399: The Real Reason You’re Not Posting Consistently on Social Media

[00:00:00] You know that content calendar that you made, the one that you were sure and promised yourself. I am going to stick to it this time. I am going to do all of the pieces on this calendar. Yes, me too. I'm saying that because I fully know that feel that been there. But here's the hard truth as to why you're not sticking to it and why you're not completing all of those things.

[00:00:26] It's not because you are lazy, it's because you are set up is broken. Your mindset might be playing with you a little bit. So today we're going to talk about the friction and how to remove it so you can finally start being consistent Hey there. I'm brief hair content creator, coach, and your host of the Thrive Podcast, and I'm here to help you build a brand you're proud of with clear strategy and real support. Let's dive in. without the burnout.

[00:01:13] So, have you guys heard of Stand Store? I've probably talked about it every once in a while here on the podcast. It's a I guess like a web app, but basically it allows you to quickly and easily sell a digital product on social media. I really, really love it and I love the team behind it. The founder behind it seems really, really awesome and really cares about content creators.

[00:01:39] So anyways, they currently have this Dare to Post challenge going on where everybody that is participating in the challenge gets to divide this $100,000 pot. Currently, from what I can tell in the forum, there's like 29,000 people in it. So I joined. I'm not in it for like the money. I'm like, cool if I make a couple bucks, whatever.

[00:02:10] But what it's done, it's really pushed me to be consistent. So this started on February 17th and what the challenge is, is you have to post every single day on Instagram. Either a reel that is 10 seconds or longer, or a carousel that is four slides or longer every single day for 30 days. This has like lit a fire in me for some reason.

[00:02:36] I needed a little bit of push. I love a challenge like in my personal life. I am on the Step Bed app and it really pushes me to like get moving every day and get my steps in. So I love a challenge. I love something that has a start and an end date. I'm not good at things that are like, it's a challenge, but it doesn't really have an end date.

[00:02:57] That's where I just like me. I, I just can't. But this is a definite start and end date and it's really motivating me. So if you pop over to my Instagram, you're gonna see Brie has been super active. But what this has shown me is that, you know, that line of like, oh, just be consistent. Right? It's not good advice, truly.

[00:03:19] We have to be consistent, but yes, but like. Just saying that advice alone doesn't actually talk about the things that make it really hard for us to be consistent. So I wanna share with you guys a few different ideas that I have to really help remove that friction and to help us get into that habit and do things that really set us up for success.

[00:03:46] So the first idea that I have is called the five minute Filming Rule. So this is to really just remove that intimidation that comes with filming content. Sometimes we can make it be like this whole big thing where I have to have this script and I have to have this perfect idea, and our audience just needs us to show up for them.

[00:04:09] Yes, consistently. But we put up these different barriers, whether real or imaginary, constantly that stop us from showing up for our audience. So the idea of this five minute filming rule is that you are telling yourself you only have to film content for five minutes each day. That's it. Only five minutes.

[00:04:33] Most days you'll probably keep going because it's like a muscle. Once you start to use it, it gets stronger and you want to do it more often. But even if you stop, even if you only do it for five minutes that day, you still showed up. Consistency is built. In the prevention of zero days. Right? So whenever you are working out, right, you want to be consistent with it.

[00:04:59] You don't have to do it every single day. No, but like you have to, in order to see results, you have to do certain things more often. You maybe need to get more steps in. Maybe you need to drink more water, maybe you need to try to work out two or three times a week, right? It's that consistent habit. And so this idea of like a five minute rule of like, okay.

[00:05:20] We can all take five minutes a day to film some content. Maybe it's just B roll. Maybe it is talking head, maybe it is showing something, that you're out and about and doing, or something in your home or a hack that's helping you. Right. But I'm talking about just filming. Just the filming part.

[00:05:36] We have the ability every single day to film at least five minutes. Idea number two is. The, what I call like an already ready station, right? Like a, I want a station where you have everything ready to go. So anything that you might need for filming, I want you to just have it in like a cute little cubby or a little.

[00:06:01] Basket. Like if you need an excuse to buy some storage, a cute little container, this is your excuse, okay? But anything that you may need for filming, I want you to keep it in one place. So if that is a tripod, if you're using a camera other than your phone, having that in there, having your chargers in there, having batteries, having SD cards.

[00:06:26] If you use any lighting, have that ready to grab easily. I'm gonna link my favorite tools that make content creation easier for me in the description below, including my favorite MagSafe tripod that I just got. It folds up so teeny tiny that I can even travel with it or throw it in my bag if I'm going out somewhere and wanna film some content.

[00:06:48] Um, I love it. I love having a solid tripod that takes up. No space. And there's something about a mag safe where I'm not having to like fight to clip it in and get it to stay and all that. Riga Maru. So I love this because if it's going to take more than like 30 seconds to start, or there's like a lot of setup, like even today I was so frustrated when I was going to record this podcast, I had to get, like, something was wrong with my mic.

