My Counterintuitive Secret for Social Media Consistency as a Business Owner
One of the top 3 questions that I get as a blog writer and strategist is, “how do you stay so consistent on social media?”
(If you’re curious about the other two questions I get the most, I talk about those here!)
Now, I don’t think I get this question because my social media content is off the charts incredible or because I have awesome graphic design skills (I definitely don’t… I have Canva to thank for what I can do) or anything like that.
Regardless of the type of content I have on social media or how it aesthetically looks, this question has to do more with the fact that I am fairly consistent on social media, specifically Instagram, and people notice that.
Social media consistency is what a lot of business owners tend to struggle with and I believe this happens for one of two reasons for content creation in general:
1) You’re frozen with a ton of ideas, but can’t seem to get them out.
Many times in business, especially when you're just starting out, you may find that you’re extremely passionate about what you do and you’ve grown so much knowledge that you want to share it with people, but you find yourself having soooo many thoughts and ideas that instead of sharing them, you simply freeze.
You feel paralyzed and are left bottled up with so much goodness with no strategic way to get it out.
When you find yourself in this situation, it’s a vicious cycle with no clear way out.
2) You have tanked creativity with no idea where to start.
On the flipside of that, you may find that you have no creativity at all and the ideas simply aren’t flowing. This is often brought on by consistent overwhelm or burnout, which leads to very few content ideas and not knowing where to start.
You might feel disconnected from your audience, wonder if the knowledge you have is even worth sharing and may even start to question if what you're doing is worth continuing.
The GOOD NEWS is that wherever you fall, this issue can be solved the EXACT same way! 🎉
Before I tell you how, I want you to know that it’s going to be counterintuitive… and you might not like it at first. But give me a chance to explain, okay?
I wouldn’t be giving you this advice if it didn’t really work - promise 🤝
How To Consistently Show Up On Social Media as a Business Owner
Anytime someone asks me about how I plan my social media content or how I stay so consistent with it, I always say the same thing: I start with my blog content FIRST.
This is a screenshot right from the DM’s of one of my clients asking me this question:
My simple response to her was this: “I let my blog content guide what I post on social media.”
Because that’s the truth!
I don’t have defined social content pillars. I don’t post certain things on certain days. And half the time I don’t even have my social media content planned out in advance.
And guess what? None of that stresses me out! I’m sure there’s a social media manager or expert reading this right now and having a panic attack because there’s no StRucTurE.
But I’m just telling you like it is!
Though it may seem haphazard to some, it’s actually one of the easiest things that I do and the reason for that is I can directly link *almost* all of my Instagram posts back to a blog post (I’ll show you some of those in a second).
That’s the very reason that I encourage ALL business owners to have a blog in their business, especially if you also want to have a social media presence.
As a blog writer and strategist, I firmly believe that blog content is greater than social media content and yes, I’m highly aware that’s an unpopular opinion.
But here’s the thing: none of us are Mark Zuckerberg… unless Mark is in fact reading this blog post. In that case, hi Mark – this probably doesn’t apply to you. 😂
What I mean by that is because you aren’t Mark Zuckerberg, you have ZERO control of what happens to your social media content, your followers or the platform as a whole.
What you DO have control over is the content on your website (aka your blogs).
If you are only building your business on platforms you don’t own (like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc), what will you do when the owners of those platforms decide to do away with them completely?
As a business owner myself, I would much rather spend time and energy on long form content that will be hosted on channels I own (which will ultimately serve me for years to come) while also getting the benefit of being able to work smarter not harder on social media as well.
Owning your content, meaning it’s in a place where you have full control – like your website, means that you can populate higher in Google searches, actively build your brand and NOT someone else’s (like Mark Zuckerberg’s) and you aren’t handcuffed to algorithms.
(For a deeper dive into the importance of owning your content, read this blog post!)
Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t post on social media at all – after all, this blog post is all about how to be consistent with that!
What I’m ultimately saying is that social media should be treated as a TOOL that you use to grow your business, not a lifeline.
When you start with blog content FIRST, you're able to provide ultimate value for your audience in a place where the content will never expire which means that your audience can refer to it over and over again whenever they need to.
