The Creative Bodega | Content Marketing and Instagram Growth for Solopreneurs

46: My Secret To Staying Consistent AF Even When Life Is Lifing

• Emily Connors

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If you've ever told yourself "I just need to be more disciplined" when it comes to showing up consistently online—I need you to hear this: It's not about willpower. It's about systems. In this episode of The Creative Bodega, I'm breaking down the exact content systems I use to stay consistent across my podcast, newsletter, and Instagram—even when life is absolutely chaotic (because honestly, when is it not?). You'll learn how I batch my content, the plug-and-play frameworks that keep me on track, and why waiting for your life to "calm down" is keeping you stuck. If you're juggling a full plate and craving a content rhythm that actually works for your real life, this episode is for you.

*Check out the full show notes for this episode HERE!

Things I cover inside this episode:

  • Why consistency isn't about discipline or motivation—it's about building frameworks that work when life gets messy
  • My exact podcast batching system using 4 plug-and-play structures that eliminate decision fatigue
  • How I repurpose my podcast content into my weekly newsletter (3-2-1 Create format) to save massive time
  • The Instagram content batching rhythm that keeps me showing up Monday through Saturday without flying by the seat of my pants
  • Why starting your business during your busiest season might actually be the secret to success (and how I built mine while working 6-7 Zoom calls a day with two toddlers)

Resources & Links mentioned in the episode:

Connect with me:
🫶🏼 Follow me on Instagram for daily insights
🫶🏼 Join my 321 Create Newsletter for weekly content tips
🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership

