Author: Garth Beyer

Before I got one of my tattoos, I drew it on my body with pen to see how I would like living with it.

Before a relationship, we usually go on dates to learn what the compatibility between us is like.

Before someone opens a business, the recurring advice they get is to work in the industry; to test the waters.

When something’s familiar, it’s also easier.

When we dabble in a project or industry, we get connected with others who can help us do the work better.

When we’re just in “trial” mode, there’s a lot less stress and anxiety and fear and worry because, hey, if it doesn’t work, we don’t have to stick with it.

The only caveat to testing the waters is to do so before others; have urgency.

Before you know it, the pool will be full and your vision achieved by someone else.

Stay Positive & Testing, Testing

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We’re already busy to the max, so the business we want to open, the art we want to create, the connections we want to make don’t make us more busy.

All we do is exchange time we previously invested elsewhere.

And this reason is one big reason it’s important to keep track of where we put our time.

The worst is when we sacrifice the important things we put our time to for another dream because we trick ourselves into believing we don’t have enough time.

When in reality, if we reflect, we spend more time on things that feel busy over things that feel productive.

If we’re swapping time for one thing for another, we should probably make sure it’s the right thing.

Stay Positive & Reflect And Update

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There’s no such thing as a valued transaction. There’s nothing exciting about that exchange.

But there’s something unique when it comes to the interaction. The person you’re talking to, the “thank you” email you get, the surprise gift that comes with the purchase.

The transaction is something that happens, but the interaction is something we have complete control over, from start to finish … and hopefully start again.

What are you doing to add value to it?

Stay Positive & Add Value

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If you’re struggling to leap forward in a group setting, then it’s worth calling a meeting.

Not a meeting to waste time or to complain, but to level set the group.

The reason being?

It’s easier to put our attention on what’s in front of us and how to move the business forward than it is to put our attention on getting others to our level, by our side, working to solve the same problems we are.

It’s a problem that plagues so many groups, especially ones of larger sizes (large in this case being 10+).

Perhaps you’re the one that’s not yet playing at the same level as others or you’re the one so focused on what’s in front that you’re leaving your team behind.

Either way.

It’s time to regroup so you can all move forward, efficiently, effectively, and successfully.

Stay Positive & Time To Set The Level

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Work is more fun as a team.

There’s more emotion, ideas and perspectives.

Work that’s made together is usually more inclusive, more moving and more likely to resonate.

If you’re struggling or frustrated with some of the work you’re doing, it’s worth asking if you have to do it alone.

Even a “can I bounce some ideas off you” is a collaborative step.

Stay Positive & Bring It In Team

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If you want the work to be a little bit better or if you want people to act sooner …

If you want your art to resonate more or if you need people to tell other people …

If you want to be remembered or if you’re trying to get that promotion …

Then everything you do needs to include inspiration.

Yes, the work you pass to the next person will get done, but it will get done better and faster if you can share inspiration with them along with the project.

The added benefit? In our attempt to inspire others, we often get more inspired ourselves.

Stay Positive & Put The Extra Inspo In

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Stories matter. We’ve got to tell them right, share them with heart and focus and have them resonate if we will ever make the change we seek to make.

We can view all the mediums to share that story as a hassle. It’s a lot of work to do it all well; to craft the same message for a poster as a tweet as a newsletter as a speech as a bumper sticker as a YouTube video as a letter as a business card as a website as a Story on Instagram…

The strategic marketer will select a couple of mediums that she can show up to consistently and where the message she wants to share will resonate most.

But the smartest marketer does, in fact, start all over the place.

In doing so, she effectively reshapes and rehearses her story. It morphs and strengthens and focuses and over time becomes one you can’t help but feel something when you hear.

Only then does it makes sense to zero in on a few manageable channels where the audience is and to lose the rest.

This is how the smart marketer’s journey works.

One other benefit to this path is that you can make assumptions that one medium is more effective than another, but until you show up at them both, you won’t really know.

Stay Positive & Practice Casting Wide First, Then You’ll Naturally Focus In

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