4 ways to create consistency in your business
With so many ideas in our minds, goals that we want to set and actual work that we need to do, it can be overwhelming to keep showing up everyday, growing our businesses in the ways that they need to. Today, I’m covering 4 ways to create consistency— so that you can hold yourself accountable and be the professional that you need to be (and that your business deserves!)
These tips will help you to stay on track with “all of the things” that you need to do — so that your potential dream clients can find and follow you (and know that you mean business!)
1. Decide what you need to accomplish.
Sounds simple enough, but sometimes, you really just need to sit down and figure out what you not only want (but need) to do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Talk to friends, family, business besties, masterminds, whoever you can. Write down all of the different tasks that you have in your business. These can be business development and client-related ones. Go back and decide on a set number of realistic projects (and reach ones) that you will start taking action towards completing. What do you need to do in your own business and what clients do you need to serve (or products that you need to create) daily, weekly, monthly? Make sure that these are all items that will truly make an impact and help you grow your business.
2. Decide on timeframes.
Once you’ve decided on the tasks at hand, put deadlines on them. I keep a running list of daily “to-dos” on a digital sticky note on my laptop’s desktop. I also keep a day or time that I need to have them done by and sent off to a client — or be prepared for scheduling. Sometimes, the most important and effective thing that you can do is giving yourself an actual timeline/deadline — and then stick to it. Again, these can be daily, weekly or monthly. Some tasks are going to be recurring or short term and others are going to be in the queue for later down the road. Either way, they ALL need to get done at some point. This is where you specifically decide on those times.
3. Setup your systems.
Now that you know literally what you need to do and when those things need to be done, setup the systems that will make it all happen! For me, my tasks are split between two categories: business development (my own marketing) and client work. Business development includes weekly blogging, emailing my list, posting to social media and engaging in Facebook groups. My client work is my monthly load of money-making projects — my bread and butter and what I consider my priorities. I use a couple of different platforms like Asana and Dubsado to setup my jobs, keep track of client/project notes, deadlines and more. I also keep an “old-fashioned” pretty planner that I write in and use to keep track of my calendar (along with my Google calendar/iPhone, of course.) These systems enable me to know what I need to get done now and what I have coming up and need to prepare for. I also use Dubsado for sending client contracts and FreshBooks for generating and delivering invoices. When it comes to my own business work, I write my blog posts ahead of time and then schedule them within Squarespace. I also create and upload my weekly graphics that go out in Buffer, a social media-scheduling app. Of course, I dabble in a mix of other areas to keep things running, but these platforms are the main ones that I use. I’ve described them here so that you can see how important it is to use different tools and programs to track, create, schedule and more. I’m in these platforms daily because they keep me accountable — and I can see everything that I have going on in my business at any given moment. I have things that need done daily, weekly and monthly — and my systems help me to get them done, which allows me to keep showing up and being visible in front of my audiences (clients and prospects.)
4. Commit and…DO IT!
For real, just do it. You know what you need to do, when you need to do it and how you’re going to get it all done with the systems that you put in place. Do whatever works for you — not everyone else. Whatever you need to do each day in your own business and for your client base, DO IT. Whatever you need to do each week, each month, each quarter and each year — DO IT. We can write things down, think about them, track them and stay organized/conscious of our time, but if we are not physically “doing the things” no one else is, either. (Unless you’ve hired a team, of course!) Regardless of what you’re responsible for (or any helpful assistants) — just take each task seriously and work until it’s crossed off of your list! The more that you show up consistently, the more professional that you will look in general — and the more seriously that you will be taken!