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If you've ever thought that you're just not consistent, it's not that you're not broken, you're just busy, right? You're not flaky. You just need more structure that's gonna fit your real life. And honestly, it's not gonna come down to willpower. I hate to break it to you. You need a content system that doesn't collapse when you're weak, happens to go sideways. Welcome to the Creative Bodega, a podcast about content marketing, Instagram growth, and personal branding for female service-based solopreneurs who wanna grow their business without letting it take over their lives. I'm your host, EM Connors, and each week I'll share actionable tips, expert advice, and unfiltered truths to help you create engaging content, connect authentically with your audience, and turn followers into loyal customers. All without the burnout. If you're ready to simplify your content creation, navigate the ever changing trends and build a business that works for you while staying sane in this crazy season of life, then you're in the right place. Hello my friends. There's something I wanna talk about today that I honestly would say is the biggest differentiator between people who succeed online. And people who do not, and people who make money and people who do not. And that is consistency. And it's also one of the hardest things, whether we're talking about losing weight or getting healthy or running a business online. I'm telling you consistency is what sets apart the people. Who do the damn thing and people who don't. Right? When I first started this business, I was literally doing so much, okay. I owned a CrossFit gym with my husband. I was our head nutrition coach. I managed two other nutrition coaches. I was mentoring other gym owners on how to grow their business through marketing. I had six to seven Zoom calls a day that were 45 minutes each. I had two kids in preschool who were two and three years old. I did not have time to start the creative bodega. I had to make the time to. Build a business of my dreams and get consistent. I worked during every nap time. I worked before the sun came up, before my kids were up. I didn't wind down with Netflix and wine at the end of the night. I worked when they went to bed. Why? Because I was literally desperate. To own my own business. I was desperate for the freedom of time. I was desperate to not have a boss dictating how I spent my time. I wanted to feel in control of my future. I wanted to be available to my kids when they needed me, when they were sick, when they had a school function to take them to sports. And you know what I realized during this insane time of my life, consistency wasn't gonna magically happen. It, it just, it doesn't happen because you want it to happen, right? If I was gonna show up consistently to grow this dream business, I needed systems. Not more pressure on myself to just do it. Right? Like just telling yourself to do it. It's just it's not enough. It's not enough. So if you ever told yourself, if I could just be more disciplined, I'd finally post consistently, or if I really wanted it, I would stop ghosting my audience. I love you, but that's just a myth we're told over and over that success is just based on willpower, right? It's based on want and willpower, but if you don't show up, it means you're lazy, right? Or flaky, or not cut out for this. But that's just not true. If you're juggling a full plate like all this client work, building a business, motherhood, you are just your life. It's not gonna come down to your motivation. It's about building a rhythm that you can stick to when life happens. Like I cannot tell you how many messages I get. MI was doing so well and then life happened. MI wanna post consistently, but like life keeps happening. Let's like this is the truth you guys. Life never stops happening. It never stops. Something is always going to be happening. If you think my life is any different than yours, you are wrong. I have sick kids. I get sick, you know, I have school functions I need to prepare for that. We've got a insane sports schedule. My dog eats stuff and ends up in the hospital. Like these are things that happen, right? It's never gonna stop the creators that you admire. They are not relying on daily motivation. I'm not. I know. I'm not. I rely, and I think they rely on structure and systems. Okay. Consistency comes from frameworks. Not from feelings or wants, right? So I wanna break down exactly how I stay on track across the three main things that I do, the main platforms I'm showing up on consistently so that I can grow my business consistently, even when life is lifeing and chaos strikes because I have these systems in place. I'm able to show up and it doesn't feel like a heavy lift, right? So I'm gonna talk about my podcast, my newsletter, and my Instagram posting. Those are the three main places I am showing up to grow my business consistently. Let's start with the podcast. Okay. I batch record. Two to three podcasts in a row on a Thursday or a Friday. Why Thursday or Friday? Because life just feels lighter. This is a Friday right now. My kids are off to school. I do not schedule calls on Fridays. I've got a pretty clear calendar. I do have a massage. I have to leave in 30 minutes, but like this is my me day, right? And I just feel lighter. So this day works for me to batch record. I use. One of three plug and play structures for my podcast. So my podcast coach who is phenomenal, her name is Anna. I will link her in my show notes. Her husband is Scott. He actually edits my podcast. Hi Scott. She gave me these plug and play structures. For my podcast. One is problem solution format. One is a myth busting format. One is a step-by-step guide. And actually there is a fourth one, I should have said four lessons learned format. Okay. So just having those helps me keep really, really on track and it makes me not wonder like, what, what should be the goal of this podcast? How should it be structured? Like I've got it right. And then I script out each of these. Episodes in chat, GBTI basically do the voice recording for chat, GBT. I really love talking to her and I will say, this is what I'm thinking. This is the goal. This is what I wanna promote, and here is the structure that I want for this podcast. And I copy and paste what Anna gave me. And then I basically read through the transcript, make any edits I want, go back and forth to chat to bt. Usually like, oh, I actually wanna include this story. Whatever. We go back and forth and then I'm good and I hit record. It's usually 20 minutes. I try not to overcomplicate it, so I've got basically 30 more minutes, and this should only take about 15 more minutes from here on out if I stay on track. My episodes have been getting a little long. I'm sorry, but I need to kind of scale it back so I'm not reinventing the wheel every time I have this structure. I would love for you to go back and listen to episode 16. I actually just went and, uh, updated all of my podcast episodes with the episode number in front of it because honestly, I heard that may not be the best thing to do, but I don't care. In order for me to reference them and find them quickly, I needed to sort of systematize it. So episode 16 is called The Content Trifecta, how I Use My Podcast, Instagram, and Email Together. To save time and show up. Okay, so that's a really great episode. I