We’ve all got… that friend.

You know the one. You never hear from her unless she needs something. Months go by and not even a peep. No emails. No invites. No “Happy birthday!” or “How’s it going?” text. But then when she’s going through a rough breakup, suddenly she’s FaceTiming you at 11:47pm and she’s like, “Can we talk? I really need a friend right now…” Or when her wedding registry is online and she wants prezzies, suddenly you’re getting plenty of email reminders. {eyeroll}

Sure, she’s got plenty of great qualities—otherwise, she wouldn’t be your friend in the first place—but her communication style is whack. She’s so inconsistent. She’s either MIA or totally up in your face, needing something asap. Instead of feeling excited to hear from her, most times, you feel a little resentful, like, “Oh great. What does she want from me now?!”

Okay, now let me ask you…

When it comes to your business, are you… “that friend”? Do you communicate with your clients, customers, and fans consistently? Or not so much? Are you reliable? Or kinda flaky? If you promise to send “an inspiring newsletter every Sunday night,” do you follow through on that promise? Do you pop into people’s lives weekly to spread positivity, inspiration, and encouragement? Or do you disappear for long stretches of time, and then abruptly reappear when there’s something you want people to purchase?

“Consistency” may not sound like a “sexy” word, but it’s so important.

Fifteen years in the marketing industry have shown me that it’s not enough to pop into people’s lives 2 or 3 times a year during a “launch period.” You need to be a consistent presence—not an annoying, erratic friend who fades away for months at a time.

Want to be more consistent, but struggling to make it happen? A few tips:

1. Set realistic production goals.

Think: shorter, simpler, faster. Think: realism, not fantasy. Think: 5K, not ultra-marathon.

Maybe you promised your community a 60-minute podcast every week. In retrospect… maybe that was a tad unrealistic. Maybe a 30-minute podcast would be doable, though! Or even a five minute podcast, a short, punchy little show—like a quick shot of espresso!

2. Subtract, subtract, subtract. 

It’s better to do 1 thing consistently rather than do 10 things inconsistently.

Let’s say you want to do a 30-minute Facebook Live video on Wednesday at 12 noon Pacific every single week—like clockwork. Great. Do that. Do it every single week. Keep it up!

But maybe it’s unrealistic to do your weekly Facebook Live video PLUS a weekly podcast, blog post, newsletter, and monthly webinars, and also your daily Instagram Story, plus Pinterest, and Twitter. If it’s just “too much” right now, it’s okay to scale back! Subtract, subtract, subtract.

Make a list of all the content you’d love to create and share with your biz community. Then subtract from that list until you’re left with 1-2 things that feel really exciting AND realistic. Start with those 1-2 things and do them consistently. If you want to add more projects to your plate later… sure, go for it! But start with less. Do less—and do it better.

3. Factor in time for every… little… step.

Recently, I had a client who thought to herself, “I want to create a 3-part class as a gift for my mailing list subscribers. So easy. So simple. No big deal.”

She scheduled time on her calendar to write and record the class materials. Which is awesome. But then she forgot to set aside time for all the other steps in the process.

Like… time to copy and paste the lessons into her email marketing software. Time to edit the audio and upload it. Time to test out the email sequence and proofread everything. Time to write a class description and make a sign-up page on her site. Time to create graphics—like Instagram images—to announce the class to her community. And so on.

When creating a new piece of content, most of us tend to be pretty naive, starry-eyed, and unrealistic. We always think it’s going to take waaaaay less time than it actually does. (I’m totally guilty of this at times, too!)

Try to consider every little step that your project will require—and plan accordingly. If you initially think “This will take 2 hours, tops!” maybe set aside 8 hours, just to be safe. If you finish early, woohoo! Bonus time!

The more realistic you are, the easier it will be to stay on top of your projects and release fresh content consistently.

I’ll leave you with 2 quotes from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson:

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success.”

“If I love you, I show you ‘I love you’ every day.”

You love your clients and customers, so… show up for them consistently. It doesn’t *literally* have to be every day. It can be once a week. But keep showing up.

Show up when you’ve got something to sell, sure. And show up on the other weeks, too, just to say “Hi” and “I love you” and “Look, I made something awesome for you” and “Hey, here’s a gift” and “I wanted to share this” and “Just checking in. What’s been going on for you lately?”

When you’re a consistent love-beam in people’s lives, your fanbase will grow, along with your confidence and pride in yourself, not to mention, your income.

Whether it’s showing up for your daily workout, or showing up for your friend’s birthday party, or showing up for the people in your biz community, consistency just feels great.

Be “The Rock” of your industry. Steady. Reliable. Present. Generous. Show up for your friends, colleagues, customers, and fans… and they’ll keep showing up for you, too.