The Hardest Part

Garth Beyer

I’ve just been given the best client to strategize a new PR and social media plan for: It’s the agency I work at.

I figured I would share some wisdom from past experiences working with a new client, from a craft brewery to my own business to a multi-million dollar retail company, and now the agency I work at.

It’s easy to start with the logo, the name, the website design, and the tagline. Much harder to start with the most simplified message of why the entity exists, who you want to appeal to (because it HAS to be narrow), and, my personal favorite, the four words that you identify with your brand, which will easily be seen in every single message you put out.

The latter of the above is exactly what makes the former fluid and all-around accepted, because while those items might be easy to start with, they’re not as easily approved by the business, the customers, the stakeholders.

You can’t convince anyone a message works unless you inform them and enforce why the message exists in the first place.

Lastly, while it’s fun to focus on the shiny, it’s more fun to work on it when you know someone will care that it shines. Not to mention you save time when you prioritize the hard work.

 

Stay Positive & Do The Hardest Part First

5 Ways To Combat Worry

Garth Beyer

Worrying is pointless, really, but at times nearly impossible.

Whether it’s worrying if the old car will start, if the SO of years will propose or if you’ll get hired with a salary, worry creeps up on us, takes over and prevents us from doing (and focusing) on the work that matters.

Alas, here are five ways to combat worry.

1) Write a list of all the things you’re thankful for until you’ve run out of paper or exhausted yourself

2) Send an email to all the people involved in the activity you’re worried about, praising them, letting them know you appreciate what they’re doing

3) Ask yourself if you’re giving a small thing a big shadow, be honest

4) Remind yourself that you have no clue what others are thinking. Your boss, SO, or friend could be thinking about chocolate covered strawberries and not about what you’re worried they’re thinking about. Only address what you truly know

5) Acknowledge your worry and let it float away (this idea is flushed out in episode 18 of In The Box podcast)

 

Stay Positive & Win The Battle And The War

Why They’re Not Paying Attention

Garth Beyer

If you’re working to make people love your product or service, you’re likely interrupting their daily lives.

Better, I think, to make something people love and can integrate into their life. The best thing to hear is “I’ve always wanted this, I didn’t think anyone made it.”

That’s not to say you have to make something new, start a new business or find a new client. Quite the opposite.

If there is force, pressure, and stress to get people to love your product, then you’re not listening to them, not targeting the people who care. It’s a marketing problem, not a people problem.

Despite the excessive use of social media, it’s still difficult to listen and understand the customers worldview. Easier to get on with the traditional marketing practice of talking about ourselves and our product and our business instead of focusing on what’s in it for them.

There’s often no way to label a particular marketing practice or tactic as traditional and un-traditional, it’s more so a mindset of the marketer, an attitude of someone who cares.

 

Stay Positive & Do Something Worth Paying Attention For

What You’re Keeping Track Of

Garth Beyer

I’ve got a list of past failures. Given that I fail often, it’s a long one.

What are you keeping track of? The number of times you’ve failed, guessed wrong, invested in the wrong stock, passed on pursuing an invention?

Much more productive – and I’m working on this myself – to keep track of our successes.

Sure, learn from the failures and the paths not taken, but why hold onto them. Better to remind ourselves of when we were right, what worked, when we took risks and turned out to succeed by doing so.

It’s a tough list to make, but worth the investment of attention.

 

Stay Positive & Focusing On The Good Attracts More Good

In The Box Podcast

Episode 18: Response Rates, Honesty, Opinions Of Others And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we talked about Facebook’s new response rate tracking, how long we should keep trying before giving up, if it’s best to always tell the truth, how to share unfavorable opinions with others, and how to move on from things that didn’t go our way.

Love podcasts? Give ours a download.

Episode 18: Response Rates, Honesty, Opinions Of Others And More

Response rates – How fast do you expect to get a response when you tweet or Facebook a complaint?

Attempt Length – How long do you keep trying before you try something else or give up?

Honesty – Is it good to ALWAYS tell the truth?

Opinion of others – Is it worth it to share your opinions of others if it is not a favorable one?

Moving on – How do you move on from things that didn’t go your way?

 

Stay Positive & Try Until You Can’t

Someone Is Always Watching

Garth Beyer

It’s likely not the first time you’ve heard the expression, “act like someone is watching… because someone always is” – or something of the sort.

I think it’s a damn good philosophy to follow even if it’s not necessarily true. There’s not a single person watching me write this right now, but I act as if there is.

I work as if a group of friends and influencers are behind me watching me, seeking inspiration, watching to learn how to do things the best way, not the short way.

Deep down, we all have a group of people who follow us around in our minds influencing what we do, so, in a sense, someone is always watching what you do, but who that someone is is of grand importance.

Is it all the critics who have said you’re not good enough? Is it the family member who said to settle instead of risk it for what you really wanted? Or is it the teacher who said you were going places? Or the parent who will support you no matter what you choose to do?

 

Stay Positive & You Choose Who Watches

Do You Continue To Perform?

Garth Beyer

If you performed your art on the street and three passersby tossed in money with a note attached:

The first was a one-dollar bill and a note that said: when you perform, I’m inspired, signed by someone who had once given up.

The second was a five-dollar bill and a note that said: I love your performance, thank you, signed by someone whose loved one just died.

The third was a twenty-dollar bill and a note that said: stop it.

Would you continue to perform?

 

Stay Positive & If Not $20, Then How Much?