Life Lesson

Thinking Worker, Working Thinker

Garth Beyer

It’s often thought that there are thinkers and then there are doers. Moreover, that which thinkers think should be produced by workers and not the thinkers themselves.

A PR pro thinks of a new brand positioning strategy and calls the doers to see it through while she goes back to thinking, planning, strategizing. Is it right for their to be a divide between thinking and doing?

I came across this statement by art critic John Ruskin, “It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy.”

Thinkers may come up with good ideas, but it’s really only when they themselves see the idea through that they naturally turn it into something remarkable.

Just as the thinker falls short in their thinking when they don’t do, the worker falls short when they don’t think. That’s why there are so many products, services, business that don’t work; there is a disconnect between thinking and working.

 

Stay Positive & Can We Change This?

Make Yourself Available

Garth Beyer

There are writers, chiropractors, artists,  attorneys, and firms of all kinds that make it impossible to be yelled at. No email address, no phone number, no active Twitter account. Maybe they have a contact form that sends your message to an inbox they never look at. This is unfortunate for two reasons.

First is they also make it nearly impossible to be asked an honest question, to be told something that would be important to them, to be offered a  lifetime chance at having their work shown at a beautiful gala. Too bad they’re not reachable.

Secondly, if they’re not yelled at over the phone or in an email rant, then people can blog, can leave reviews, can comment so everyone else who follows that person or business can hear their complaints…and see them never addressed.

Wouldn’t you rather have a client yell at you than yell to 10 other people about you?

You can’t expect to grow or to succeed if you’re not listening.

 

Stay Positive & An “Inbox Full” Bounce-back Doesn’t Mean You’re Listneing

Stopping At Success

Garth Beyer

It’s hurtful to work for more failure, but why do we not work for more success?

Success ought to be argued with, ought to be challenged, ought to be pushed. Energy is positively spent making things better. It’s how we make a dent in the universe.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Stop At Success

“I Think It Would Work”

Garth Beyer

Other variations you might here during a strategy planning meeting: “I like the idea.” “I’m convinced.” “You’ve got me hooked on the idea.”

While certainly positive and supportive statements, normally you’re not your target market.

It’s fantastic the idea appeals to you, but what about the tribe it’s truly meant to appeal to? If you don’t plan on investing in the product or service your marketing (if you’re not part of the tribe), then how you react to the marketing strategy doesn’t matter much.

Rather, when you use language like “I think that would really resonate with who we’re trying to target” or asking your colleagues if they feel Kasey (your target) would share a piece of content instead of asking if they (your colleagues) would share it, you begin to drive marketing that matters.

 

Stay Positive & Put Yourself In Their Shoes (Then You Can Use First-Person Pronouns)

The Hardest Part

Garth Beyer

I’ve just been given the best client to strategize a new PR and social media plan for: It’s the agency I work at.

I figured I would share some wisdom from past experiences working with a new client, from a craft brewery to my own business to a multi-million dollar retail company, and now the agency I work at.

It’s easy to start with the logo, the name, the website design, and the tagline. Much harder to start with the most simplified message of why the entity exists, who you want to appeal to (because it HAS to be narrow), and, my personal favorite, the four words that you identify with your brand, which will easily be seen in every single message you put out.

The latter of the above is exactly what makes the former fluid and all-around accepted, because while those items might be easy to start with, they’re not as easily approved by the business, the customers, the stakeholders.

You can’t convince anyone a message works unless you inform them and enforce why the message exists in the first place.

Lastly, while it’s fun to focus on the shiny, it’s more fun to work on it when you know someone will care that it shines. Not to mention you save time when you prioritize the hard work.

 

Stay Positive & Do The Hardest Part First

5 Ways To Combat Worry

Garth Beyer

Worrying is pointless, really, but at times nearly impossible.

Whether it’s worrying if the old car will start, if the SO of years will propose or if you’ll get hired with a salary, worry creeps up on us, takes over and prevents us from doing (and focusing) on the work that matters.

Alas, here are five ways to combat worry.

1) Write a list of all the things you’re thankful for until you’ve run out of paper or exhausted yourself

2) Send an email to all the people involved in the activity you’re worried about, praising them, letting them know you appreciate what they’re doing

3) Ask yourself if you’re giving a small thing a big shadow, be honest

4) Remind yourself that you have no clue what others are thinking. Your boss, SO, or friend could be thinking about chocolate covered strawberries and not about what you’re worried they’re thinking about. Only address what you truly know

5) Acknowledge your worry and let it float away (this idea is flushed out in episode 18 of In The Box podcast)

 

Stay Positive & Win The Battle And The War

Why They’re Not Paying Attention

Garth Beyer

If you’re working to make people love your product or service, you’re likely interrupting their daily lives.

Better, I think, to make something people love and can integrate into their life. The best thing to hear is “I’ve always wanted this, I didn’t think anyone made it.”

That’s not to say you have to make something new, start a new business or find a new client. Quite the opposite.

If there is force, pressure, and stress to get people to love your product, then you’re not listening to them, not targeting the people who care. It’s a marketing problem, not a people problem.

Despite the excessive use of social media, it’s still difficult to listen and understand the customers worldview. Easier to get on with the traditional marketing practice of talking about ourselves and our product and our business instead of focusing on what’s in it for them.

There’s often no way to label a particular marketing practice or tactic as traditional and un-traditional, it’s more so a mindset of the marketer, an attitude of someone who cares.

 

Stay Positive & Do Something Worth Paying Attention For