Bear with me here even if your idea of running is only for free Starbucks ☕️
This week I talked to pediatrician and running coach Michelle Quirk, MD for her YouTube channel for doctors. She reminded me that when you work with a running coach, one of the first things they’ll tell you is to slow down. Our instinct when training is to run hard and fast. But the truth is that outside of speed work, training runs should be slow. This keeps you from getting injured and builds endurance for race day.
Finding your groove in content creation for your practice is a lot like learning to become a better runner. As much as we all want to hurry to the finish line, the truth is that translating what you do as a clinician into content that will reach your audience takes time and practice.
Getting comfortable with new platforms, creating the habit to carve out time and even finding your authentic voice is a process.
Slow and steady is the way to get there 🐌
Meanwhile, social media, especially Instagram, can make you feel like everyone else has it all figured out while passing you in a race to nowhere. And to stick with the running metaphor, it can feel like a treadmill of never ending content consumption and creation. But the truth is that everyone is just experimenting and finding their way. Some people just got started earlier.
If you’re new to creating content, or if you’re just getting back to it after a long break, here are 3 suggestions for getting consistent:
Set aside time in your calendar to focus on content creation. Put it in your calendar as an appointment with yourself, with no interruptions.
Create content from what you’re already doing in your practice. So much of what you cover in appointments can become a source of content. The problems you solve and the questions you answer in your days’ work are all indicators of what your audience needs to hear.
Set a realistic goal for your content. Content creation only works if it works for YOU. While posting more often will yield better results, speeding up to burn out won’t. Just like running, pick a cadence that’s right for you. 3 posts a week is plenty if you’re new to social media. Go with an amount that’s doable.
Clinicians currently in my Everyday Marketing Bootcamp course are doing just this. Here’s what one had to say in the group this week:
I’ll leave you with a bit of beautiful wisdom I heard from Tony Award-winning actor Andre Dé Shields from his You and Me Both podcast interview with Hillary Clinton. My girl, Brandi Carlile is on the first half, so I obviously listened. But it was Andre who blew me away.
He offers 3 cardinal rules that apply to anything in life, even to creating content to grow your practice:
Surround yourself with people whose eyes light up when they see you coming
Slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be
The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing
Here’s to slow and steady growth,
Wendy✌️
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