GarthBox

When it comes to the work we’re doing and the change we seek to make, if you don’t move forward, sooner or later you begin to move backward.

The same can be said for connections you make. If you don’t continue to build that connection, the link begins to diminish.

At some point (not very far after establishing a connection) trust and social currency begin to wane and you’re both left without an opportunity to help one another out.

Believe it or not (as it is with most things in life), it’s easier to maintain a connection than it is to rebuild it.

Five or ten minutes a day can go a long way to maintaining a network that matters.

 

Stay Positive & Use It Or Lose It

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There are millions of opportunities out there.

Billions of people to connect with.

Trillions of ways to share your work.

And with all of those options, there’s no shortage of distractions.

Things that keep us from doing the work that matters. (And this isn’t even about the feeling of fear or status or failure … it’s about the tangible items that are available every day to us.)

It’s the billboard on Main Street on our walk to work. It’s the video game console calling our name. It’s the food that needs to be eaten. It’s the clothes that need to be set out for tomorrow. It’s the thing you remembered you wanted to do, but never got around to it. It’s checking Instagram one more time to see if anything changed from five minutes ago.

It seems everyone wants to make positive change in the world, but those who will are the ones who can ignore the distractions to focus on what matters.

 

Stay Positive & Look Over There

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I’ve been guilty of seeing a piece of artwork in a shop and thinking “I could have done that.”

But I didn’t.

I’ve also been guilty of seeing someone else launch something I was working on launching.

But they beat me to it.

For every remarkable project you’re working on, there are people out there who will …

1) Think they could have done it (maybe better).

2) Be frustrated that you beat them to it.

3) Question why you think you have the authority to do it.

4) Not give a damn about it.

5) Bash it because it’s not their idea.

6) Bash it for the sake of bashing it.

All of those people don’t matter, though.

The person that matters is the one who decides to ship their work, whatever their art form may be. It’s the person who ignores the 6 types of naysayers listed above and does the work that needs to be done. It’s the person who acts, who creates, who makes; not who thinks.

The person that matters is you, if you choose it to be.

 

Stay Positive & Keep Your Mind On Who Actually Matters

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When beginning any endeavor, it’s worth asking how much is enough?

How many blog readers is enough? How many customers? How many subscribers?

What many entrepreneurs miss is that there are a few ways of calculating it out.

The default setting for most is to reach for the masses. If you get 180,000 spending a minimum amount, you’ll succeed. If you get 50,000 unique visitors a month, your ego will be satisfied.

But what if all those customers who spend the smallest amount, never come back?

Chances are they won’t.

What about the unique visitors? How many come back the next month?

Likely not even a tenth no matter how great of a site you have.

It’s sort of crazy when you begin calculating the numbers and loyalty game.

For a business I’m starting, I could calculate that I need more than 1,200 people in per week spending a small amount to make a profit or (!) I could calculate that I need to delight 150 people enough that they come three times per week and spend above average.

While it’s true that regulars make or break most businesses; it’s also about the story your telling.

The Washington Post thrives on loyal readers. The pop-up artist on Main Street, not so much.

The brand impression would crumble if all WP cared about was getting a new reader and the pop-up artist tried getting 100 people to travel everywhere she goes to buy more of her art.

The math you decide to do is important. Are you playing the numbers game or the loyalty game?

 

Stay Positive & Neither Is Wrong, But Not Knowing Which You’re Doing Is

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If you wait long enough, you might get your big break. You might get picked. You might get your name thrown into the mix or showcased in a top publication or mentioned on Twitter.

It might happen if you wait long enough.

Any waiting, though, is too much waiting.

Every moment waiting is a moment you could have shared something remarkable, worked toward making a bigger impact and been there for someone who needs you now, not later.

What if you didn’t wait? What if you chose yourself?

What if you looked at every day as your big break?

 

Stay Positive & Waiting Is For Amateurs

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It’s easier to manage a list that’s short than it is to manage one that’s long but prioritized.

Something to consider next time you face the choice of either organizing your list or checking items off it.

 

Stay Positive & What Are You Afraid Of?

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Many don’t want to do the hard work of marketing because it requires that one turns off a default setting we have when making an argument.

We all know that it’s tough to convince someone of something if we merely share why we believe in it. The worldviews don’t align that way. It keeps us disconnected to share only our opinion, but we keep the satisfaction of personal authority when we tell it how it is.

That’s the default setting. And it almost never works, not in the long-term anyway.

Marketing done right is marketing done by listening; by setting our worldviews aside to have empathy; by telling ourselves the story the person we’re talking to is telling themselves.

It feels uncomfortable, like we shouldn’t try–like it’s their story, not ours.

It’s better they come to our side, right?

It’s not that marketers aren’t trustworthy, it’s that they (you know, the great ones) are so empathetic that it’s often hard to know exactly where they are coming from and why you feel like you trust them and how you can feel so understood by someone.

It’s scary and a bit uncomfortable, but that’s vulnerability and how you know they actually care.

When you can meet another in their field, what you have to say ceases to be an argument and becomes an epiphany that you each can bond over.

Far more powerful, in my opinion, then there being a winner and a loser.

 

Stay Positive & Arguments Are Passé Anyway

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