go into more detail in that episode number two, my email newsletter system. So if you're on my newsletter, which hopefully you are, I'll put the link in the show notes. It's called 3 2 1, create The podcast episode for the week has become my anchor for my content inside my newsletter. I reuse my podcast script once this is done to write my newsletter intro. And to help me come up with the three ideas. So I also format my newsletter the same every week, which makes it feel like plug and play. It's honestly so easy at this point. It's three ideas for your business, two things I'm loving right now, and one Canva tip. So those three ideas are structured off of my podcast transcript. So I don't wake up wondering, what should I write about in my newsletter this week? Right? It's already outlined. The framework saves me so much time, and I typically write my newsletter over the weekend. Again, I'm really relaxed on the weekend. I've got my coffee. My kids' sports usually don't start until later in the morning. It just doesn't feel like a big lift. I've actually come to really enjoy writing my newsletter on the weekend. Versus when I've kind of forced myself to try to write it during the week, I just feel too frazzled. I feel like there's too many other more pressing things and it just hasn't worked for me. An episode that you could go and listen to with more on how I sort of let cycles sinking. So working with my cycle and, and working more energy led. There's episode 14, it's called Cycles Sinking for Female Solopreneurs, A Smarter way to batch, create and Show Up Online. So go listen to that for more information on how I use my energy to really dictate how my month flows. In my business. Okay. The last thing is my Instagram content batching. Okay. This is something I do during the week, typically on Monday, Tuesday, and I batch for a week or maybe two weeks out. And again, I've got a system, I've got a rhythm, I have the type of posts I'm gonna make on Monday through Saturday. I know exactly what I need right Monday, a carousel to promote that week's podcast. Tuesday is typically a Canva tutorial reel. Wednesday, I'm gonna jump on a trend most likely, and it's going to be a reel with a strong value inside the caption. Thursday is usually gonna be something else. Kind of a takeaway or a thought connected to the podcast episode that week to try to get people to listen. Friday is a color story or a list type post, a font roundup, something like that. Saturday I'm promoting a freebie or the content coven. Yeah, there's gonna be flexibility. Listen, I, I'm not like so rigid that I'm like, if I don't post this, I die, or I can't swap a couple posts for the week, or I can't mix things up. I am not inflexible like that, but it means that I'm not flying by the seat of my pants for every post in the week and sitting there wondering, what should I post? You know, there's so many options. I don't know how to narrow it down. There's a plan. And that plan keeps me so consistent for when life throws curve balls, which high. It literally always does. It always does. So if you're waiting until your life calms down to start your business, just take it from me. I started it during, honest to God, the busiest phase of my entire life. And I think it helped. I think it helped me really optimize my time'cause I had so little of it. I find that when I have an excess of time, I procrastinate and I don't know where to start. But when I have 30 minutes, an hour, sometimes even 15 minutes back in the day, in between those zoom calls I was talking about when I was mentoring, I could get so much done in 15 minutes. I'm not even kidding. So if you've ever thought that you're just not consistent. It's not that you're not broken, you're just busy, right? You're not flaky. You just need more structure that's gonna fit your real life. And honestly, it's not gonna come down to willpower. I hate to break it to you. You need a content system that doesn't collapse. When you're week happens to go sideways. Okay? So I challenge you to ask yourself what is the hardest part about showing up consistently for you? And be really, really honest and ask why five times, right? I love that whole thing. Like, so if you're sitting here like, well, I just don't have the time. Well, why don't you have the time? Because I have a full-time job. Well, what is it about having a full-time job that means that you can't be consistent? What are you doing with the rest of your time? Well, like, so keep going. Okay. How can I make changes that I'm willing to try? That's the next thing you need to ask yourself. Be curious, be flexible. Talk it out with friends or other solopreneurs, or if you're in the content coven, you better hop your little booties in there and ask in there, because I'm telling you, you'll get like 13 responses from people other than me because that's the kind of community that I've grown and I'm so proud of it. So this is exactly what we build inside the visual edit. So the visual edit, which is formerly called the Insta Canva Collective, is my signature program coming in January of 2026. It is a group live cohort program where I help you create a content system that you can actually stick to even when life happens. Yes, we focus on visual content, for sure, branding reusable templates, but we go way beyond design because what good is Canva if you don't have a solid system to rely upon if you don't know what to post, when. Right. You don't have goals behind each post. We're gonna nail all that down. So if you're craving that structure, that ease, and a rhythm that's gonna work for your life, not the fantasy version where you know everything is calm and perfect, which whoever lives that life, God bless you. It's not me. I would love to work with you. The VIP wait list for the January, 2026 cohort is officially open. The link is in the show notes. You will get access to this program 24 hours before everyone else. I do expect it to sell out. It is absolutely limited to a number of spots because you guys, I am chiming in on everything. Me and my co-coach, Steph, she's the bomb. We are looking at and analyzing and giving you real feedback on every single thing you post and we're telling you what to post. There's weekly homework, weekly lessons. There's a community dedicated just to you, and it's epic. I'm, I'm not gonna lie, so I would love to have you, so please hop on the wait list so you can get the details. Okay. Here's your reminder. Start small. Start with a structure. Stop blaming your discipline.'cause that's not the problem. You don't need to hustle more. You just need a plan that's gonna respect your energy. Okay? You've got this. We've got this. I hope to see you inside the visual edit. I'll see you next week. Thanks so much for hanging out with me on the Creative Bodega Podcast. If you love this episode, please be sure to share it with a fellow solopreneur. Who could use a little content creation inspiration. And hey, don't forget to check out the show notes for any resources I mentioned on the episode to help you create content that feels easy and actually gets you results. If you want even more Canva and content tips, head over to my website, the creative bodega.com, or find me on Instagram under the same name. Until next time, keep creating, keep showing up, and most importantly, try and have a little fun with your content. I'll see you on the next episode.