If you ever think about building your persona online, and build a business from there, there are some things that you can not afford to neglect. If you’re like me, you will feel unsatisfied at some point. I mean, back then I wonder, – OK, I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and I blog, – now what ? How do I use my profile to my advantage ? How do I build my online credibility to the point where I could gain something from it ? This is the point where I sat back and consider the best lesson there is : the Internet celebrities, – so to speak.

You see, when we consider the most prominent Internet personas and the way they market their respective credibility, the first character trait that comes to mind is consistency. From the larger-than-life Robert Scoble, the calmer proto-blogger Dave Winer, web strategist Jeremiah Owyang, or marketer-cum-writer Guy Kawasaki with his Alltop portal; – they all have consistency as the main key and leverage of their success. What they do may differ dramatically, – yet they agree on that one single important point.

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First, let’s take a look at some definition. Taken from Merriam – Webster online :

Main Entry: con·sis·ten·cy

Pronunciation: \kən-ˈsis-tən(t)-sē\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural con·sis·ten·cies

Date: 1594

1 a archaic : condition of adhering together : firmness of material substance b: firmness of constitution or character : persistency 2: degree of firmness, density, viscosity, or resistance to movement or separation of constituent particles <boil the juice to the consistency of a thick syrup>3 a: agreement or harmony of parts or features to one another or a whole : correspondence ; specifically : ability to be asserted together without contradiction b: harmony of conduct or practice with profession <followed her own advice with consistency>

Taken as our starting cue, this definition serves us excellently in trying to comprehend what consistency is and apply it to what we do. The goal of this post is to underline this.

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Now, I believe there are several dimensions involved when we talk about the concept of consistency. I am going to offer two of them for you to think about.

First, consistency applies to your own credibility. You need to be consistent in building your online existence to help you gain audience and influence. Do your homework. Examine closely your strength and weakness as a person. You might even need to ask your self this question : How do I want people to know me ? Define your USP ( Unique Selling Point ), and be consistent on that. Scoble, again, is a fine example of this. He knows that his particular strength is in technology, – having spent some time working for Microsoft. And that’s what he built. Successfully.

Secondly, consistency also is closely related to the concept of perseverance when the going gets tough. I am talking about the daily grind of blog writing here, among several things. Sadly, this is where a lot of very potential person fails. They build their “brand” as a person strong and loud, – only to disappoint us in the end because their most recent blog entries is 6-months-old, – for example. Never let daily activities hinder you from maintaining what you did before. Learn from Guy Kawasaki. Devoted to his portal project alltop.com, he painstakingly keep it updated with new sections. Of course, let’s not forget how he tell the world about the new section afterwards.

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Of course, consistency is only one of the key values that you have to acquire. However, I strongly feel that it probably is the most important core value to adopt if I’m to succeed in what I do. Back to the context of this post, being consistent will help you build your online existence to the point where you gain some advantage for it. Be it a business, new client, or some other intangible benefits, – it’s your choice. Good luck !