by Denise Miller Holmes

In last month’s SWAS Encouraging Note, I introduced the concept of reaching a goal slowly.

I kept it general, for whatever goals you were setting. But in this article, I’m going to apply it to writing.

For instance, I know that the expectations for writing a blog and other social media posts are to post daily. That’s what the pundits say—post daily.

There are Influencers on YouTube who say they are on every social media platform you can think of, and they say they post all kinds of content daily! Of course, these superpeople also produce their core product consistently, too.

I used to believe them—that they personally posted all the time—but then I really listened to what they said. Every now and then they’d mention “assistants.”

Aha! The light dawned. While these social media mavens expected us hoi polloi to work until our fingers bled marketing our stuff, they were assigning all the same tasks to assistants!

I don’t have the money to hire or even rent those things, so I went the other way—I posted less often.

That means while everyone else was crying and exhausted because they obeyed the daily mandate. I turned down the heat and only posted weekly, or even twice monthly.

It was odd, but after a while, I looked at all my posted articles and was bowled over by the amount of content I had. And I had ample comments from people who liked my work—both on the blog site and on Facebook. People were engaged.

After taking a long break from teaching and writing, when I returned to the publishing world, I took the slow-and-steady method and applied it to everything, plus a twist. I formulated a newsletter (the one you’re reading) and brainstormed the schedule and the pace of writing I wanted. I came up with a newsletter that I issued every other month, with eight short pieces. That way, all I had to do is write one short piece a week. No pressure!

After I read an expert’s book and found out that once-a-month was the least you should bring out a newsletter because your audience tends to forget you if you connect less often, I added an “encouraging note” on the off months. There are only two, quick items in that note. Again, something I can do fast and easily.

After seeing how satisfying producing the SWAS newsletter was, I decided to revive my blogs. Instead of writing completely new blog posts, I am recycling the newsletter articles. I post one a week on each platform. This way, I have content on every media platform I’m engaged in (and I know that the blogs have a different audience than the newsletter subscribers) so I’m widening my audience.

I tell you this to inspire you to rebel against the platform demands that make you feel as if something is sucking your soul. You can build your content slowly and steadily.  I promise you, none of this overtaxes me, and Google has never called to berate me for not posting daily on my blogs.

I know it all seems daunting, but if you feel the pace is too intense, adjust the dial to slow. When you choose that speed, it will be important to be consistent. The axiom is “slow and steady wins the race.” So, steady is a necessary ingredient.

Just remember, it’s your life. No one will die if you get out of the fast lane. Besides, aren’t the members of your audience busy? Don’t they have a daily blog to write? Ha!

As a summary, slow and steady is as good, maybe better, than fast. Don’t worry that your audience will die if you aren’t putting pedal to the metal—if you post often enough (or publish a book, or send out a newsletter), you will still keep connection. Just keep it consistent and everyone stays happy.

‘Nuff said.

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