How Far Can You Bend

Garth Beyer

There’s one guarantee about what you plan for, be it your PR strategy, product idea, design service or life in general: It won’t happen the way you planned.

Planning is essential, what’s more so, though, is flexibility. It’s no surprise the businesses that make the most profit also offer the most discounts, provide the most leeway on expectations and kick ass at customer service.

Flexibility is the foundation to a successful business. Why? Because at some point, you’re going to have to change the way you do things. Better to have the space to bend than to remain dormant, only to be forgotten.

It’s those who think of “what could have been” that never spent time incorporating flexibility into their business.

 

Stay Positive & What Doesn’t Bend, Breaks

Assorted Links

Garth Beyer

1. Journalism tutorials from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism (read)

2. Honest company slogans (look)

3. How much time have you spent (“wasted”) on Facebook (calculate)

4. Kid President’s letter (watch)

5. Are we in a new golden age of journalism (read)

The gap, the taste, the fear

Garth Beyer

Gumption, persistence, relentlessness – they aren’t just buzzwords, they’re necessary attitudes to jump the gap, taste the taste and conquer the fear.

It’s all a matter of time.

 

Stay Positive & Remember The Power Of Delayed Gratification

Are All Members Accounted For

Garth Beyer

I know a thing or two about teams. I’ve made runs – some successful, some not – at creating teams for many different creative projects. I’ve led a strategy team for a startup. I’ve led over a dozen writers for a newspaper. I’m a strong believer in the idea that you can’t be a leader without a team. So it goes, I know a lot about team membership.

My favorite team role is also the member of the team that ambitious leaders forget about most. That member is what I call the Enforcer.

It’s not uncommon to find a team that’s lacking an Enforcer. Most believe the leader is supposed to be the Enforcer. This is untrue. There’s a strong distinction between leading and enforcing. A simple difference is: the leader points in the direction the team needs to go and the Enforcer makes sure they go that direction. Two separate roles.

If you’re leading a team and finding incomplete tasks, unmet deadlines, stalling morale… it’s not that you’re a poor leader, it’s just likely your missing a member of your team.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Forget The Enforcer

 

Be The A-Player They Want To Hire

Garth Beyer

Hiring A-Players is much more difficult to do in a rough economy. Simple fact of the matter is that with a flipped economy, there aren’t more A-Player resumes, there’s a massive flux of C-Player resumes. (Find a longer explanation here.)

This framing doesn’t put the problem on your shoulders, it puts it on the business’s shoulders. I don’t like that. It’s not fair. Businesses shouldn’t be looking for the A-Player to higher. They should be deciding between this A-Player and that A-Player. It’s not them, it’s you (and yes, it’s me too).

In light of this, here are four steps you can take daily to become that A-Player.

1) Connect with someone every day. It can be something as little as sending a Tweet at someone or friending someone on FB who you haven’t seen in a while. Or something larger: coffee with a CEO, scheduling a tour of an agency to talk with employees or asking someone to be your mentor. As Brené Brown has said, “Connection is why we’re here. It’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”

2) Blog. I can’t stress this enough. You don’t need to do it daily, although it’s likely better if you do. (It took me a year to acquire the daily habit.) If a blog is too big of a start, try journaling for five minutes. Advised by the best.

3) Know that blog or journal you started? Notice what’s happening around you and write about it. Are you a musician? Keep an ear and an eye out for what stands out most about other musicians whether it’s their actual melody or their marketing strategy. Share what you find interesting. The thing about being human is that if you find something interesting, their’s surely someone else who agrees. No matter how different it may be.

4) Be human. Seriously.

 

Stay Positive & Four Things, Is That Too Much?

 

This Is My Story

Garth Beyer

If you’re reading this post to read about my story, sorry to disappoint you, you won’t exactly find it spelled out for you.

Actually, you won’t find anyones story by reading a pamphlet, viewing a page or reading a blog post titled “our story.” At least, not the whole story. Only half.

Johnny, founder of Johnny Cupcakes has a phenomenal story presented through Q&A, well worth the read. Yet, his story about dropping out of college to create Johnny Cupcakes is just half of the story. The other half is what you tell yourself his story is. So it goes with businesses and brands, if enough people tell themselves the same other half of the story, that’s when you have a successful brand or business.

It just so happens, for Johnny, enough people tell themselves the story that if they wear his shirts and get asked about them, they might feel as if they, not just Johnny, are inspired to chase their dreams.

That’s what branding and stories are all about isn’t it. It’s about how you make people feel.

 

Stay Positive & Life Is Good

What To Do About The Name

Garth Beyer

Isn’t this the first thing to do when coming up with a business or a book or any venture? Gotta name it.

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As much as I’d argue to do the hard work first, I know we won’t. We sell ourselves on the idea that we can’t take any steps until we have the name down. That’s okay as long as we don’t take forever to come up with a name. (That’s where I come in.)

The first two tips came from yesterdays post: choose a name that incorporates something common and something uncommon. Here are five other tips to picking a name:

1) Forget words that start with A and words that are only three or four letters long. It’s unnecessary. If the business is remarkable enough, we’ll remember all the letters. There are very few people who will forget www.projectexponential.com (HT Michelle Welsch)

2) Understand that people need to pronounce it. Here’s some hard to pronounce brands. Want to discover even harder business names? Google companies that store and sell private information like Acxiom, Epsilon, BlueKai, V12 Group. All businesses that don’t want to be found.

3) Make a list of all the words associated with what you do and how you want your customers to feel. Breaking out the thesaurus will help here. Mix and match the words to follow tip number four.

4) Combine two words. Squid-do, Garth-box, Copy-blogger, Skyy-Gamut, and so on. Think of it like a phone number with “www” being the area code.

5) Don’t listen to what anyone thinks. Don’t ask for your family’s opinion. Don’t run it by a friend. YOU decide the name. I attempted to explain yesterday that you make the name, the name doesn’t make your book, your business, your venture. People never attributed Apple with design until Apple gave them a reason to. People never attributed millions of photos with Flickr until Flickr showed them they could.

That’s the scariest part of it all, isn’t it?

If you’re relying on the name to give you the leverage, the exposure, the attention you think you deserve – well, you’re in for one hell of a lesson.

 

Stay Positive & Still In Doubt?

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