Welcome back to Making Good, the podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact.
I’m your host, Lauren Tilden, and this is episode 63.
I’m really excited about this episode, because Making Good is celebrating its first birthday! As of May 19th, Making Good podcast is one year old. That is one year of releasing podcast episodes EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. And some fun extra bonus episodes on top of the weekly episodes, just for fun.
So, Kate and I were on a walk through our neighborhood yesterday, and I was telling her about how I wanted to have this week’s podcast episode be a celebration of 1 year of Making Good… but also something super valuable to listeners, and she said, “Oh, like “how to stick with it” or something like that?”
And I thought… YES! Exactly that.
Before I jump in, I just have one request for you. If this podcast has been valuable to you, I would LOVE to hear from you. Send me a DM to say hello and that you’re listening to @laurentilden on Instagram.
So here we are. In today’s episode of Making Good, we’re going to be talking about what I’ve learned about sticking with something and being consistent every single week for a full year of podcasting.
Let me start by saying that Consistency and Sticking With It aren’t words and terms that I would normally use to describe myself.
I can’t tell you how many things I’ve started and then just let things fizzle out.
Books (writing and reading).
Hobbies (I tend to buy alllll the supplies and try it once and then be done).
Organizational systems (I like to set up elaborate organizational systems and then never use them).
Exercise regimens (don’t even get me started here).
I could go on, but the point is… I’m not QUOTE “one of those people” who is super organized and disciplined and always finishes what they start.
So, I have to be honest and say that I find myself somewhat surprised to be sitting here celebrating 1 year of Making Good.
1 year of designing content, writing episodes, recording episodes and interviews, editing episodes, writing show notes, publishing episodes and telling you all about them.
Consistently. Every. Single. Week. No matter what has been going on in my life (and this year has been a big one -- becoming parents just over a month ago).
So yes, this is my opportunity to pat myself on the back and say WOW. I’m so proud of this podcast and the content I’ve created and the community I’ve found and the fact that I’ve showed up for it to release an episode 52 weeks in a row (and many weeks more than one episode).
But, my conversation with Kate yesterday helped me realized that along the way, I have figured out how to really commit and stay with something for a year.
So, I also want to use this episode as an opportunity to really dig in and explore what I can learn and share about HOW TO STICK WITH IT… whatever “IT” is for you.
So, let’s dig in.
What do I mean by sticking with it?
Let’s start by getting on the same page about what I mean by “sticking with it”. With “sticking with it”, I mean committing to doing something over an extended period of time, and showing up for it on a regular basis, even when you may not feel like it, even when you’ve got a lot of other things on your plate, even when you may not be seeing exciting, motivating results.
I think “sticking with it” is an important topic to cover on this podcast because it’s a critical part of the journey for just about all small business owners. Running a small business is full of ups and downs. It’s not always exciting and uplifting… a lot of the time it feels like we’re putting in a lot of work and not seeing the results we want.
“Sticking with it” is about the willingness to keep moving forward, no matter how things are going in the short term.
So, what kinds of things should we stick with?
I am not suggesting that we have to keep doing everything we start doing forever. Sometimes there are activities, projects, or even businesses that we have to let go of.
I talk a lot about the role of intention and clarity in your business, because it helps us know where to spend our time and energy, and this is so relevant to this topic.
Two of the most important things to get clear on are your WHY and your VISION.
Your WHY is -- why are you doing what you’re doing? What kind of change or impact do you want to make in the world?
And your VISION is -- what do want to create? What do you want your business and life to look like in a year, or 5 years, or 10?
When you have answers to these questions, it’s a pretty simple process to look at what activities, projects, businesses are worth sticking with -- and which we can let go of.
In this episode, we’re talking about how to stick with things that are WORTH sticking with… that when we run them past our WHY and our VISION, they are activities that will move us toward those goals.
So how do we stick with it?
Okay, so we’ve defined what I mean by “sticking with it” and we’ve talked about how to know if a particular part of your business or life is worth “sticking with”.
Now, how do we stick with it? I’ve been thinking about how I’ve been able to stick with it… and what I’ve learned from my years as a self-improvement junkie, and I’ve come up with 8 ways to stick with it.
#1: Schedule it
If it’s not on your calendar, it’s not a priority. Possibly the most critical step to “sticking with it” is to make sure that you are carving the time out in your schedule to ensure it gets done.
Let’s say the business activity you want to Stick With is consistently marketing your business on Instagram.
Just like any meeting or appointment, if you want to make sure that this gets done, it needs to be in your calendar.
It always helps me to break things down into the smallest possible elements in order to get my head around a project.
So if I’m talking about consistently using Instagram for my business, I’d need to know:
On a weekly basis, how much am I posting? What combination of posts, reels, stories, IGTVs, etc. am I posting?
When I know the breakdown of what I’m posting, I need to get honest with myself about how much time it will take to create that content.