[00:07:14] It like wasn't linking up. My computer wasn't registering it for some reason. It's all plugged in. And I'm talking to Hailey, my podcast coach and manager, and I'm like, what's going on? And she's like, oh, try plugging it into this port instead of this port. And it's like stupid, simple little things.

[00:07:29] But in my brain I was like, I only have a limited amount of time to get this done before I have to go to the next thing. And I'm about to just call it. But I knew I couldn't call it. And so there's something about removing all of those barriers, right? Removing every single obstacle that may be in your way for filming, whatever that is.

[00:07:50] Like keep it all together, like make it super simple for yourself to get that five minutes of filming every single day. My idea number three is B-roll farming not filming. So. Stop filming just for one video, but instead start like collecting B-roll daily. So B-roll farming is like, think of like harvesting, right?

[00:08:15] Like you're gathering a lot of things. A farmer isn't going out and just picking like, okay, I'll probably sell like 20 years of corn at the farmer's market this week, so I'm gonna just go pick 20 years of corn, right? Like, no, they have like a harvest time or they're going and they're gathering a lot.

[00:08:32] Or like whole fields of content, right? I live in Minnesota, so we're gonna blame this analogy on that. There's lots of farms here. Um, and so that's the same type of concept when it comes to filming B roll. I'm getting in the habit of just filming B roll consistently throughout my day. Whether my assistant Ashley believes this fully or not.

[00:08:54] I'm trying Ash, I'm trying really hard. It's that habit, right? It's that habit that we have to keep doing, but. The idea of like, okay, I'm gonna just film for this one reel. Okay, and then I've gotta film for another reel, and then I've gotta film for another reel. Instead. If you can get in that habit of filming for five minutes a day and capturing little clips throughout your day of different things of different B-roll that you can then use throughout your content, the content that I'm finding performing.

[00:09:24] Well, and also is just fun both to view and to edit is ones with a bunch of different clips. Yeah, I love a good talking head and I love a good storytelling on reels, but like sometimes like I just need to be able to put something together that's kind of like quick pace, short little clips here and there, kind of telling a story with a bunch of clips rather than, talking head or just to even add some visual interest into a clip.

[00:09:51] So. If you pour your coffee, film it, opening your laptop, film it, walking to your car, film it, like all of the little things because when you think about it, the type of content that you're consuming, it's really fun to see how other people live their lives and do go about their day. I think. I mean, that's why social media exists, is we wanna feel connected to people.

[00:10:17] We want to feel like we're friends with all of these other people. We don't wanna feel isolated. And a big part of that is seeing how other people go about their day and yeah, do the mundane little things that we all do. Right? We all get coffee. We all. Open our laptops. We all like do these little things and it's like, why would I film that?

[00:10:39] But it creates this visual interest and it tells a story. So I just want you like, to me, B-roll makes it easier. Right, it's, it's building a library. So when you do sit down to edit, you're not starting from zero. Or if you're like, Ugh, okay, this talking head video is kind of boring, but then I can add in like some extra visual elements that make it a little bit fun.

[00:11:03] Or on those days when you're like, I don't have. This script in front of me, or maybe I have a script, but I don't have the visuals, right? Having a B-roll library on your phone, like create a separate album and just dump all of your B-roll content in there. That way when you open your app to edit, you've just got lots to choose from.

[00:11:24] That reduces so much friction when it comes to I wanna give a quick shout out to Cookie Finance. They're a finance company built specifically for content creators, and they work with content creators at all levels. So if you're just getting started on your creator journey, they have their new creator Business Essentials package where they help you set up your LLC.

[00:11:48] And your bank account. And they can also help those of you that are already making an income and looking to relieve tax stress where they help you with full service accounting, bookkeeping, and tax strategy as your income scales. That's the plan I'm on and I'm. So grateful to have their team helping me so that way I can just focus on creating content.

[00:12:10] If you are a creator who wants to stop guessing, get organized, and actually feel confident about your money, then Cookie Finance is the team to know. They've really helped relieve my stress so much since I started using them, and also saved me money because I learned there were things I should be writing off that I hadn't been, and I've been doing this for years.

[00:12:33] I love cookie finance because their business was built for content creators. And no one else. So they know this industry inside and out. Take a peek at their services for yourself over at Thrive Together blog slash cookie because really you should be focusing on creating not accounting. Thrive together.blog/cookie. posting. Okay. Idea number four is to theme your days, so that way your brain doesn't have to decide, okay, what are we doing today? So, you know, if you are going about and you're like, okay, think of it as in terms of like habit stacking. So if you are filming five minutes of content every single day, and maybe it's just B-roll, maybe it is a quick talking head, whatever it may be, but you've got that down, okay?

[00:13:26] Now, if you can add on certain days of the week where you're like, okay, on this day I always record some talking head scripts. I know I'm gonna be in this location. I know I'm going to look a certain way where I feel confident. And so that day I'm gonna record these three talking head scripts. Great, and then you can repeat that.

