GarthBox

There’s a gripping fascination in society with the idea of starting.

Starting can be easy or it can be difficult based on what your lizard brain is telling you.

“It’s too easy… so why bother?”

“It’s way too difficult, you’re not good enough… let’s wait for something easier to come along.”

Of course, this is you telling yourself these things and it’s tough to break from it.

Better than thinking about where to start, I believe, is to consider where do you want to finish?

When you decide what the end result will be, the level of difficulty of starting doesn’t matter because you know where you need to start to get to where you want to go. Period.

Figuring out what that finish line looks like is much more consistently motivating. It helps you decide whether what you’re doing is the right thing or not. Merely ask, will doing X get me to my end goal? If yes, continue. If no, quit it.

Determine where you want to end up and what that looks like.

It makes starting a hell of a lot more rational and less fear-filled.

 

Stay Positive & Think Finish Line, Not Starting Line

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Most marketers want to do the saying while everyone does the hearing.

Smart marketers do the hearing of what the target is saying.

Before you hit your next post, send your next tweet or email, ask yourself, “Is this what the customer wants to hear? Or is this just something I want to say?”

The impact you’ll make will leave your audience doing all the saying.

 

Stay Positive & Listen, Linda, Listen

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As a leader, your actions will speak louder than your words.

But the words you choose to use are determined by the actions you plan to and are taking.

If you say one thing and then say another, you lose trust in your employees. It’s as bad as saying you’re going to do one thing, but then do another.

The smartest thing a leader can do is get as clear as she can about the path the business is going down, even if it’s not the best path.

Clarity, certainty and communication around the vision is essential.

 

Stay Positive & It’s A Lot Harder To Re-Convince Employees Because You Weren’t Sure In The First Place

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There are brands that only listen to the chant of “what do we want and when do we want it.” They wait until their target yells at them to listen. That, or they wait until revenue drops to the point where they have nothing else to do but listen. Businesses like these mail out comment cards.

Then there are brands that create a culture of listening. There’s no reason for the disgruntled customer to fill out a card because the staff member is asking questions, taking note and reporting to the right people.

There’s no need to wait until competitors have a noise-reduced-thingy-ma-bob and the target demands the same from you when you have service-men asking what would make the thingy-ma-bob better when they’re installing or repairing. In this case, you set the trend.

It’s great to come up with creative ideas in marketing and within your business structure, but as a brand grows, it’s often forgotten to add an element of listening to each and every tactic.

If you’ve ever wondered, “how can I make this better?” you don’t often need to ask, just listen.

 

Stay Positive & What Are You Doing To Create A Culture Of Listening?

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First versions of most things are usually disappointing.

Lisa the first commercial computer with a graphical user interface and the predecessor of the Mac did not receive good acceptance.

Don’t get me started on the first version of Windows.

Consider Van Gogh’s first version of art: the Ramsgate.

If any of these artists stopped after their first version, they would have never become artists.

 

Stay Positive & Ship, Make It Better, Repeat

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Decisions are easy when you have the right information. What I’ve found it takes to make the right decision is to retrieve information from three sources.

1. Your own subjective view of the situation. It’s business and it’s personal. Don’t discard the knowledge and experience about a situation that no one else can understand. The bigger the decision, the more knowledge only you have, and you’ve gotta come to terms with the fact other people will not be able to “get it.”
2. The perspective of those doing the grunt work. Those “below” you, if you will, are the ones keeping you alive. The first to know a new plate isn’t working for customers is the wait staff. Ask a few of them what’s working and what’s not, and you’ll have acquired information critical to making the right decision.
3. The objective insight of someone smart, but removed from the business. A fresh, untainted perspective is usually the final nail in the coffin of a poor decision. They’ll be able to tell you if you’re in too deep and are bias about the decision you’re leaning toward. Take their words to heart.

 

Stay Positive & A Right Decision Requires Three Perspectives, Do You Have Them All?

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Time and time again, the best place to find an advantage over your competitors is in your target.

Yesterday we tackled the idea of differentiating yourself not by what you have that your competitor doesn’t, but by giving more to the customer than your competitor can.

Today we look at having an advantage by having better data of your target.

The quickest way to get ahead in your market is to know more about the market (specifically your target) than your competitors. An inch of insight can give you a mile of an advantage.

Consider the first company to realize getting food on the table wasn’t just a decision based on budget, but on the emotional need of mothers to hear their husbands brag to their friends about how well they are fed. Dinner became an ego-booster. “Save 5 cents” was a lot less effective.

What more can you do on the end of target research?

That’s where you’ll find how to gain an advantage.

 

Stay Positive & Know The Most About Your Target

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