own.
However, an interesting thing has started to happen locally here in Kansas City. At the last couple of conferences I attended, people came up to me who I either didn't know or didn't remember, like they knew me and my storytelling approach.
I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't know them, but it's made me realize that when you keep speaking about the same topic and find the "angle" in which you approach it, it becomes traction on its own without me showing up every single week.
This is my favorite aspect of working with clients: finding the unique angle in which they approach their work that stands out and has a lasting impact.
When you're focused on frequency, it has you starting from scratch every week (or worse, daily). Then you reinvent the wheel or feel like you have nothing to say. Which makes it all so much more time consuming and then yiu're no longer consistent.
Take one angle, one hook, one pitch. Find a way to say it in 10 different ways.
Don't follow someone else's process (even mine)
There's so much noise around being creative and promoting yourself consistently. I obsessively consume videos from the planner side of YouTube. I kept looking for the perfect project management system, perfect paper planner, a new way to write my to do list, the perfect creative process, and so on.
I actually found what felt like a perfect paper planner called the Productivity Planner on sale at a damaged freight store (if you live in Kansas City, Cargo Largo is the place to shop).
I didn't end up buying it because the planner itself was too small for my big handwriting and the paper too thin for my fountain pens.
But I was stuck on it so designed my own version of planner pages in Canva and it opened up a whole new possibility for me. (By the way, if you're interested, reply to this email and I'll send you what I've created for you to try out if you want)
It seems almost too obvious, but the only process that will work for me is the one I create for myself and conform to my needs and specifications. I'm now seeing myself make further momentum in the span of two months than the past six combined.
It's not to say that content about what works for other people is wrong, in fact, it's been helpful to find the perfect combination for me.
But the issue is when we're no longer listening to ourselves on what rhythm works for us.
Our culture tries to numb us to our bodies and intuition, but this was causing me to put unreasonable expectations and timeframes on my goals. This led to creating past the point of burnout for me last year.
Platforms/audiences are not built in the month or quarter, but after many years of relationship building, messaging consistency, and an impactful body of work.
By being true to myself, I was building that in a much more stustainable way.
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What's Working Right Now?
Video: it's no longer a luxury
The content formats that marketers say deliver the highest ROI are short-form video (21%), images (19%), and live streamed videos (16%), and marketers plan to invest more in these channels in 2025.
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🪄 Ways for Us to Work Together:
- I have 1-2 spots for ongoing content creation for those who want consistency through your interviewing you and capturing your unique voice.
- Want me in your back pocket? I'm piloting a marketing mentorship offer where you get content strategy, editorial guidance, and the feedback/resources to build momentum in your business.
- Finally, I'm doing Story Strategy Intensives for those who want a mix of high-level messaging strategy and copy implementation in an accelerated timeframe.
Interested in one of these options? Book a call with me and we can talk about the best fit for your goals.
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