In The Box Podcast

Episode 17: Team Building Failure, Brand vs. Customer Voice, Self-Reliance And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we wrapped up our thoughts on luck, talked about why most startups fail, the difference between responding and reacting, and how much self-reliance is too much.

We also explored the idea of changing a brand voice to suit the voice of a publication one is pitching to and why many groups fall apart.

Give it a listen on itunes and subscribe.

Episode 17: Team Building Failure, Brand vs. Customer Voice, Self-Reliance And More

Luck – Trust that things will always work out.

Startups – Why do you think most startups fail?

Team building failure – Do many groups fall apart because of poor character dynamics or because the purpose of the group isn’t strong enough?

Brand vs Customer Voice – To get a publication or blogger to cover your business, should you choose your brand voice to fit their style or should you forget them and only seek out those who either speak or value your brand voice even if it doesn’t resonate with their own?

Respond vs react – How do you differentiate between responding and reacting?

Self-reliance – Is there such a thing as too much self-reliance?

 

Stay Positive & Is Your Purpose Clear?

No Is Free

Garth Beyer

It’s a curious notion how rejection is free.

It costs nothing to be told no. There are zero consequences to passersby doing what they’re labeled to do – pass by.

So it goes with hitchhiking or publishing a novel or booking a gig, all it takes is one person to ask you on board and the confidence begins to build.

Perhaps, though, picking yourself up, self-publishing and organizing an event to play at is more beneficial to one’s confidence than waiting to be picked.

After all, picking yourself is free too.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Wait For A Yes

Telling Your Story

Garth Beyer

It pays to work on your story, to figure it out before you launch or reach out to publications, but what entrepreneurs often forget is they don’t have as much control over their story as they think they do.

You can tell your story to every guest that walks in, but when they walk out, all that matters is the story they tell others, which may not be the one you told them.

The best stories are about businesses who listen and do, not those who profess their story before they ask you for your order or tell you their story as they’re checking out your items.

Listen and do. Let your guests tell the story.

 

Stay Positive & Talk With The Interest Of Listening More

The Problem With Brand Voice

Garth Beyer

It’s hard to maintain your brand voice.

When anyone does anything over and over again, they’re bound to get tired of it. That’s what brand voice is like.

While you may get tired of writing the same way over and over and curating similar responses on social media, your target isn’t tired of it. In fact, they either come back because of the same voice or you’re appealing to a new prospect with your natural brand voice.

Just because you’re more involved in your brand than your prospect, doesn’t mean you need to regularly change the voice to appeal to you. Quite the opposite.

 

Stay Positive & Change When The Prospect Asks, Not When You Feel Bored

Where Marketers Get Themselves In Trouble

Garth Beyer

Marketers like to make big predictions based off small tests.

  • You flush out three different uses for a product and state there are 10 other uses for it.
  • You land a spot in a major publication, then tell your boss you’ll have no problem meeting the expected quota this month.
  • You find a handful of original pins to repin on Pinterest and then plan to repin 100 a month.
  • You know an easy way to start a fire and advertise to invest in your way because there are a dozen hard ways.

If you’re going to make a big suggestion, flush it out.

Take the fire starting example: figure out those 12 ways to start a fire that are hard even if you won’t showcase them all. Not only does it add to your authentic voice because you know you’re telling the truth about there being a dozen ways, but it also gives you content to use down the line.

Consider the big predictions, but see them through before you talk about them.

Either you’ll garner more support as in the fire starting example or you’ll realize how flawed your prediction is as in the original repins (there really isn’t much originality on Pinterest).

 

Stay Positive & Think Big (But Act On It Before You Profess)

Where The Magic Really Is

Garth Beyer

You don’t need thousands of investors, subscribers or participants to launch, to be on the path toward success.

Skillshare, one of the largest educational online platforms started their first class with only 6 participants. Look where they are now: millions of people enrolling in classes, signing up to teach, developing hundreds of creative projects – oh, and they’re making a ton of money from subscriptions.

Many would argue a lot of magic happened in the middle of their story, between their first class and where they are now. They obviously refined a lot, trashed bad features and focused on developing a minimum viable product. While there may have been passion, I don’ believe there was much magic during their progressional phases.

The real magic happened when they decided to keep providing classes and improving the system after their first class of 6 students.

Think if you were in their position: only six students in your first class you worked hours and hours on? Would you press on? Or would you be disappointed with the number who showed up? Obviously it’s not a good idea if so few people sign up at the start, right?

Poor turnout is often a passion killer, but you don’t have to let it be. Remind yourself that those 6 participants have 10 friends, and there’s an insane amount of magic there.

 

Stay Positive & Press On

Talking More

Garth Beyer

When I pick up the phone to pitch to journalists I don’t know… When I type up an email to send to a CEO I’ve never met… When I attempt to write a personal note on a LinkedIn invite to someone inspirational, but has no clue who I am… fear tends to creep up on me.

If you think cold calling is tough when selling, consider how tough it is to connect cold, to establish a relationship with someone who knows nothing about you.

Here’s what gets me through it.

Before I reach out to anyone I’ve never met, I remind myself the more people I talk to, the easier it will be to do, ask, and connect with people later down the line.

If you had to guess which scenario feels better, would you rather dial the number of a journalist who has never heard of you before or would you rather dial the number of a journalist who you’ve talked to before, if even once.

Or… would you rather send an email to someone saying “Hey, I’m friend’s with John Appleseed. He’s spoken highly of you. Would you have time to chat for a few minutes?” That’s certainly better than “Hey, would you have time to chat for a few minutes?”

The more people you talk to now, the more times you put yourself out there to warming a cold connection, the easier things will fall into place for you in the future.

The quickest way to dissipate the fear is to dive straight in it.

 

Stay Positive & Who Are You Connecting To?