PLUS, if there’s ever an instance where one of your social media platforms is down for the day (like what happened on Halloween in 2022) or the unthinkable happens and it’s deleted forever, you always have a starting point for content and have a trusty place that you can direct people to!
Beyond that, you’re never left wondering what you should post on other platforms because you already have plenty of education and information to pull from to create your social media content in a way that feels easy and WAY less time consuming.
While you can of course purchase the Instagram templates, create an ideal posting plan, batch record reels or spend a full day creating aesthetically pleasing graphics, I want more for you as a business owner than to be handcuffed to social media.
YES, I want you to post to your favorite platforms if that’s what you want to do, but what I don’t want is for those platforms to feel like a burden or chore for you because the content feels hard.
There is a better way, friend, and I’m living proof (alongside my clients) that the better way is through blog content FIRST!
And I know what you might be thinking… “Natalie… I can’t even get the motivation to create a simple Instagram post, how the heck do you think I can create long form content like a blog post?!”
And I hear you! I really do.
But the thing about long form content, like blogs, is that you aren’t limited to 60 seconds and you aren’t confined to a character count.
You can freely give as much value as you want concerning a topic and it often produces many more ideas throughout the process.
From there, you are able to pull small pieces to use on social media and give people a little taste (like a Costco sample) and then guide them to your blog post for the full meal (like a Golden Corral Buffet).
Ultimately, your content starts to work FOR YOU instead of you constantly working for your content. 🙌🏻
How To Repurpose Blog Content For Social Media
Now that you know my counterintuitive secret to staying consistent on social media, you’re probably wondering what this looks like in action.
So, to show you how this is REALLY possible, here are a few of my most recent Instagram posts as well as the blog post that they directly link back to:
This tweet graphic was pulled directly from this blog post.
This carousel was inspired by one of the points in this blog post.
The caption of this reel was pulled entirely from this blog post (and the content of that caption was also used in this carousel).
This reel and this post was created after writing this blog post.
As you can see, there is a TON of overlap between my social content and blog content and that’s because I believe your social content should never reinvent the wheel.
(OH, and this overlap also happens in my newsletter content because at the end of the day, your content on ALL channels should be working together - I talk more about that here!)
Ready to adopt the Blogs First, Socials Second Approach?
If you’re tired of reinventing the wheel with your social media content and are ready to have a solid system you can follow to show up on social media consistently (without it overwhelming you), my Blogs First, Socials Second Workshop is for you!
In the workshop, you’ll learn:
✔️ Why Creating Social Media Content Feels So Overwhelming
This is likely THE reason showing up consistently on all the platforms you *want* to be on feels nearly impossible.
In the workshop, we’ll unpack what’s actually causing the overwhelm (hint: it’s not that you’re bad at content) and why starting with blogs instantly removes so much of that pressure.
✔️ The Content Marketing Funnel That Makes Content Creation as a Whole 10x Easier
I’ll walk you through the exact content funnel I teach my clients and Writer’s Room members – the one that connects your blog, email, and social content so you’re not constantly reinventing the wheel.
When your content works together instead of separately, content creation becomes faster, easier, and way more strategic!
✔️ How To Start With Blogs First and Use Them To Guide What You Create For Social Media
This is where we get tactical! You’ll learn how to take one blog post and naturally turn it into multiple social content ideas without forcing it, overthinking it, or feeling like you’re repeating yourself. This is the foundation of creating content that actually lasts longer than 24 hours.
✔️ Live Demo
This is the part I’m most excited about! You’ll watch me walk through the Blogs First, Socials Second process in real time so you can see exactly how it works – from blog post to social content plan.
✔️ Hot Seats
With your workshop ticket, you’ll get the chance to submit one of your blog posts for the chance to have it workshopped live!
I’ll show you how I’d pull social content ideas directly from it so you can see what this process looks like applied to real business content (not just examples).
✔️ Q + A
And lastly, there will of course be time for you to ask all your questions about blogging, repurposing, content planning, or making this approach work inside your specific business model. This is your space to get clarity and leave knowing exactly what your next steps are!
New to my world? Nice to virtually meet ya. 👋 I’m Natalie, but everyone calls me Natty (you can too) – blog and email writer for creative business owners and service providers.
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