Author: Garth Beyer

Making The Unfun Things Fun

Garth Beyer

Forms are rarely fun to fill out. Personal info is personal info. Unless you’re UW Foundation and manage to make a serious manner a little exciting for those who don’t take it so seriously. Enter any amount on this page and then click continue. Then hit the drop down box beside “Title.” Plenty of different title’s to choose from. I prefer His Excellency.

If you want to donate to the Curb capstone class, the funds are put toward publishing a magazine from scratch. They need $10,000 to do so. Power to the future journalists, editors, PR folk and designers.

 

Stay Positive & How Are You Making The Fun  Things Fun?

Does Word Of Mouth Come Natural?

Does Word Of Mouth Come Natural?

Garth Beyer

Word of mouth marketing

No. Never.

For some brands and businesses, word of mouth seems to come natural. I encourage you to think about it next time you hear someone talk bout a brand or business or when you yourself talk about one. (If needed, which I doubt it will be needed, ask why the person brought up the brand or business.)

Always (always!) the brand or business is talked about on purpose. They’ve made themselves remarkable enough to be talked about. They’ve done something different from their competitors so you can tell your friends about it. They’ve designed their site, their shipping method, their product or service in such a way that it’s easy to talk about on Twitter and share their reactions and reviews on Facebook or Amazon.

Word of mouth marketing may seem to simply come natural, that the brand or businesses never considered it to begin with. Some may have come by it accidentally, but as soon as they’ve noticed it, they’ve leveraged it. And why not? Word of mouth is the best marketing there is.

You are building your brand or business with it in mind, right?

 

Stay Positive & People Don’t Whisper To Each Other Anymore, They Shout

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Forced Warm Up

Forced Warm Up

Garth Beyer

People Warming Up

Anytime you have a major presentation, major interview, major showing, major talk; basically anytime you put yourself out there in a large way, warm up beforehand.

The warm up concept doesn’t just apply to exercising. It applies to any moment before you are exerting yourself, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Do some general stretching before you begin your hot yoga session.

Go trap shooting a day or two before you go out hunting for waterfowl.

Freewrite 5 minutes straight before you sit down to crank out the next part of your novel.

Force yourself to do a warm up. It doesn’t need to be long and intense. I spend no more than 5 minutes warming up before my “workouts.” It’s just long enough to get my brain and muscles ready.

And yes, sometimes coffee can be your warm up. But, better to make it a complement to your warm up than the actual thing.

 

Stay Positive & Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect, It Makes Prepared

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20 Actions To Increase Your Social Presence

20 Actions To Increase Your Social Presence

Garth Beyer

Increase Social Media Presence

1) Use incredible photos. Always.

2) Find small problems and solve them.

3) Connect with others on a personal and emotional level. You’re not a robot.

4) Update your social media profiles. Pics. Bios. Location. All that good stuff.

5) Only use the social media outlets that matter.

6) Connect with other social media folk in your realm.

7) Post daily or fairly regularly.

8) Give remarkable content away. eBooks anyone? Tickets? Gear? T-shirts?

9) Always deliver.

10) Always be learning and thanking those who you learn from.

11) Ask for testimonials.

12) Time your posts. There is research out there telling the peak times to post.

13) On any “about me” page, give something away.

14) Forget the RT/Share button, your work is in the Comment/Reply.

15) Be in it for the long run.

16) Have a target market. Fill in the blank for your target “People like us …..”

17) Trend, news, and holiday jack.

18) Share what others want to hear, not what you think they want to hear.

19) Try something new each week.

20) Write blog posts like this.

Need any clarification on these or want to chat about using one (or more) of these tips for your brand? Shoot me a tweet @thegarthbox

 

Stay Positive & Get Goin

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Let Your Work Speak For You

Let Your Work Speak For You

Garth Beyer

Boats in a row at sunset.

I’ve made the mistake a few times of talking about being confident. It’s never taken very well.

The solution was and is simple. I shut my mouth and let my work speak instead. The solution solves a lot of other issues as well. Instead of saying a task done one way is better than another. Just do it. Show it. Prove it.

Instead of delegating difficult work or simply assigning something you can do better to someone else, switch it up. Take on the work that matters and hand over  the work that doesn’t speak much for you.

Do it your way when work is assigned to you. If you’re concerned that your way will be too off what is expected, make both creations and see which sells better. The best way to let your work speak for itself, after all, is to put it side-by-side with a second option.

It’s just a fact people will listen to your work more than they will listen to you talk about it.

 

Stay Positive & Accept It And Leverage The Knowledge

Photo credit to friend, Kirby Wright, whose work speaks for him
Innovators Are People Watchers

Innovators Are People Watchers

Garth Beyer

People Watching Innovator

Most products and services – the remarkable ones anyway – get thought up because someone wanted a solution for a problem they noticed. They saw someone consistently fail at using a product. They watched a couple complain about the service they received.

Note-worthy innovators are people watchers. They research without intention, without hoping to find a problem they can create a solution for. It just happens upon them.

Sure, great ideas are often sought out intentionally, but so often it is a case of seeing something that irks you, then thinking “I can do this better.” Netflix, Airbnb, Ben & Jerrys, Culvers, are all examples of disruptive innovators.

If I took the time to view every current Kickstarter campaign, I’m sure I would see a flood of people who want to create something because they saw a problem people were having.

General observers, researchers, and people watchers. They are the innovators of this century.

 

Stay Positive & Remember To Carry A Notebook With You When You Watch

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Why Do Your Best At Everything (Even What Doesn’t Matter Much)

Why Do Your Best At Everything (Even What Doesn’t Matter Much)

Garth Beyer

Do Your Best Work, Leave An Impression

An ol’ professor of mine asked the class to raise their hands if they truly believed the grades on small assignments mattered. Some students kept their hands down signifying only the large assignments mattered. The professor responded with one of my favorite sayings.

Everything matters.

He went on to say the grade itself matters, sure, but more importantly it’s the impression that matters. “Everything, no matter how little or big, leaves an impression,” he said.

His words resonate with me still to this day.

Every action we take (and don’t take) leaves an impression. The 20 poor ideas you pitch during the brain storm session, they may have been rated poorly, but your impression of pitching 20 ideas matters. It shows you’re committed, willing to risk ideas while others play it safe, and able to use your imagination.

Inaction (which I have to point out is still an action) also leaves the impression.

Earlier today I was at an event to listen to Mariah Haberman speak. I noticed a handful of guests standing around waiting for the event to start. No conversing with other attendees. No networking using the twitter hashtag for the event. No engagement at all. You can imagine the impression they left.

I, and I’m sure my ol’ professor (and you now?), can’t stress enough how much everything we do matters.

Forget the “grades.” Focus on the impressions.

 

Stay Positive & Start Asking Yourself “What Impression Am I Leaving?”

[Lucky for you SMBmadison recorded the presentation. You can listen to Mariah here.]

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