The Brand Formula

Garth Beyer

Seth Godin said a brand is the product of two things: prediction of what to expect times the emotional power of that expectation.

Where does the emotional power come from? That too is the product of two things: the relief in getting what you expect times the joy of getting more than you expected.

Earning trust isn’t about meeting expectations. More importantly, it’s not about lowering expectations so you can exceed them upon delivery. No. The good stuff, the brand, the trust; all of that comes from setting high expectations to begin with, but always finding a new way to surpass them.

Johnny Cupcakes, yet again, is my go-to. You get everything you expect (high quality content and packing), and inside the box I find something I didn’t expect, something goofy and special, something that brings me joy.

Relief and joy, two seemingly opposites actually make a perfect duo.

 

Stay Positive & Branding Is Making Bold Promises, But Always Over Delivering

Doing Something A Thousand Times

Garth Beyer

Many of us get ourselves stuck in a situation requiring repetition, monotony and banal movement. Think about something you’ve had to do a thousand times or even a hundred times. Data entry. Licking envelopes. Picking four-leaf clovers. Opening every e-mail to make sure you don’t mistake something important for junk.

What do you get out of it in the end? Is it just a task completed and you move on to something new? Or do you look back at a job well done and consider how it can be better done next time.

Often times you’ll realize it can be better done next time by not being done at all.

 

Stay Positive & Cut The Quantity

That’s Nice, Isn’t It?

Garth Beyer

1) Think of a moment of pure celebration, a moment you achieved something you had worked hard to achieve. That’s nice, isn’t it?

2) Go through your friends on Facebook and write on their walls a memory, a compliment, or an observation of their character that might not regularly be pointed out to them. That’s nice, isn’t it?

3) Dig through old boxes to find something you wrote when you were younger. A school paper, a journal, a love letter, a poem. That’s nice, isn’t it?

4) Write down the name of an idol or a mentor and then write one or two things you learned from them. Hand that note to someone and tell them how the person whose name you have written down made your life better. That’s nice, isn’t it?

5) Start a gratitude list by writing three things you’re thankful for each day. Start now. That’s nice, isn’t it?

6) Close your eyes. Take three deep breaths… taking in as much air as you can and pushing out as much air as you can. That’s nice, isn’t it?

7) Visit a past teacher with whom you were close to. That’s nice, isn’t it?

8) Say to yourself aloud that you love yourself. Squeeze or kiss yourself. That’s weird. But nice, isn’t it?

9) Go do something you did as a kid, something you haven’t done in years. That’s nice, isn’t it?

The list was inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s advice to the young, “If this Isn’t Nice, What Is?” Not just something worth reading, but something worth acting on after reading.

 

Stay Positive & If These Aren’t Nice, I Don’t Know What Is

Things That Dishearten Me

Garth Beyer
  • business as usual
  • hearing someone has “tried everything”
  • when the boss says no to a new idea
  • cutting corners
  • people keeping their muse to themselves
  • saving networking for last
  • standing still
  • when someone says they don’t know what they want 
  • fear of success
  • giving up on unsure ideas
  • letting cereal get soggy
  • seeking perfection
  • coloring inside the lines
  • not allowing time for reflection

 

Stay Positive & Not Trying Disheartens Me Too

Where Do You And Those In Your Life Stand On The Line

Garth Beyer

I have a fairly strong motto: keep moving forward. I consider myself a shark when it comes to business and lifestyle; I die if I stop moving. (We. all. do.)

On my pursuit of moving forward in life, who do you think I ask for advice? My family? Friends? Old professors?

More importantly, who do you ask for advice when your pursuing success or trying to move forward in life or work or academia?

If you put yourself on a line where failure is behind you somewhere and success is in front of you somewhere, where are those in your life who you are asking for advice stand? It’s not judging, it’s assessing. If you want to be successful, you have to assess your team.

A likely response is that they are right beside you. The people next to you on the line are the people you are asking for advice on pursing success. One question for you: if they knew how to move forward on the line, don’t you think they would already be forward on the line?

I not only ask where on the line those in your life stand, but also ask where you stand on the line. If you want to pursue success, it’s best to take advice from those who are ahead of you on the line, not beside or behind. Knowing where you and everyone else is on the line (and what success actually means to you) are the roots of learning how to become successful with the help of others.

Quick note: It’s not that good advice never comes from those beside you or behind you, from family members or enemies; it’s simply better not to take the chance when so many people in front of you are ready and willing to help you keep moving forward.

Lastly, remember you don’t need to leave anyone behind. Simply move forward and then extend back a helping hand.

 

Stay Positive & Please Don’t Die Standing Still (Or Asking Advice From Those Who Are)

 

Two Of My Favorite Words

Garth Beyer

Agency and urgency.

Agency means we have a choice. We always have a choice. Everything that happens, we’ve done something that lead to it. If we want something different in the future, we only need to change our present actions, and agency means we can do that.

Urgency, in my opinion, is more powerful than agency. Urgency can outrun agency. Urgency is like looking at tasks as if they were 100 meter runs. You’re running too fast to think if your leg is sore, if the shoes don’t fit right, if you have friends in the stands cheering you on or enemies up close hoping you fall behind. Urgency means you give up a bit of agency, a bit of observation of what’s around you while you focus just on what’s ahead.

Agency is about exploring options and then acting on one of them. Urgency is about acting on it quickly.

If you’re confused, hurt, or worried, you need to recognize you have agency.

If you’re afraid, fed up with your lack of success, or nervous, you need to grab hold of urgency.

 

Stay Positive & Fail Fast To Succeed Faster, Choice Is Yours

 

What Standard Are You Setting

Garth Beyer

Is it on Netflix?

Is it in the AP style guide?

Are they on Spotify?

Netflix isn’t as much about convenience as we think it is. Sure, convenience is a fundamental factor of its success, but more importantly, a movie has to go through test after test to get on Netflix. They take into account how well it did in the box office, how well it did in Redbox, how well people are reviewing the movie on IMDB.

The Associated Press has set the standard for stylized writing. Sure, basic grammar and mechanics are fundamental parts of the style guide’s success, but more importantly every word, phrase and symbol gets analyzed nationwide, through different dialects and writing cultures.

Spotify isn’t just about quantity or having the chance to be heard by someone who normally wouldn’t find you. Having your tracks on Spotify gives you credibility and reassures the listener that you’ve got to have at least something going for yourself or you wouldn’t be on Spotify.

You have to ask yourself what standard you’re setting when marketing your product or a business. What is it that you do beyond fulfilling a need? What is your silent guarantee? What standard are you setting for everything that goes through you?

 

Stay Positive & There Are No High Or Low Standards, Only There Are Standards Or There Arne’t