5 Tips for Showing Up Consistently on Social Media (WITHOUT Burning Out)

As a business owner, one of your main jobs is creating content and showing up on various social media platforms in order to market your business.

It simply comes with the gig, and there’s really no way of getting around it. 

Sometimes, this concept of creating content and showing up consistently scares people away and makes them feel like they’re not cut out for the business owner life. 

“If I have to do THAT, there’s no way this is for me.”

And I hear you – as a former teacher, I know the feeling of realizing that you have to show your face online and create content consistently. 

When you started your business, you likely didn’t consider that side of the coin. Instead, you signed up to do the thing you love.

For me, that’s to write website copy and coach female business owners on how to do the same. For you, it might be taking beautiful photos at weddings or hosting holiday mini sessions for families. 

But the only way for the thing we love to actually make us money is by marketing it in a way that people want to buy!

And I hate to be the one to break it to you, but one of the best ways to do that is by showing up consistently online…which includes social media.

Now, if you know me at all, you know that I preach the power of websites. I believe that a website is something that ALL business owners need to have, and it can really be the hub of some of your best content. 

But that’s not to say that other platforms, like social media or an email list, aren’t also helpful – because they definitely are. 

So, after figuring out how to navigate this balance of showing up WITHOUT burning myself out, I wanted to share some of my top tips so that you can apply them to your business, too. 

If creating content and showing up consistently feels hard for you, my hope is that these tips help you see that there is a way to do it with ease!

5 Tips for Showing Up Consistently on Social Media

1) Pre-decide what YOUR consistency looks like.

We’ve all heard this advice before… “be consistent!”

*insert eye roll from business owners everywhere* 🙄

I’ll admit, this advice is pretty vague and not very helpful. The reason for that is because the term “consistency” doesn’t have any specific value attached to it to give you any guidance. 

So, I’m not going to tell you to be consistent. What I’m going to say instead is: choose your own consistency.

By definition, consistency means: acting in the same way over time, especially so as to be fair or accurate.

Nowhere in that definition does it say you have to show up on social media 7 days a week or post 3 times per day. 

All it means is that you show up in the same way over time – aka you do the same thing, over and over again. 

And the way this looks in your business will probably look different than how it looks in mine, and that is a GOOD thing!

The only way you can feel excited and motivated to actually show up is by choosing what works best for YOU, instead of trying to adopt any cookie-cutter approach that people are selling.

2) Create a rhythm for showing up consistently.

Once you’ve decided what consistency looks like in YOUR business, the next best thing you can do for yourself is to create a rhythm for what showing up consistently actually looks like. 

Another word for rhythm could be “habit.” The goal here is that showing up becomes second nature for you, instead of something that feels forced and stresses you out. 

Something that I’ve personally found to be helpful in creating a rhythm for myself is creating a habit around the times that I show up. 

For example, I love to post a day at a glance on Instagram stories each morning before I start my work day – not only does this count as “showing up”, but it also gives my audience a behind the scenes look into my work, which I’ve found that they love!

This simple rhythm has become a habit that’s built into my working routine and makes showing up feel second nature. 

Another way to create a rhythm for showing up consistently is by theming your days on social media.

For example, I call Thursdays “Screenshot Day” and use it as a time to share various things I’ve found throughout the week on stories. This ranges from new books I’ve found, podcast episodes, random work gadgets, clothes, etc. 

It doesn’t necessarily connect to my copywriting business directly, but it DOES allow me to show up and connect with my audience consistently, and they’ve grown to expect this from me every single week. Plus, I generate great conversation and engagement from these posts!

The way that you do this should be unique to you and your business, and there are no “rules” for what it looks like!

3) Repurpose your content.

One of my favorite marketing principles to remind myself, when I fear that I’m being repetitive, is that people actually need to see the same message at least 7 times before they internalize it or act on it.

SEVEN. TIMES. 🤯

This should give you a lot of relief when it comes to repurposing your content because there’s a good chance that not everyone is even seeing your content the first time you post it… and if they are, they likely need to see it again and again before they feel inclined to do anything about it. 

One of the BEST ways to show up consistently on social media without burning out is to lean into the power of repurposing. 

That blog post you posted a year ago? Refresh it and post it again. And then, use it to create a carousel for Instagram. And then, base your newsletter on the same topic. And then, record a podcast episode about the exact same thing.

Here’s your permission to repurpose, because I can promise you that no one is paying attention as much as you think they are. 💛

4) Use static Instagram Stories for the days you “aren’t feeling it.”

Somewhere along the way in the online business world, we’ve confused “showing up” with quite literally showing our face every single day. 

And while I agree that showing your face on Instagram Stories or going live on other platforms can absolutely be valuable, it’s not the *only* way to show up, and you’re allowed to have a balance. 

Something that I’ve personally implemented in my business that continues to pay off is creating a bank of static stories on Canva and using those as story backgrounds, so that I can continue to show up and overlay them with text. 

Just a few weeks ago, I used this very strategy to post a Stories series for a recent launch, and it didn’t diminish my results; it actually generated MORE conversation and questions!

You’re allowed to do the same, friend. And pro tip: it’s a good way to make use of all of those brand images that you paid good money for. 📸

5) Remember that your website copy doesn’t *just* have to live on your website.

Lastly, a reminder that EVERYONE (including myself) needs to hear: your website copy doesn’t *just* have to live on your website.

You are allowed to take the copy that you worked hard or paid for and use it on various platforms!

The point here is that you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel with your content. You already have a TON of solid messages on your website that would make for great content on other channels. 

So, I encourage you to audit your website, pull a few pieces that would make for great social content, and GO. FOR. IT. 

Overall, showing up consistently on social media can be what YOU make it. Don’t let what others are doing or not doing lead you to believe that you need to do the same. 

Like most things in business, you call the shots, and you make the rules, friend. 👏🏼

I’m curious – do you have any other tips or hacks for showing up consistently on social media that we need to know about? If so, I’d love to hear it! CLICK HERE to connect on Instagram!