“Tip or Die”

Garth Beyer

An ongoing argument, making its presence with the New York Times, is one worth riffing on real quick. Should restaurants do away with tipping?

I’ve written posts about tipping. The reason there are so few is because tipping is very cut and dry with me. Why go on arguing it? Oh, because

you can argue that tipping is not capitalism, or that a greedy goal ruins the process, or that it’s withering good character. But the truth of it all is that tipping is just like giving someone a tip.

I can give you writing tips, or tips on battling fear, or tips on relationships, but I only give them because I care, because I want to, because I know it makes you happy or benefits you in some way. It has nothing to do with any service you have provided me.

(The people who get talked about, give others something worth talking about. The people who get tipped, give others a reason to tip them. It’s not rocket science.)

Sure, we could simplify this and cut tipping in restaurants and other services, but let’s keep all the good and bad of tipping and simplify the why and how people tip. Businesses don’t need a lesson on whether they should keep tipping or not, people need a lesson on tipping.

Lesson one: Did you connect with those who served you? Was it personal? Did they help you? Did they go the extra mile? Were they happy, fun, energetic people who read you like a book? Did they bring a drink before you were finished? Did they memorize what you desired? Were they perfect?

Lesson two: Forget lesson one and tip big.

Either they were exceptional or they need a sign to show them that they are exceptional.

 

Stay Positive & Will You Be There For Them?*

Garth E. Beyer

Worth mentioning is that I view tipping as my charity. While I freely give my time and resources to those in need (sort of my passion), I rarely donate money to charities. I decided early on to focus my charitable giving on something that means a lot to me. Just so happens, that it means as much to the baristas, servers, and caretakers of the world as it does the recipients of your giving through other organizations, non-profits, or charities. Keep an open mind to who you will give an open heart.

Talking Up Opportunities

Garth Beyer

IMGP4140.JPGI always have something to talk about because there is alway someone I can talk up. There’s the friend who finished project X yesterday, the crazy beekeeper, the youtuber who makes songs out of any object imaginable, the coworker who is there for me, the coworker who balances the other by giving me a hard time, and the readers who view my blog. They are all awesome and I could go on and on about them and countless others.

And I do. That’s how I find them opportunities left and right. It’s not just me either.

Another coworker (not mentioned above) just told the story of how a family member owns a chain of hotels and was talking to one frequent traveller about her daughter; that the daughter is an artist when it comes to pastries and wants to go to the Art Institute of Chicago. The mother showed the traveller pictures of her talent and immediately, he pulled out a card and said that the daughter has an interview for admission whenever she wants.

Not saying it’s impossible to talk yourself up to an opportunity, it’s just a lot more easier, heartfelt, and self-enlightening to talk someone else up to an opportunity.

 

Stay Positive & You Never Know Who You’re Talking To (or what they have to offer)

Garth E. Beyer

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The Lizard Brain, Again?

Garth Beyer

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Yes, because it never really goes away. The lizard brain is everywhere, but the best time to catch it is right at the beginning. The beginning of a project, anyway. Why? So that when it comes knocking again (it always will), you will be ready to dance with it.

Daily I meet people who have things they want to do, dreams, wishes, goals, but don’t start. They are waiting for the right moment, they are waiting for more experience (when starting is the experience they are waiting for), they are waiting to get picked, they are waiting to meet and learn from this person or be referred by that person, they are waiting until the weather is better, or they have more contacts.

They say excuses are endless and reasons are few, but I’m not saying these are excuses. They are very valid reasons. Convincing. Logical. It just makes sense to wait.

What no one focuses on are all the reasons to not wait. This is how you begin to challenge the lizard brain.

The earlier you start the further ahead you are to others. Everyone else is letting their lizard brain win. The experience you want is actually the experience you will get from trying, whether you end up failing or not. The best way to get picked is to pick yourself. The greatest referral you will ever get is the one from someone who never saw you coming. The right moment is now.

It’s not about working your way up a ladder, it’s about doing what you love. And to do that, you have to acknowledge the lizard brain. After that, the rest handles itself.

 

Stay Positive & Come On Now, Let’s See What You Got

Garth E. Beyer

This post was inspired by someone who is truly going places. Start now.

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Surprises

Garth Beyer

GROUCHO

It’s sort of tacky to start this way, but… everyone loves surprises.* Your friend, your customer, your girlfriend, your client, your dentist – they all love surprises. The reason being is that they know what they are getting from you and giving in return.

