GarthBox

Technology used to make things more expensive. Every add-on and feature would make the product cost more.

Now, despite some of the hefty price tags we still see, technology is about making things less expensive.

You’re able to buy a more powerful laptop for less. Theaters are able to invest in electric theater seating because they can afford it. The app on your phone to close your garage door is free.

It’s worth asking then, when technology comes at a low cost, what is the consumer left to tell themselves about it?

 

Stay Positive & Seems Some Storytelling Is In Order

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If we’re stretching far enough, we’ll find ourselves uncomfortable.

We’ll begin to search for reassurance. Someone to say, “You’re doing good. You’re on track.”

The problem is that she’s usually busy or he’s not there in the moment you need his approval.

So you sit on the work. Wait for the green light. And hope you at least got part of it right.

There are two truths at work here. The first is that we will always want someone to listen, to nod, to let us know that no matter how uncomfortable we feel, that we’re still making progress.

The second truth is that you’ve been given permission to be that person for yourself.

When you raised your hand, joined the team, began doing the emotional labor of creating something remarkable–that’s when you also assigned yourself to be your own greatest listener, your own boss, your own stamp of approval and permission to keep moving forward.

 

Stay Positive & Decide To Push It Even Further Instead Of Waiting

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We’re often tricked into believing that we need to jump on every trend.

Why not? It’s there for the taking. There’s a way we can spin our brand to fit it, so why not?

But what glitters is not always gold. It comes down to your business’s core values.

It might be trendy to put a face to a company and encourage the behavior of a pressworthy CEO, but if you’re seeking to create impact from within, perhaps the spotlight needs to shine on the real all-stars.

It might be trendy to cut the sugar and be honest about your beverage, but if you’re wanting to win with a millennial consumer, you have to ignore the trend and add more caffeine.

Trends are there for the reaping, but that doesn’t mean you needn’t be selective. Quite the opposite. Every trend you jump on that doesn’t align with core values muddies brand recognition and affinity.

“I thought you were this, but now you’re that,” the consumer thinks.

“I thought you said you believed in X and now it looks like you believe in Y,” the shopper questions.

Trends can quickly become a recipe for failure. Like any business decision, trends must be scrutinized against the company’s core values.

 

Stay Positive & Stick To Your Core

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We’re rationalizing entrepreneurs and humans. When we see an organization become so successful or watch a business fall, we want to know why. We’ll collect variables and choose a hypothesis and eventually become stumped because business isn’t as scientific as we think: We can’t often pinpoint a controlled variable because there are too many variables in constant play.

Needless to say, some are in the thought that business is strictly humanitarian; that because a single scientific method cannot be seen through, that a business’s success or failure is then best based on gut, instinct, feelings, emotion, hunches and human interactions and reactions.

I’m not one to buy into either side of the spectrum, rather, I focus on quasi-experimentation: experimental design without a controlled variable. In doing so, you can still discover patterns and leverage them. You can still notice trends and capitalize on them. You learn to combine science and emotion for actionable results.

Ever want to know how a business succeeds? They follow a very extreme, mind-numbing, difficult-to-replicate, time-consuming and strenuous process…

They try something and see if it works.

 

Stay Positive & The Key Is The Second Half

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The world of being chosen has passed.

You don’t need to stand and raise your hand and wait…wait…wait. You can insert yourself on the team of your choosing. And, for some who don’t like the available team options, you are privileged (!) with creating that all-star team of people playing at the same positive level as you. You can become captain whenever you chose.

Most often people who find business success have a zero tolerance policy for others who will bring them down. Poor attitudes, cut-throat competition, and people who are only ever tuned into Wii-FM (What’s In It For Me) aren’t worth your care, your sincerity or your time. After all, they won’t miss you when you’re gone.

The longer I’m in business, studying, talking, and learning, the more I see that a single business doesn’t succeed; a set of businesses do because they’ve built a community, a system connected so when one succeeds, they all do.

Isn’t that the way it should be?

 

Stay Positive & Who’s On Your Team?

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It makes sense for you to desire being placed in papers and online outlets before you open your business. At that point, any publicity is good publicity, right?

Not quite.

What’s most important is that before you begin pitching your idea or your opening to local outlets, you need to earn the trust of the readers (and influencers) in the area. For most, that even means the competition.

I’ve found more businesses succeed when they build relationships with neighborhood associations and other area businesses before they go knocking on the doors of journalists.

The quickest way to have communities and businesses to team up against you is to think being pressworthy will earn you their trust.

 

Stay Positive & Press Should Be A Reminder About Your Values, Not An Introduction To Them

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Many brands act as if their target is Linda. Interrupting them, saying what they want to say and only talking when it’s convenient for them.

Unfortunately it’s not just what we say, how we say it or how many times we can say something to the target.

What matters is we’re there when they are listening. We are there when they want us to be. We are there when they are present.

 

Stay Positive & When Are The Moments It’s Convenient For Your Target?

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