[00:13:46] You're like, I know on every Monday I do this. On every Wednesday I always record a lot of extra B roll captures. On Thursdays, I always spend an hour editing. If you can theme your days, it can remove some of that decision fatigue. That is a big enemy to posting consistently and showing up consistently.

[00:14:15] Now, this doesn't always work, right? And when you're like, oh, I'm behind. I've gotta just post today. It's really about like. Creating better habits so that way you can show up more consistently. So it's like, okay, you know what? This week I'm gonna choose, or you know, this episode comes out on Thursday, so next week, alright, I'm gonna pick one day right now where I am going to sit down and film X, Y, and z.

[00:14:39] And the next week I'm gonna do that exact same thing on that exact same day, but I'm also gonna add in a day where I'm able to sit down and just edit for an hour and hopefully I can edit at least two or three reels while I'm doing that. Right. If you create those habits that you can stack, right? So doing one habit and then doing another and doing another, the next thing you know you're going to have this really good routine that helps you be consistent and it helps you show up.

[00:15:08] It's all about removing those barriers. Creating consistency through habits and through removing all of the extra decisions that we need to make. And like for me right now, it's, I'm recording this on a Monday and I don't have a good strategy for what I'm posting this week, but I know I'm gonna make myself do it because I'm in this challenge and gosh darn it, I'm gonna freaking do it.

[00:15:31] So I know that today at some point, I need to really just like put on my headphones and sit down for at least an hour. Really think through my strategy. I've got a lot of ideas, but I really need to pull it all together to figure out, okay, what is going to make sense across the board and really help grow my presence, not just posting to post, right?

[00:15:53] That's what I want to do. I've gotten into, okay, I'm posting, I'm feeling good about showing up. I am not doubting myself as much, but now I need to start to implement a lot more of that strategy piece. This is just coming from like I've posted every single day for six days in a row now and it's already removed.

[00:16:13] Some of those barriers, some of those like negative self-talk or overthinking or like second guessing myself just by showing up for six days in a row, it's already changed something in my brain. So maybe we need to do some type of challenge like that for Thrive. Let me know if you guys are interested in that.

[00:16:31] That could be really fun. But. There's something about knowing that like I'm showing up. There's this challenge. It's 30 days. I can do this. It's really, really helping me. Idea number five is to lower the stakes publicly. And I think that's part of what my strategy is going to be going into this week, is I wanna create a series where I'm talking about, Hey, I'm actively trying to grow my Instagram account.

[00:16:56] I'm showing up more consistently. Yes, but my goal is to grow. This account I, it plays into some of my bigger goals for the year, and part of that is growing my following on Instagram. And so just telling my audience like, Hey, I'm trying to show up more consistently this month. And then now it's not like this pressure, it's like a project and they get to be.

[00:17:20] Involved with me and they get to cheer for me. And you know, I feel like I'm held accountable a little bit. Like if accountability is your thing, like this is a way to do it. Like tell your audience what you're doing. I love following people's journeys on Instagram when they're tackling something or they're trying something or it's like.

[00:17:41] I don't know, you know what kind of reels I'm talking about, but it's like, oh, I wanna see part two. I wanna see part three. I wanna see where they're at in their journey. I wanna see how they're doing. It's encouraging. I'm following this lady that was drinking a large amount of soda every single day, and she like cut it out completely.

[00:18:00] And she's on like two or three weeks now of like no soda. And I'm like, I'm cheering her on. Like that's literally why she made this Instagram account and now she has hundreds of thousands of followers. It's. Crazy, but like we want people to cheer on. We want to rally around people. We want to support people and feel connected and feel like we're a part of this community.

[00:18:20] So let your audience know what you're doing. If you need to be more consistent, if you need to show up, if you need to remove those barriers that are causing friction, involve your audience in it. Tell them what you're doing and allow them to support you and allow them to be a part of your journey.

[00:18:36] I'm really excited to see how the rest of these 30 days go. Like I said, I'm six days in at the point of this podcast coming out. I'll be a little bit further ahead, but join me in it and you know, let me know which of these ideas really resonated with you. When you feel like, oh, I can really like start to implement those and that's actually going to really help me.

[00:18:56] Be sure to come and like send me a DM over on Instagram or hop into our Facebook community where we can chat at any point in time. And of course, like if you're wanting more coaching, if you're wanting more accountability and somebody to like look at your account And somebody to give you ideas and help give you advice, to get things in place, to be consistent and to grow bold. Fluence is a perfect place for that. Come and join us. We have coaching every single month. We have different calls and accountability If this episode helped you, help us grow, leave a review, share it with a friend, and tag us on social media. We can't wait to cheer you on. and forums where you can have a community that is there to support you along the way.

[00:19:58] I'll leave all those links for you guys below, and I will see you back here next week for a new episode.