Why Wait Until Thanksgiving

Why Wait Until Thanksgiving

Garth Beyer

Garth Beyer Blogger GarthBox

Today is my 3rd anniversary of blogging.

1,214 blog posts

20,475 page views

and a ton of online interaction and offline discussion from what I’ve written

Words, no matter how much I practice my craft, are not enough to express how thankful I am for you, my readers. Although I write daily, I don’t expect you to stop by everyday and read, but to simply stop by when you feel the need, when it’s time to remind yourself to switch things up, when you’re craving some motivation.

I can’t say that without you I wouldn’t be writing, because I still would be, but you certainly make this experience a grand one.

Thank you.

 

Stay Positive & No Day In The Future Is As Special As Today

The Machine Won’t Let Me

The Machine Won’t Let Me

Garth Beyer

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Most businesses, particularly franchises, attempt to streamline success with the implementation of machines. It makes sense given machines speed up most processes, cut overhead costs, and typically make math easier. Yet, when configuring your business to move faster, cheaper, easier, you’ve got to analyze how much control you’re giving to the machines and how it may affect customer satisfaction.

Chili’s, for instance, now has handheld computers at each table where you can play games, add dessert, and pay for your meal. Chili’s quickened the transaction time of paying for a meal, but at the expense of a possibly higher tip for the waitress, at the expense of leaving a final human impression with guests, at the expense of reminding patrons the business carefully choses who they hire to work.

Earlier today at Buffalo Wild Wings I attempted to order a beer. With five minutes left for Happy Hour, I ordered a beer. Moments later the waitress came back and said, “the machine won’t let me.”

Perhaps the machine forgot to account for daylight savings time or maybe management forgot to give priority control to waiters and waitresses over the machines.

When you seek fast, cheap, and easy, it always comes with sacrifices.

 

Stay Positive & Is What You Sacrifice For Machines Worth It?

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Riff On Yellow Pages

Riff On Yellow Pages

Garth Beyer

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I’m surprised I’ve got to write about Yellow Pages. I’m surprised they still exist.

The issue isn’t so much how yellow pages promotes itself, reaches out to businesses, and pays people minimum wage to ship the pages to people and businesses that don’t want them. No. What amazes me is that businesses still use them to advertise. Perhaps they think they might as well since so many other businesses have pulled back. That thinking begs to be written about.

When starting a business or working on growing it, you’re presented plenty of options that are small investments with small returns. You may shrug them off or you may run with them. After all, there’s little to lose. Right?

Wrong.  This “Yellow Pages Method” leads you to spread yourself thin. It gives you a false sense of successful marketing. It distracts you from the people you’re meant to focus on, the people who care, the people who seek you out on purpose rather than come by you on accident.

Having a business name that starts with A doesn’t get you extra business anymore.

The other issue with choosing to advertise in Yellow Pages is many do it simply because it’s what they recognize. Again, this action defers the question: is the Yellow Pages what your target market recognizes. Not you. Your target.

It pays to remember businesses don’t survive because of Yellow Pages, Yellow Pages exists because of businesses inability to devise a marketing plan that matters.

One last statement about Yellow Pages, the print version: it’s not a product anymore, it’s an advertisement. The tangible product keeps Yellow Pages on your mind for when people (like me) write about them or mention them, you still recognize it. Perhaps you may come across their online version. Then the question turns away from business owners to the marketing successes and failures of Yellow Pages.

 

Stay Positive & Would You Say Shipping The Hardcopies Is Good Marketing?

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The Greatest Teacher

Garth Beyer

is also the greatest student. Even experts have room to grow, and the only way to do so is to be sure those you decide to manage can teach you as much as you teach them. The moment you decide to only be a teacher is when you stop growing, stop learning, stop developing.

 

Stay Positive & Is That What You Really Want?

Mind The Gap, Fill The Void

Mind The Gap, Fill The Void

Garth Beyer

Mind The Gap, Fill The Void

Remarkable ideas are made by finding a void and filling it, finding a unique problem and solving it, finding a neglected world view and creating a new way to promote it.

Everything you think is remarkable wasn’t, at one point, thought about by a large number of people, but those who thought about it, thought a lot about it.

Remarkable ideas are built on the foundation of one thing and of a few people.

What chasm are you filling? Who are you connecting? What void are you populating?

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Forget What Makes Your Idea Remarkable

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Second Best

Garth Beyer

Rather than quitting, burning the manuscript, scrapping the design because it’s not perfect, not exactly what you wanted, not what you promised, what else could you do with your project?

The business model you began building, but never completed, could you put it online anyway? Perhaps someone could work off it. Perhaps it will inspire someone. Perhaps it would show people you’re onto something and they may start waiting to see what else you share.

The novel you started writing, but didn’t finish. Maybe you can manage writing a conclusion regardless it’s not where you wanted the conclusion to be, and shipping it. Someone may read it and be impressed. Someone may feel confident in shipping their own work because they saw you still did.

Shipping something that’s your second best can still be a place of inspiration, of growth, of connecting with others. When you know you won’t finish with a first place project, consider shipping a second best version.

Two benefits of second best:

1) There’s no resentment, no regret, no disappointment for not finishing and shipping your art.

2) Instead of sitting on the project, waiting to be inspired to finish it, you can just move on.

 

Stay Positive & Move On, Move Forward

They Weren’t Always The Way They Are

They Weren’t Always The Way They Are

Garth Beyer

Conversations And Opinions Change

Richard Branson. Bernadette Jiwa. Chris Brogan. These idols of ours, they weren’t always this remarkable, this flawless, this all-knowing, this helpful.

Jump back to page 400 of Seth Godin’s blog and notice how different the style of writing is.

Listen to the first few podcasts of Debbie Millman or James Altucher and notice how different their conversations are.

Watch some of Tim Ferriss’s old YouTube videos compared to what he rolls out today.

They weren’t always the way they are now. Through falling, failure, and feedback, they’ve come a long way. However!

If we asked any one of our idols if they are happy with where they are at, they would say there is still room for improvement, that they’re still tweaking things, still trying new ways of communicating, of growing.

The way they are now won’t be the way they are 20 months from now either.

You can’t glide at remarkable, you can’t plateau at incredible, you can’t pause at excellent. These labels are only stamped on those who keep moving forward. It doesn’t do anyone justice when we just accept that someone is talented.

Nor does it do us justice to think we can’t also work to where our idols are at now. They’ve made it to remarkable and work to stay that way. Why can’t/shouldn’t/won’t we?

 

Stay Positive & Let’s Do It

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