GarthBox

You might have a magical idea, but if no one can relate to it, they’ll disregard it.

No one likes to work hard to understand someone’s good idea.

That’s why the practice of familiar shapeshifting is important.

The process is a simple one:

Make something. Ask what it reminds you of. Make it look like that. Repeat.

Through iterative creation, you’ll have something remarkable and equally relatable.

We’ve come a long way from thinking beer should taste like rice and music should have rhythm, but very (very!) few are willing to drink a beer that tastes like meteorite and listen to music comprised solely of random snake hisses.

It may be cool for a few and for the short run, but you’re after long-term success, right?

 

Stay Positive & You’ll Need Familiarity On Your Side

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There’s a masseuse who has built her client base for almost a dozen years. Now she has her own space and has hired someone to help it grow. These are the owner’s words about the new hire …

“She doesn’t have a lot of clientele right now. She could. She’s been doing this for years, too, but she doesn’t want to call people to invite them back.”

Too often we let outrageous stories we tell ourselves hold us back from achievements.

(Real, maybe, but also outrageous.)

Stories of introversion and fear.

Stories about others being upset with us for following up too soon. Stories that we’ll ruin our chance if we act in the wrong way when really we ruin our chances when we don’t act at all.

You’ve got the choice to be the successful masseuse or the unsuccessful one and the only difference is the easy task of making a follow-up phone call.

Such is most endeavors in life.

 

Stay Positive & Connect, That’s What People Really Want

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I’ll be the first to say it’s better to keep moving forward.

Alas, from time to time, you can actually move forward faster by regrounding yourself.

When you revisit the 101 stuff of your passion, you make fewer of those mistakes. You become reinvigorated when you revisit why you started down this path, what your story is, how you decided on this mission.

It’s February 1st.

Many new years resolutions have fallen by the wayside, but they don’t have to stay there.

Four years ago I introduced the idea of being One Bite Away: You may have slipped off your diet, but you’re one bite away from being back on it.

The same goes for the work we do, the art we make, the people we work with.

We’re one decision away from being back on the track we want for ourselves.

No need to wait until next year.

 

Stay Positive & Now Is Better

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It’s sorta odd when you think that all our childhood we waited to be told where we excelled.

We waited for a teacher to say we were really good at something. We waited for our desk neighbor to be jealous of a grade we got. We waited for our parents to say we were rocking in that one class.

Somehow, we’ve carried that same patience with us in the real world.

We wait for a boss to tell us we’re good before we really push the envelope of greatness.

We wait for someone to come to us as the expert on something instead of being proactive.

Truth is that your laurels can wait. It’s time to decide where you will excel and not if you will.

 

Stay Positive & Choose Yourself This Time

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Smart marketers do two things.

First, they tell a story that resonates.

If you spend enough time excavating the soul of a brand, storytelling becomes easy.

Second, they answer the questions the target wants to know.

Not what they think the target should know, but what the targets desires to know.

Many brands do poorly at this because they either focus on the features and benefits, thinking facts and figures will convince someone to purchase their product or service OR they hide.

Transparency is scary, but ultimately what your audience is looking for.

 

Stay Positive & People Respond Well To Vulnerability

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It’s pretty difficult to send water to an area in need if you don’t have a canning plant and distribution network.

Equally as difficult – but in an entirely different realm – is having a solid sleep in the room you worked in all day.

It’s difficult to meditate in times square.

Tough to scuba dive in a small pond.

Nearly impossible to mail an envelope in a taproom.

It begs the question …

Are you spending time in the environment most conducive to the outcome you desire?

Extending beyond the literal environment are the people you’re surrounding yourself with, too.

 

Stay Positive & You’re The Average Of The Five People (& Places) You Spend The Most Time

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How you respond to those complaining about your product or service says a lot about what kind of brand you are.

If you don’t respond, that sends one message.

If you respond the same way a competitor does, that sends another message.

If you go above and beyond any response someone has ever received from a brand, that sends another message … one of value.

The same goes for packaging. Do you start with all the product features and benefits or do you tell the story of what values the brand upholds? Do you highlight the ingredient list or do you show a photo of the farmers who grow the ingredients?

Two quick checks to see if your brand is communicating value.

1) Can your competitor say the same thing?

2) Can your customer see their life without you?

 

Stay Positive & Scary To Answer, But Truth Leads To Improvement

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