The key for a successful business is to be consistent. I used to hate this maxim because it stressed me out. Every time I started a new project, I resolved to focus on it – and only this project! – until it was done. All I needed was willpower, right? At the beginning, focussing was always easy. I’d get almost obsessed, really. So sticking with it until the bitter end should at least be doable.
Except it wasn’t because I’m a Scanner. I write, draw and I paint. I create something every single day but the thought of creating on schedule, especially if that schedule focuses on a single project, is nauseating. Not sustainable long-term. My first reaction was to assume that running a successful business was simply impossible for me then. Everyone is shouting that consistency is key! They must be right.
And they are. But because people are not Scanners, they miss the obvious: Sharing consistenly does not mean you have to create consistently. For Scanners, the key for a successful business is to be inconsistently consistent. All you need is a bit of technology, the right mindset and a tracking system that works for you.
The tech
I am a cyclical Scanner, meaning I return to the variations of the same themes, and I also have to work on several projects at the same time. While I am (hyper)focused on a project, I create and produce in bulks. Once I lose insterest, I got nothing. Thanks to technology, this is no longer an issue.
Sharing consistently is easy now because it separates the creating from the sharing. You can schedule a post on social media sites, like LinkedIn. Writing blog posts? Just google “schedule post” + the type of website you have (for example WordPress) to find all the information you need. Allow yourself to paint the paintings, write the stories and craft the products you want to create for as long as you want.
While you refill your creative tank working on a new project, learn a new skill or just take a break, your fans and readers still get your content. Week by week or month by month or even daily, depending on how much you want to create.
The mindset
In order to get comfortable with this new way of sharing, you have to shift your mindset. First of all, release all the negative stories you have around scheduling. Authenticity has become an important value, especially on social media. For some reason, people believe that you cannot share authentically unless you share immediately.
This is nonsense, of course. Think of all the books you’ve read that were written years ago. Did you enjoy them any less? Or what about movies? They take ages to film and produce. Content has value because of the message you share. Art has value because of the feelings it evokes. Writing has value because of the thoughts and ideas it inspires. None of these values have a time limit.
So cut the mental ties between authenticity and immediacy. Unlink creating and sharing in your mind. Create when you feel like it, for as long as you want to, and then use a long-term system to share consistently. What do I mean by long-term system? Look at your output, at how much you actually create and then pick your rythm.
The system
How often and in what form you share your work depends entirely on what and how much you want to create. Not aspire to create, but actually want to do. Be as realistic as possible and err on the side of caution. This year, I am going into Full Scanner Mode, so I am working on several projects every month. How and how often I share the content I create for these projects is very different though. Let me give you a few examples.
In the newsletter for The Dodo Munches, my food blog for sugar-free living, I share two recipes and two short articles per month. That’s 52 e-mails for the year, containing 26 recipes and 26 articles. For A Scanner’s Life, however, my aim is to encourage you more than anything. The posts are longer and often contain additional material but the newsletters are short, so easy to write. I decided on 52 e-mails, 52 uplifting quotes, and 12 blog posts a year.
Teaching people Emotional Intelligence Skills takes a bit more work. The posts are very long, so there’s only 2 blog posts shared per month. That’s 26 newsletters and 26 articles a year. The system is not set in stone and in February I decided to change the newsletter to a weekly version, alternating between new blog posts and newsletters about core Emotional Intelligence Skills in which I also promote my courses.
I use the same principle when I plan social media posts, except that I only plan campaigns, so the time frame is 1 month maxium. A campaign can have the goal to get more people on my newsletter or to promote a freebie or to sell a product. But the system remains the same: I write the posts in bulk and schedule them.
Keeping track
To be inconsistently consistent, you need to keep track of what you shared when so you avoid sending out the same content twice. I use Excel tables. The first column has the date. To keep it as simple as possible and because it does not matter when people read my content, I send out all my newsletters on Saturdays.
In the next column I write down the topic of the newsletter, followed by what I choose to share (blog post, recipe, article), any additional shares (fun links, images, quotes) and finally the Call to Action so I remember to include it. If you want my template to start with, here’s an Excel table for 2024 without dates and one with dates for Saturdays. Adapt them to what works best for you.
Just because we are Scanners and some of us like to create in batches does not mean that we cannot run a business. Or, more likely, several. All you need is basic tech skills with the services you want to use, a mindset shift that your work has inherent value no matter when you create it, and a system to consistently deliver the goods. And you’re all set because for us Scanners being inconsistently consistent is the key to a successful business.