Author: Garth Beyer

There are many styles of working that people deploy. If you’re ever curious what their work mindset is, pay attention to what they brag about.

Do they brag about the hours they put in, the fact they came into the office over the weekend, that they missed a happy hour because they worked, that they were the ones who had to turn the alarm on because they were the last to leave?

OR

Do they brag about how efficient a project was, how they were able to automate a component of a project, that they delegated a task so they could focus on a more important piece of the work, that they were able to get their work done like a professional so they could make it to their kid’s birthday party early?

We have a right to brag–it connects us, validates our efforts and can motivate others.

However, the choice of what we brag about is also ours.

Stay Positive & Are You Choosing What Makes You (and Others) Feel Best?

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There’s only one secret to winning an arm wrestle: Hold out longer than your opponent.

You don’t need to hold out hours longer. A single second will do.

That’s how you win. Not only in arm wrestling, but in getting ahead of any competitor or reaching any goal you’ve set for yourself.

Consider the concept of putting the customer first longer than a competitor puts their customer first (because we know there will come a time when we have to decide between the customer and something else).

Or consider the situation where you want to run a marathon and your only competition in mile 11 is yourself – can you hold out longer?

Our ability to have grit is what makes us great, but don’t think you need to have an endless supply of it. You only need to hold out on things long enough for them to make the difference.

Stay Positive & See You At Mile 26.21889

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An incredible friend of mine refuses to share any data or ideas or evaluations without action steps after them.

She believes that if we’re just talking to talk, then it’s not going to move a brand forward.

She’s right.

So, I write this merely to point out that action steps can feel annoying because they’re work.

But remember that the work we do gets us the change we seek.

Adding action steps doesn’t set you back, it propels you forward–which is scary–which is why we feel annoyed with action steps.

Consider requiring an action step for every data point you share or promise you make.

You’ll be amazed at the number of actions you can actually take, how little they will annoy you and how big of a difference you can make when you take them.

Stay Positive & Step Step Step

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Some may look at their reach of a social post and think they connected with 22,359 people.

Some might see the impressions the magazine gets and think they connected with each reader.

Some likely consider a purchase or renewal to be a connection with their customer.

But is that really how we want to define connection? Or is there a more powerful, empathetic, personal and ultimately rewarding way we can define – and carry out – connection with others?

Stay Positive & Keep Raising The Bar Of How We Define Connection

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What if, today, every dollar you have been putting toward raising awareness of your brand, you put behind nurturing those who are already aware of it.

What if you promoted your social content to only your customers, subscribers, policyholders, fans.

What if you took all your newspaper and magazine advertising and did a 100 Day Giveaway to those who already follow you.

What if instead of running a discount for those who enter the door, you buy a fruit and donut assortment for those who were already on their way.

Notice how each of those options weren’t questions.

You CAN flip the script on how you market your brand.

Your one decision away.

And if you haven’t already thought of the beauty of this–investing in those who already engage is no doubt going to raise your brand awareness with others.

Stay Positive & Win Win

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Your pitch isn’t worth much unless you’ve connected with the board of decision makers.

Your value of your work will go unseen unless you’ve connected with the heart of the target.

It’s hard to feel supported when you haven’t connected with others to help you when the going gets rough.

It’s difficult to get a thousand readers on a blog when you’ve put no effort into making face to face connections with those in your community.

If you’re trying to find friends, the fastest way is to be one.

If you’re trying to succeed alone, it’s simply not going to happen.

And if you feel stuck or slowed down on your journey, there’s nothing like having coffee with a few new people to remotivate you to move forward.

Stay Positive & It’s All About Connection

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For most new endeavors, simply being new gets you the attention of those in your target.

You don’t need to spend much on awareness to get people in the door for the first time.

This is counter to most businesses pre-opening advertising budgets and, actually, it’s counter to most advertising strategies, too.

The basic math is that increased awareness means increased sales.

There’s truth to the equation, but only for the short-term.

The real long-term equation is that increased affinity means increased sales.

Building affinity requires a different kind of mindset than building awareness. It’s a mindset of what will get a person back a second or third time – not just the first.

It’s the difference between a buy-one-get-one deal to get people in the door and placing a few stickers and a chocolate in the bag along with the item that was purchased.

It’s the difference between shouting that you’re now open and shaking someone’s hand as you thank them for coming to your venue.

The beauty about affinity tactics is that they are awareness-generating, too, so they become a win-win.

If you think about it, people talk more about what they’ll go back to than what they’ll never try again.

Are you building a brand around that?

Stay Positive & Assess Yourself On Repeats More Than Unique Visits

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