Author: Garth Beyer

I’m not sure when people began to expect their first time with anything to be smooth.

Never before have I heard, “that went exactly as practiced.” It has only ever gone better than practiced or worse. And when did worse become a bad thing?

Truthfully, it’s only a bad thing if it prevents a second attempt; it’s only a bad thing if the failure is taken personally; it’s only a bad thing when you let it be.

I’d like to see that changed. It’s supposed to be rough at first. You’re learning.

 

Stay Positive & There Will Always Be Another Audience You Can Perform For

Photo credit

At least, the traditional type of scarcity we grew up with.

In the past, if a business was (supposedly) running out of inventory, you had to buy in because no one else had what they had at that value.

That’s not the case anymore.

Once a business is out of product, you don’t fret as much. Maybe you’re bummed, but only for a second. The reality is that you’ll find a replacement before your go-to brand can order more product.

For most (important) brands, competition isn’t about price; it’s about perceived value, the story it helps customers tell about themselves. There is less power in scarcity tactics now. Instead people want to know you’ll be there–guaranteed!–when they need you.

I guess that means you can put those clever marketing dollars to something else.

 

Stay Positive & It’s A Strange Ever Changing World Out There (Isn’t It Great?)

Photo credit

Save

Conversation after conversation with business owner and marketer alike, what always comes up is a comment similar to:

“It doesn’t hurt to have/do it, it only helps.”

Note they don’t say that it’s a game changer–it just helps.

Thing is, if you add enough systems in place…a hand there…an assist here, it makes an actual difference. It doesn’t just help anymore, it changes everything.

Most businesses don’t become a success because they do one thing differently. It’s often a series of unique moments that leave a small, but frequent and consistent impact.

Don’t shrug off the little things. They are what make you better than the rest.

 

Stay Positive & If Anything, Add More

Photo credit

Save

By default, the act of doing will get you to be smarter. You’ll learn how to do better. But most importantly you’ll understand what you need to change to maintain your rate of success.

Alas, that is the problem many an entrepreneur have run into and that has subsequently lead to their business’s downfall.

When they choose to stay on course (because that’s what they set out to do, because that’s what they told their investors/friends/partners they would do, because if they change they may lose some business [the excuses can go on]) instead of choosing the alternative option: changing (for the better!), they lose out on the growth and success they deserve.

That is why I like to remind myself of how the major tech giant Samsung started out…distributing fruits and vegetables. Only through a series of redirects could they have become the successful company they are today.

A real leader understands that redirecting one’s business isn’t a sign of weakness or mark of stupidity; it’s often the only way to keep growing and make an impact.

Stay Positive & Sometimes The Impact Comes Precisely From The Redirect (That’s Okay Too!)

Photo credit

Good work gets better by reaching.

When you reach, there is struggle.

As Daniel Coyle says, “When it comes to developing your talent, struggle isn’t an option–it’s a biological necessity.”

 

 

Stay Positive & Have You Reached Today?

Photo credit

There are a handful of product and service cycles, many of which are either missing or have misplaced affinity.

Surely you can’t have an affinity for a product before you’re aware of it.

Another misperception and common trip up is that affinity comes after the product is used.

I’d argue that’s not affinity.

That’s impact, action, and if you’ve done it right, loyalty… but not affinity.

Affinity comes in before the action now, before the product is purchased, before one even knows if it works. Why?

Because that’s where the strongest story is. That’s when your product is the thing that aligns with the narrative of the customer. She hasn’t used it yet, but she already wants to come back to it again and again.

As marketers, we can spend time selling how the product will make ones life better once they purchase it or we can let the product do its own marketing on that scale. Instead, we can share how the product adds to the customer’s story she’s telling herself now, not later.

That is much more of a challenge (and much greater of a reward).

 

Stay Positive & There Is Affinity Between The People And The Product – Will You Find It?

Photo credit

We expect others to react to our ideas far worse than they actually do.

I received an email today that contained a few content ideas for a client. She was trying to get my brain working in a different way. She was throwing ideas out there – they weren’t necessarily great ideas, but they got me thinking.

And, despite our worst fears, that’s the “worst” that usually happens.

For a moment I imagined if I was the one sending the email then I’d be thinking the recipient is judging me by my ideas. I would think it’s too risky to share half-baked thoughts. I would have been afraid to hit send for fear of personal criticism.

Alas, knowing that it was simply fear convincing me not to hit send, I would have followed through with the email. Raw. Revealing. And… ultimately resulting in a reaction that was far better than imagined.

This type of situation happens every day. As artists, we have a choice to succumb to the lizard brain, to delete the ideas or to throw them out there.

You never know. That one idea you share might just get someone thinking, acting and succeeding.

Now that’s power.

 

Stay Positive & What’ll It Be For You? Hide? Or Show?

Photo credit