Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
Here’s a quick gauge on whether you’re investing in a valuable friendship or not.
If you tell them you want to own a company, be prom king, start a magazine or become a major celebrity in your passion-industry, how do they react?
If they expect you to succeed, if they hold you to your lofty goal, if they support the idea; then it’s worth keeping them close.
Anything short of that, though, find better friends.
Stay Positive & Remember, It’s A Two-Way Street
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It was six years ago that I first wrote about the benefits of showing up early.
Six years later, I could write about 1,000 more experiences where I’ve benefited from showing up early.
I’ve connected with remarkable people. I’ve been able to focus on the work that matters. I’ve saved time by not having to wait in line. The list goes on.
Let this be a six-year-later reminder that great things happen when you show up early.
Stay Positive & Don’t Even Get Me Started On Staying Late
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You can choose to do better work, bring the best version of yourself to the table, and differentiate your ideas from the competition rather than duplicate them.
By no means am I saying that choice is an easy one.
For those who find it difficult, you can do better work by forcing yourself.
There’s nothing like inviting your boss into the review or the client to your work session or an organization member to your brainstorm session to really force you to bring your A game.
Remember, Ringo (out of his control) had a session musician sit in his first recording because the producer didn’t trust he had the skill. Despite the likelihood of Ringo still impressing the team, he had a situation where he had to bring his best work … or else.
What’s your or else setting?
Stay Positive & Do Better Work
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If you had to tell someone just one thing about your business, what would it be?
To answer that question, you need to know why you matter and know what matters to the person you’re saying it to.
When you have those aligned, well, it’s a match made in heaven as they say.
If you don’t have those aligned, however, don’t say anything until you do. Listen and reflect instead.
The best part when you nail it: They’ll tell people like them your one thing and those people will tell others like them your one thing, and, before you know it, a tribe’s at your door.
Stay Positive & What’s Your One Thing
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It will only help to draw a line between tactics you’re performing that are marketing and promotions tactics and what are communication tactics.
Marketing and promotions might be a way to get someone in the door, buy more or come back again. It can be good design, a cozy atmosphere, exceptional service and surprise and delighting. It might be a Buy One Get One deal or it might be a free gift bag with each purchase.
All can be effective marketing tactics if(!) the message is heard.
The challenge here then is to draw a line between what’s marketing and what’s communications.
Pitching your business deals to the city and neighborhood papers is a communication tactic. So is using social media, sending out a weekly newsletter and direct mail. Getting involved in trade groups is another great communication tactic.
By all means, you’re meant to blend communication tactics with marketing tactics, but know the formula you’re trying to use. Too many businesses have a well designed product at a discount and wonder why no one is coming in to buy it.
Stay Positive & If A Promotion Happens In The Forest And No One Is There To Hear It …
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There are about two dozen food trucks downtown from where I live. They are all within walking distance. The majority have great food and drinks and are reasonably priced. But, only a quarter of them accept cards; most are cash only.
At any organization or business, there’s likely only to be a few developers or they outsource the work. So when it comes to designing a website or recreating a contact form, who do you think gets to make the decisions?
Not every technology will give you a profit or permission to lead, but we know that a tech will.
If 2% of Americans is the real number of those who know how to code, we have a problem.
If 1/3 of food trucks have card readers, the other 2/3 will suffer and wonder why.
Seeing the next device as a struggle and refusing to adopt and adapt is a race to the bottom.
If you could create any Alexa skill for your business, what would it be?
Stay Positive & Welcome To The Avant-Garde
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The answer of who you can focus your marketing at isn’t everyone.
Nor is it a geographical territory or groups of people who have a shared interest.
Quite plainly, start marketing to those who have given you permission.
Marketing becomes more about caring, mattering, and giving than it does about getting attention when you focus on those who have given you permission to interact with them.
What no one tells you is that the more you market to those who have given you permission, the more people show up to give you permission.
Surely you can find 10 people who have given you permission, right? Start there.
Stay Positive & Permission Is Earned, Not Bought
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