When I have an amount of time that I need to reserve in my calendar, the important step is that you actually put it into your calendar. Add it like any other appointment that you can’t miss.
#2: Make it easy
Make it easy on yourself. It’s tempting to overcomplicate things and pile too much on our plate, but the simple reality is this:
THE EASIER it is to do something, the more likely it is that we’ll do it.
This is a very important concept in marketing -- we need to make it EASY for our customers and audience to take the action we want them to take.
But it’s also a very important concept in human behavior. The EASIER IT IS to do a task, the more likely it will be that you’ll do it.
Sticking with this Instagram marketing example, let’s talk about how we could make it EASY to make sure we get our Instagram content created each week.
For example, if we’ve followed Step 1 in this process and reserved time in our calendar to create this content, we’ll have an appointment in the calendar telling us to “CREATE INSTAGRAM CONTENT”. How could we make it EASY for us to actually take action when that appointment time comes?
Well, we could include a link to the Google Doc where we’re writing the posts.
We could have a clear plan laid out of WHAT each post is about so we’re not starting from scratch.
We could have already selected images for the posts and have them handy.
The key here is to not force yourself to THINK too much.
The Nobel prize-winning behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman said: “Thinking is to humans as swimming is to cats; they can do it but they'd prefer not to.”
Thinking is hard. It just is. If there’s something that we know we struggle to get done each week -- for example, creating your Instagram content -- figure out ways to make it as EASY as possible, and you’ll be so much more likely to get it done.
#3: Find accountability
Gretchen Rubin has a concept called The Four Tendencies, which is a model that answers the question: “how do I get people -- including myself -- to do what I want?” If you want to take the quiz (it’s free!) head to quiz.gretchenrubin.com -- I will link it in the show notes at makinggoodpodcast.com/63.
For one of these types, Obligers (which I am!), accountability is critical, but I think even if you don’t identify as an Obliger, accountability can be a super powerful way of making sure you stick with things.
This means that if I want to make SURE that I’m going to get something done, other people need to know about this -- and ideally -- CARE whether or not it happens.
For this podcast, it means that podcast episodes are released every Tuesday. I know that listeners expect new episodes to drop each Tuesday, so I feel accountable to making sure that I release an episode each Tuesday. If I only told myself that I was going to release the podcast on Tuesdays, I think there’s a much lower chance I would have the same track record with consistency that I have.
A few suggestions of what accountability might look like to you:
Having an accountability buddy that you check in with on your projects each week
Having a coach who expects you to complete certain actions each week
Working in a group program or coworking session to get stuff done
Telling your audience when to expect things from you and having them hold you accountable.
When you have something you need to get done, try building some accountability in. I *know* that this is one of the most powerful factors for me, and I’m figuring out how to build it into other aspects of my business, too :).
#4: Get feedback
On a similar note to accountability, my 4th suggestion is to get outside feedback.
Getting feedback is a step further than building in accountability -- it’s inviting someone you trust to look at what you’re doing and give you their thoughts, ideas and suggestions.
A couple of ways that I love to incorporate feedback into my businesses:
I love to talk to other small business owners about challenges I’m facing and get their ideas. Sometimes we just get too close to things. (If you’re looking for small business community and somewhere to get these answers, check out my FB group for this podcast: makinggoodpodcast.com/community).
My FAVORITE way is to talk to my target audience. As businesses, we have customers or an audience, and pretty much everything we do should be in service to them in some way. For this podcast, I love to hear from listeners and ask them questions about the podcast, what kind of content they’d like to see, etc. I often do polls on my IG stories for ideas on topics people want to learn about, etc.
Running a small business can be a solitary operation -- getting feedback from others can help breathe some fresh energy and air into things and keep you excited and on track.
#5: Track it
My fifth suggestion is to TRACK IT. We spend a lot of time, energy and money in our businesses, on various tactics and projects that we hope will help us make more sales and a bigger impact.
But the only way to know for sure if what we’re doing is generating the impact we are hoping for is to find a way to TRACK IT. Yes, my friend, I’m talking about numbers are your friend.
Looking at the numbers in our business can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes we will look at our sales numbers or our # of Instagram followers or podcast downloads and be disappointed. WHY aren’t things changing?
When we’re thinking about tracking and numbers, the important thing is that we are paying attention to the RIGHT numbers.
What numbers can you look like that will actually represent the impact of whatever activity we are trying to “stick with”? And then, try to set aside any immediate emotional reaction, and ask yourself, “what can I learn from this?”
Taking me and this podcast as an example, I’ve learned so so much from paying attention to the podcast download numbers. Between different episodes, I can make some judgments about what topics my audience is most interested in. I can see what length of episode people like the best. I can see the time of year that I get more downloads and less. I can see the types of campaigns that lead to listener growth, and the types of activity that leads to more of a plateau.
