Have you ever felt like you are like a ping pong ball trying to get it ALL done in your business?
If you're like me, you may be a procrastinator when it comes to your social media strategy thinking that multi-tasking is effective and then trying to get it all done at once.
And I'm thrilled to tell you everything you think you know about productivity is going to change after reading this post.
- Batching is DEFINITELY for you if….
- Posting stresses you out. You create posts day by day and grasp at straws about what to talk about. You don’t have a strategy or plan of what your themes are each day.
- You send emails when you feel like it and have something to say. You aren’t consistently building trust with your audience and they barely know who you are
- You don't have a clear path for your customer. You haven’t mapped out your customer journey from them becoming aware of you to actually purchasing from you and you know this is holding you back in your business
- You don't have a differentiated plan with your social media posts vs what goes in your intimate Facebook community so your followers may not see the value in being part of your community or are barely engaging.
I TOTALLY get it. This is how I did EVERYTHING before I discovered batching.
Flying by the seat of my yoga pants just felt easier in the moment but I always felt like I was on a hamster wheel that was running at full-speed and the more I learned about what I needed to do to grow my business, the more that wheel sped up.
WHAT ACTUALLY IS BATCHING:
Batching is like meal prep.
It's 1000% easier when you have the blender out, the ingredients out, the kitchen's messy and you're cooking anyways so you might as well cook a big batch up.
Same thing goes when you’re creating content.
It’s MUCH easier to write a bunch of posts, email, blog posts, etc when you know what you've talked about yesterday, your mind isn't switching between tasks and you have a direction you’re leading your ideal customer in. You’re much more productive when you create content in this linear fashion because you can be intentional about where you’re taking your ideal customer.
HOW I ACTUALLY BATCH:
So, here’s the truth to all of this.
When you first start batching, it can feel overwhelming because you still need to get all the things done (**the post for that day, the email for that week, your instagram stories, etc) but once you get going, it starts to feel like the waist band on your panting coming undone - free & liberating because you aren’t tied to being all over the place every day.
You can zone in and then set it and forget it.
So here are the actual steps I take when I batch.
Steph One: Planning
I always start with planning out my weekly & daily themes because when do my writing, I don’t want to be side-tracked with brainstorming so I get that out of the way first.
So I start with a big calendar and my smelly markers and get to work. I google Fun Calendars for that particular month (**see Social Media Strategy Training) and plot out any days I want to include in my themes.
For example: National Ride Your Bike To Work Day may be a theme I want to post about so I’ll want my post to reflect that on that day).
Once I go through any month or day themes I want to include, I then move on to what I have launching in my business. If there are any products dropping, I’ll want to have call to action posts on those days and “behind the scenes” posts leading up to the launch.
I also look at what I want to teach my audience each week and how this helps them better understand why they need my product. I may have 4 key lessons they need to learn before being ready to buy my product (**which are typically your most common objections) and I want to ensure I overcome those objections before launching.
For example, if I have a portion control program launching, I want to educate my audience on why portion control is key to weight loss and making a lifestyle change in the long term vs just dieting. This would be a blog post or video I would put together and share with my email list and talk about in my social media posts when that post or video drops.
Once I have followed those steps, that will take up about 40% of my calendar. I’ll then want to fill in the blanks with personal posts (about me, my dog, my husband, etc), education posts, testimonials & inspiring posts.
Getting my emails planned and my social media planned really helps in the creative process and when I sit down to write so I get it all done first.
Step 2: Writing & Uploading The Queue
This part really is easier when I know what I want to talk about. I open up a Pages Doc and get to work. I have a template I use that has a spot for an image as well as the text and any hashtags. I also write here because I have lost too many posts if writing them right in a social media platform. I do all the writing first, then go back and insert the images I want to use and then use Seek Metrics to add in my hashtags.
I then use Buffer to upload my posts because I can copy and paste to multiple social platforms. I use Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter & Pinterest.
Step 3: Engagement & Interaction
By doing all of this stuff first and then scheduling it, it gives me time daily to interact and engage with my ideal customers and I’m not gonna lie, this is the part of my business I love!! I love getting to chat with my tribe and that was getting left behind when I wasn’t batching. I always make sure to comment and engage and respond to comments - this is super important to build trust and rapport but also to the algorithm.
The End Result?
I feel like I have way more time to do the things I love and I feel much more focused when I sit down and get a task done to completion. I am a forever changed BATCHER.
Now It’s Your Turn…
Are you consistent in posting?
- After all, consistency is where you’ll see the greatest change in your income. Consistency = COIN
- Is there anything you can outsource? (Your posts, scheduling them, writing emails, whatever it is, GET IT DONE FOR YOU if you aren’t following through!) Put your big girl pants on DECIDE this is important enough to make happen.
Do you show up to your email list? - I want you to be really honest with yourself- How are YOU *really* using your email list??
- Are you creating a connection with your audience or starting your relationship on the wrong foot?
- I encourage you to be really honest with yourself - are you really creating an experience for you ideal customers and giving them a taste of what it’s like to work with you?
If you were paying for your work, would you be happy with the quality ? - This is such a great question when we can answer it honestly.
- It isn’t about trying to do everything perfectly but outsourcing what you won’t get to and focusing in on your areas of strength.
- This is what’s going to take you to the next level in your business.
There you have it!
These are all the hacks around batching and how it has really been a huge life-saver in my business and I'm confident it will do the same for you! What do you think?