The relationship, a dentist, for example, is a simple transaction: give your dentist money, the dentist gives your teeth a cleaning and you some sound advice on how to take care of your teeth.

Then throw in a surprise and see how the relationship changes.

You give your dentist money, the dentist gives your teeth a cleaning, you some sound advice on how to take care of your teeth, and a $25 gift card to Red Mango. Not because you didn’t cry through the fluoride, but because your dentist simply can.

Guess who won’t be changing dentists anytime soon?

If you’ve been won over by a surprise, well, I don’t need to explain why they matter or the personal result of them. If you haven’t been won over by a surprise, go surprise someone and see how the relationship shifts.

Still not sold on surprises? Look at the following two examples.

1. Birthday

2. Birthday surprise

 

Stay Positive & It’s Not Rocket Science**

Garth E. Beyer

*If you’re shaking your head in disagreement, you’ve just had people who don’t really know you try to surprise you. Look at the meaning behind the attempt and not the actual surprise.

**I would argue rocket science is getting much easier to do. Alas, an argument for another day.

Profits Without Production

Garth Beyer

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I got turned on when I saw Krugman’s NYT’s post, “Profits Without Production.”

I thought to myself, “Finally, he sees it too!” Alas, while I am sure he would agree with me, he sees profits without production in a different light.

Nevertheless, since you cannot read what I thought he wrote. I’ll write it.

It wasn’t until the start of the industrial revolution that “production” became mechanical, void of emotion, and downright dirty. Prior to the industrial revolution, to “produce” held power. Anything that was produced contained a bit of the person who produced it.

Production took hands (many of them), impromptu thought power, and personal insight (not mechanical). There were technicalities before there was anything technical. Then, once the industrial revolution hit, “production” took on an entirely new meaning.

It’s as you can expect, recall, and still see industries trying to continue. During the industrial revolution production was being carried out by robots, assembly lines, programmers, and chain reaction contraptions. No grit, no personality, and no heart. The only connection was between two wires. Profits came from faster production. As a result, the process to creating goods was a stale, monotonous, banal one.

Now, though, we’ve entered the post-industrial revolution which has – I don’t want to say returned, but has reconditioned “production” and given it an all new meaning. Production has maintained its sense of efficiency and multiplicity while involving the human spirit, a person’s passion.

This post-industrial revolution is the collaboration of the assembly line and creativity. However, not in the sense that one piece of creative work is repetitively created, rather, art (whatever your art may be) is continuously created, day in and day out.

For me, I write something different every single day. Alisa Toninato, instead of molding a typical metal pan over and over, sculpts something different, again and again. Now, those who are profiting the most (financially and internally) are those who have salvaged the key parts to production, but, generally, tossed the industrial revolution concept away.

Profits don’t come from production, they come from the interaction created from making more art. And making more art comes from doing enough weird things until they get noticed.

 

Stay Positive & Potatoes Pototoes, I Suppose

Garth E. Beyer

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Goosebump Advertising

Garth Beyer

Snapchat could be an advertisers solution to the fading mass email list.

It’s easy for someone to delete what they can recognize as spam.

And, in this new fast-paced-digital-age world, we don’t need to read a long advertisement or watch a 10-minute promotional video to know if we are in or not. Really, 10 seconds will do.

That’s where Snapchat (and I suppose, Instagram and Vine too) comes in. If I, or any marketer/advertiser/PRS wanted, we could find millions of usernames and send a 10 second promo video of us playing music, a website to visit, an experiment we’ve done and so on in order to convince a stranger to connect with us.

It’s an entirely new feature to being personal and having fun with advertising.

Gives me goosebumps.

 

Stay Positive & Make It Quick

Waiting For Confirmation

Garth Beyer

2392520183_405635fcb6_nI’m getting bombarded with calls about whether students are confirmed scholars – that they will get the grant.

I’m talking to a close friend about a possible relationship. She just wants confirmation that the guy feels the same way.

Confirmation is like expecting a genie to come out of a lamp without rubbing it.

My shortcut to overcoming fear’s defensive method of convincing you that you need confirmation is that the feeling itself is confirmation enough.

Outside of typical fears such as a fear of height, being afraid means that you are thinking about something risky, special, and all-so-worth-it. Cut yourself a break and realize that the desire for a confirmation is confirmation.

If it wasn’t worth it, if you weren’t right, if it wasn’t meant to be, then you would never need or ask for confirmation in the first place, now would you?

 

Stay Positive & Go Make It Happen

Garth E. Beyer

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