GarthBox

Chances are likely that you need a significant amount of capital to start what you’ve dreamt of starting. (Significant amount to you, of course.)

Unfortunately (or more fortunately) the days are fading in which you can raise the funds needed to start and then, all the sudden, you get the green light.

More likely is that you’ve started to sell some form of your product.

It might not be specifically what you’ve dreamt up, but it’s a start.

It’s having someone else brew your beer and distribute it before you do. It’s running food tours before you open a restaurant. It’s doing freelance work before breaking off into your own agency.

Sure, quitting today, going to the bank tomorrow and starting your new endeavor next week is a possibility, but it invites unnecessary hardship.

And it’s not even that we can take on the challenge; it’s that we’ve gotten smarter.

Start small. Start selling. Drip drip drip.

Stay Positive & This Journey Is More Fun Anyway

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We are what we say and – more importantly – do.

That’s why to get a good read on who we are, we can look to what others expect us to do next.

Not in the moment, not what we’ve done, but what do they anticipate our next move to be?

Do they imagine that we’ll thrive through the turbulence we’re facing or cop out early? Do they expect us to be generous or selfish? Do they anticipate us to reach out or wait to be selected?

The beauty of this analysis is that there’s still time to change that expectation and improve on who we truly are.

Stay Positive & Our Reputation Is At Stake If We Don’t

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There are so many things that can shift once we start.

There are the obvious things like budget and team size and the idea.

Then there are the less-obvious things like stakeholder expectations, personal relationships and incoming, but unplanned additional responsibilities.

The point here isn’t that you need to plan for every single variable, predictable or not.

What matters is to be ready to shift for whatever will arrive.

It’s the mindset that matters most, not necessarily having a plan B through Z.

Stay Positive & Better To Lean Into A Shift Than Run From It

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Adding a “Learn More” button isn’t very persuasive. It’s almost passive.

“Hey, if you liked what you learned, there’s more where that came from. No biggie if you don’t, but it’s here if you do. Thanks!”

The “Learn More” button is times more important than a “Buy now” or “Request a Quote” button. Not because “Learn More” results in more conversions, but because it results in better ones.

People interested in your brand before a conversion are more likely to be loyal to it, to tell friends about it and to come back again.

What’s more is that you know your marketing message is a strong one if you can pique someone’s interest. After all, your target doesn’t need to know everything about your brand.

Just enough.

And just enough is usually right before you add what you need to end with a “buy now” CTA.

Stay Positive & Just Enough Is Enough

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Saying “sorry” to a customer doesn’t do much. What does do much is action.

The same can be said for your brand story.

Preaching it might get attention, but not loyalty.

Elevator pitches are changing from what can you say in one minute to what can you do? What can you have the other experience? What story can you tell that shows what you stand for?

No one is listening anymore. But they are looking.

Stay Positive & What’ll They See When They Look To Your Brand?

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Uber shook things up in the cab industry when it let people rate their experience with a driver.

This was new to the industry, but not to the world.

Yelp seems to have existed forever. Oh, and need I write about Amazon reviews?

But Uber shook things up more when it let drivers rate their experience with a customer.

When Ebay established the two-way street of sellers being able to also give feedback to buyers – the game changed.

On Fiverr, it’s not just the artists work that receives feedback. The buyer gets it, too.

Recently you see this in the trucking industry, as well. Drivers are rating their experience at the customer’s location. If one isn’t meeting (or exceeding) expectations, then they’ll both lose in the long haul.

It begs the question of how can we establish the two-way street within our business if it doesn’t yet have it?

Restaurants haven’t found a way to rate their patrons yet. Nor have rock concerts, coffee providers, Yoga instructors or airlines.

What’ll happen to our customer base if find a way to enable the two-way feedback?

More frighteningly, what will happen if we don’t?

Stay Positive & Let’s Shake Things Up (For The Better)

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The middle is wide and it’s inviting.

It preaches of a safe zone. One without too many risks.

You’re not appealing to the mass in it, but you’re not appealing to a small group, either.

The middle brings with it an air of comfort, of achievability, of amenity.

What the middle doesn’t show you is the impending dissolve of your dream or the downward spiral to you quitting.

The middle isn’t worth your time.

You can’t stand for anything in the middle and no one is telling themselves (or others) the story of buying from a brand or a person in the middle.

Success is at the edge.

Remarkability is at the edge.

Fulfillment is at the edge.

Stay Positive & See You There

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