GarthBox

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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You can wait for the situation to arrive, to figure it out on the spot, to deal with it when it arrives.

Of course, you can also prevent all the situations from happening by not moving forward, not stretching, not trying to accomplish any remarkable feat.

The smartest move is to build scenarios out. Take the scene from Founder as an example.

What do you do if the expected happens?

What about the unexpected?

What about the super-unexpected?

 

Stay Positive & Preparation Is Key

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It hurts to compare.

It hurts to compare who makes more money. Who does better work. Who has more respect.

Worst yet, is that it doesn’t take long to find someone to compare with.

It’s easy, so we do it.

IMO, if we’re going to do something, we should do it right.

As in, we should compare what’s relevant. Compare what’s important.

Compare what you do to what you’re capable of, not what others are doing.

 

Stay Positive & Compare Yourself With The One Who Could Be In The Mirror

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You might as well admit defeat now.

Not in the sense of giving up, but in the sense of moving past it.

Moving past all the criticism you’ll face. Moving past all those who will doubtfully say “How are you going to make that work? Aren’t you afraid of X, Y, and Z?” Moving past the mistakes you know you’ll make.

If you admit defeat, you don’t have to worry about it as you continue following you heart.

It’s a milestone you’ve already passed.

 

Stay Positive & Put It In The Rear View

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There’s the regret that we hold onto. That drags us down. That reminds us that we didn’t live up to the story we were telling ourselves.

This type of regret is harmful.

Then, there’s the regret that we let fuel us. It makes decision-making easier going forward because we learned from mistakes. It reminds us to be proactive and not reactive.

This type of regret is helpful.

 

Stay Positive & Regret Is Always One Or The Other (But You Get To Choose)

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