Numbers are powerful if you’re paying attention to relevant ones.
#6: Get efficient
The next step is to Get efficient. And for me, efficiency is about -- how can I spend LESS TIME and get the same or better results.
For me this might be: How can I create podcast episodes that are just as good (or even better) in LESS TIME?
This is a place where I’m constantly evolving, but I’ll tell you some of the things I’ve done:
I have a guest questionnaire that I collect guest information from
I have a system in place for taking a recording from edited episode to get it uploaded to my host and then build out the show notes
My podcast episodes get scheduled in advance to be automatically published early Tuesday morning each week
I have a consistent process for promoting my podcast episodes through IG and email
What I’m working on doing:
I’m working to do a better job of BATCHING my content. Batching is an amazing skill to have -- for me this would mean. Recording a bunch of episodes one day. Editing them on another day. Setting up all the marketing on another day. Sticking to one kind of task at a time saves is much more time-efficient than switching between tasks for one episode all on the same day… which is what I often do at this point.
At some point I will be outsourcing the podcast editing -- it is not my zone of genius and takes me a bit too long!
The goal is for me to spend as little time as possible … creating content that is AS GOOD as I’ve been creating, if not better. And every free minute I find in my schedule is time I can use to work on new, fun things that light me up in my business, or spend time with little family.
#7: Create community
When I first started out in my small business, back in 2017, I was so excited to work for myself… by myself. I’m an introvert and I felt like this lone wolf working style was going to be my sweet spot.
It only took a couple of months for me to realize that running your own business… for yourself, by yourself… can be super lonely.
My experience as a small business owner got a LOOOOT better when I started to prioritize finding community and letting other people in. Sharing what I was struggling with, sharing my wins, asking for advice and input where I needed it.
For this step, I’m going to simply say: FIND SMALL BIZ COMMUNITY. You won’t regret it.
If you’re wondering HOW, here are a couple places to start:
Join my community! If you like this podcast, you’ll love the Good Business Community, free FB group where we take the conversations further and do other fun things :). You can join at makinggoodpodcast.com/community
I did a whole podcast episode about finding your small business community -- that’s how important I think community is! Listen to episode 25: How to Find Your Small Business Community.
#8: Let it be fun
Okay, my last and final tip for STICKING WITH IT is my favorite, and that is to LET IT BE FUN.
If I’ve learned anything over the last few years in business, it’s that enthusiasm is a VERY VERY powerful energy.
When I’m excited about something, when I’m having fun with it, that’s when ALLL the best things happen in my business. And nothing keeps me motivated and more likely to stick with it, than keeping things fun, fresh and exciting.
I’m glad that I’ve approached this podcast from the perspective of, WHAT SOUNDS FUN? What do I want to talk about on the podcast? What lights me up?
Because the times that I really dig into what I’m excited about and lit up by, that’s when things really take off. Those are the episodes that are downloaded the most and that you message me about and say they made an impact for you.
Ask yourself, what would make me excited to work on this project? And then entertain that idea!
An example for me is that in November, I decided it would be really fun to give a holiday gift to my listeners of a BONUS episode every single week in the month of December. This was… a lot of work. But it was SO fun, that despite it being a very busy time in retail, I was able to pull it off.
In December 2020, I released 11 episodes, and they were some of my favorite episodes to date.
Not only that, but this campaign of doubling up on my episodes led to some pretty massive growth in my listenership, which has continued to this day.
So, if you have a tendency to be “ALL BUSINESS”, I would encourage you to give yourself the opportunity to do something fun -- it will keep you excited and motivated to keep going, and you never know what kind of results you might see!
So, as a quick review, here are the 8 ways to stay on track and stick with it:
Schedule it
Make it easy
Find accountability
Get feedback
Track it
Get efficient
Create community
Let it be fun
Sticking with things is hard. But it’s possible, and I hope this episode offers some ideas you can put into practice the next time you have a project or idea that you really want to stick with.
If you enjoyed this podcast, here are a couple of ways to keep the ball rolling:
First, I have an awesome guide to creating great marketing content and coming up with new ideas. Download it (FREE) at: makinggoodpodcast.com/content.
Second, there’s a Facebook community of amazing other small business owners and great content just for the group that I would love for you to join. makinggoodpodcast.com/community.
If you found this podcast episode helpful or valuable, I would love to hear from you! Take a screenshot of this episode in your podcast player and tag me on Instagram @laurentilden.
You can find the full details from this episode over at the show notes page at makinggoodpodcast.com/63.
If this is your first time tuning in and you’re interested in hearing more about my businesses, check out:
How I can help with your small biz marketing, laurentilden.co
My plant-inspired greeting cards, vinyl stickers and art prints, goodsheila.com
Seattle retail shop Station 7, station7seattle.com.
Thank you for being here, and for focusing on making a difference with your small business!
Talk to you next time.