I feel like I’m the worst person ever to be talking about this, but that’s exactly why I will continue typing. These posts are meant to be a sort of journal of things that I’ve struggled with (and continue to struggle with), so please understand that I am by no means pretending to have it all together. If anything, this post is a tribute to my failure :). Also, this one will get kind of long. So I’ve included lots of pretty photos to get you through it!

The last time I blogged about Lessons Learned I talked about timeliness. Consistency goes hand-in-hand with timeliness- sort of like the two are best friends. If this were Facebook, Tim Lee Ness would be “in a relationship” with Consist N. See. Timeliness is awesome, but you have to be consistently timely.

Here’s what consistency doesn’t look like (and this is based off of personal examples): a Facebook status that says “Awesome shoot today! Images to follow soon!” Three weeks later? No images. Or “Wow! Jack and Jill’s engagement session was amazing! Look for a blog post later tonight!” Six days later? No blog post.

Remember in the timeliness post when I said that a lack of timeliness and follow-through encourages distrust among your clients? A lack of consistency will result in the same thing. Follow up on your word- if you say you’ll do something, do it. If I promise images that evening, I’ll do my absolute best to post a least one. I’m teaching my clients and potential clients that when I say “expect a sneak peek tonight” I actually mean it.

There is one particular photographer I used to follow who, for three weeks, promised a blog post of the same engagement session. Countless times she posted statuses that said “John and Jane’s blog post tomorrow morning!” or “John and Jane’s blog post tonight!” This was two months ago- to this day, still no blog post. It drove me crazy enough (because these happened to be photos I really wanted to see) that I “unliked” her page.

Consistency also means spacing things out so that you’re blogging/posting/Tweeting on a continuous/regular basis, however frequently or infrequently that may be (though I would encourage you to tend more towards “often,” but that’s another issue). When Niki, my graphic designer, and I were finally done with the blog, I wanted to blog about anything and everything. I was SO excited to finally have a place besides Facebook to display my work that I immediately started my write-ups for all the amazing blog posts I had brewing in my mind.

If I’d gone ahead without thinking, you’d be able to look back on my blog and see about 7 events blogged in 36 hours. But then what? I’d have a 3-4 week dry spell with nothing. So I’d kick my blog off with a bang, teach my clients/readers to expect a boat load of posts every day, only to leave them with nothing for nearly a month.

Instead of blitzing all of the posts at once, I restrained myself and was resigned  to post one event every few days. This way I was staying consistent, and I didn’t put my clients and readers on overload from too many blog posts. Too much information like that will overwhelm people, and they’ll stop reading. A little bit of self-control in this situation went a long way.

I still have a long way to go when it comes to consistency. At the beginning of the summer I got this great idea that blogging EVERY weekday was a really good idea. It was! For about… three weeks. Then I began to run out of things to blog about. I was left some nights panicking about what I’d blog the next day. “Quick, Matt, do or say something sweet or weird so that I have material for my blog!” That actually happened once. It wasn’t my proudest moment…

These days I’m striving for four times a week, but I know I may only make it to three. And if that happens, I give myself grace, and tell myself that hopefully next week will be better. Nobody expects me to have five weddings/e-sessions/portrait shoots a weekend. But I’ve cultivated for myself a blogging atmosphere of fresh material. Though my posts may not always be a new e-shoot or a wedding feature, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll have new material up there every couple of days. Why? Because I’ve promised it. Because I’ve taught my readers to expect new material, no matter what its about, on a regular basis.

And it may only be a post about an awesome pesto recipe, or about how I don’t like Coca Cola unless it’s in a glass bottle, but friends? It’s something. Because the worst thing I can do for my business is promise, whether through words or previous actions, but fail to deliver.

Happy Friday!