The Loop

Garth Beyer

There’s always a loop in all we do.

The best organizations find them and fuel them, but some break them.

Not in the sense that what goes around doesn’t come around, but what’s sent into the loop is damaging to it.

Quick example: A city wants businesses to pay for lost revenue of the parking meters they use for their festival. This leads to higher participation fees for businesses, which leads to fewer businesses participating, which leads to a less impactful festival, which leads to fewer people visiting the street for the first time, which leads to fewer people coming back at another time and paying for parking.

The loop is there, but it’s broken because someone didn’t recognize its existence.

What goes around always comes around.

Best be sure we’re keeping our eye out for the loops we participate in and put intention into the “what” of the equation.

Stay Positive & Find And Fuel The Loops

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To Get To The Best

Garth Beyer

To get to the best writing, it starts with writing. Then it goes to saying it out loud. Then it goes to hearing someone else say it out loud.

To get to the best idea, it starts with ideating. Then it goes to saying it out loud. Then it goes to hearing someone else say it out loud.

Same goes for the best design, the best celebration, the best marketing.

The best can’t be achieved in a silo; it can’t be achieved silently; it can’t be achieved without others.

Stay Positive & Notice That It Goes From Little Accountability/Vulnerability To A Lot…

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It’s Wrong

Garth Beyer

It might be wrong or it might just be bad work. It might be mediocre and it might not resonate with your audience.

That’s good though because that means it’s being done.

And if it’s being done then – and only then – can it begin to be done better.

Stay Positive & Onward

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Attitude Choice

Garth Beyer

Yesterday we had the choice of attitude we wanted. We could have been optimistic and friendly. We could have chosen an attitude of perseverance and maybe even some naivety.

And if we didn’t….that’s the beauty about today: we get to choose our attitude all over again.

Stay Positive & Go For The Good Streak

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Feeling Like We’ll Be Better

Garth Beyer

Medicine isn’t the only thing that has this impact on our lives: that of feeling like we’ll be better.

The best marketing does it, too.

When we see a product or service and we have that feeling that it can make us better…that’s magic.

And maybe it’s not exactly about us. Maybe it’s about our culture. Or a person living in a country on the other side of the world.

Let us not confuse this feeling with that of hope. Hope is active energy. The feeling I’m writing about is an emotional response to something we see, read or otherwise interact with (i.e., marketing, if you believe marketing to be anything that creates an emotional impact).

It’s worth taking a step back at the work you’re making and ask the question: will this make someone feel like we’ll be better?

(In case it needs stating: ambiguity here is purposeful. Thinking about it is the point.)

Stay Positive & Think On

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Death Of Lamination

Garth Beyer

I love the idea that laminators may be going extinct.

I love it because folks are realizing two things:

  1. What works today may not work tomorrow. No point in investing the time in laminating a sign that won’t likely be used five years, one year, five weeks or even a day from now.
  2. We know variety is key; and not only does that include the variety of messages, but the means of communicating them too.

There’s a better way to communicate to the neighborhood about a yard sale. There’s more certificates of achievement to get than the one we used to laminate. That family member isn’t going to believe we care if we don’t send them an annual card, handwritten card. Inventory is purposefully changed on the regular in the shop down the street.

If you’re using a laminator, it’s worth pausing to consider what impact it really has on your business or project or guest experience.

Stay Positive & New Is Always Better Anyway

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