Connecting

In The Box Podcast

Episode 31: Management Advice, Meeting People, Team Vision And More (Podcast)

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we ended up with a lot more questions than answers. You can download the episode here and listen to us talk about giving advice to management, meeting people within their own worldview, how much it matters that your team sees a project the same way as you, the importance of showcasing business culture, and ebbs and flows of life.

Episode 31: Management Advice, Meeting People, Team Vision And More

Ebb and Flows Of Life – Do you think you’re the only one who has trouble with figuring out life? or that your problems are unique to you and others won’t understand?

Management – What’s one thing that you would tell the management of the world?

Meet People – Best way to meet people where they are at?

Vision – How much does it matter if others on your team don’t agree with your vision for a project?

Bonus – Does a business’ culture matter to consumers/clients? Is it worth showcasing the culture?

 

Stay Positive & Sometimes No Answer Is As Enlightening As Having One

Match Making (Pitches, PR, And Relationship Principles)

Garth Beyer

Connection

I wish I could say I failed to research people before I met them and I lost out on an opportunity because of it, but it’s not true. I may have missed pieces of information about a person that, hindsight 20/20, I could have used in conversation with them (like telling Seth Godin I’ve seen a photo of his action figure riding a pink angry unicorn), but typically I’m able to bring up two points in every conversation.

1) Something they’ve done that I admire

2) Something of theirs that we can both connect on

These two points are essential to match making with journalists, PR teams and clients, as well as someone you’re going to have coffee with.

When you’re applying to an agency or any job, you do your research on the company: their history, their clients, their goals… anything and everything you can find online or in their brochures (are brochures still a thing?).

Why would you treat a journalist you’re pitching to, a client you want to do business with, a friend of a friend you’re meeting for the first time with any differently?

You don’t.

A journalist will be more likely to cover your story if you start by acknowledging a piece they have written (check box #1) and how you two both love the book she referenced in that story (check box #2).

Not only do you establish a connection with the person, you add credibility to yourself, you show you care because you wouldn’t take the time to research and prepare if you didn’t, and you build trust with that (now) special someone.

The twist is the two check box process works to your advantage in another unique way. It shows you whether or not you want to work and connect with this reporter, that agency, or this guy’s friend.

If they’ve created nothing remarkable and you can’t find a node to connect on, are they a person you want to be investing in?

 

Stay Positive & 7 Billion People In This World, You’ve Got The Right To Be Picky

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Unlocking Potential #13: Q&A With Ryan Paugh

Garth Beyer

Ryan Paugh

When researching for a story centered on entrepreneurs under 30, a friend connected me with Ryan Paugh. At the time, Ryan was at Brazen Careerist writing, speaking and preaching about career-management. He was big into entrepreneurship… still is.

Like all the others on the unlocking potential series, Ryan is a linchpin. He is the source, the center of many entrepreneurial circles, providing resources and connecting people just as my friend connected me with him.

Without further ado… welcome, Ryan.

Q: You’re known for building epic communities. What does an epic community look like to you?

Ryan: An epic community is one that can help you unlock any door in your industry or trade. For communities like YEC and FounderSociety, we aspire to help our members gain access to everything they need to grow successful businesses.

Q: How did you get to where you’re at now? What’s your story?

Ryan: This is very geeky, but blogging changed my life. After I graduated college I started a blog with one of my best friends about Gen Y entering the workforce. Through the blog came my first business, Brazen Careerist, which was a free community for Gen Y professionals seeking career happiness.

Q: What’s the best and worst parts of being an entrepreneur?

Ryan: The best part about being an entrepreneur is having control over your own destiny. The worst part about being an entrepreneur is the toll it takes on your personal life and the lack of stability.

Q: What gets you filled up with passion and ready to take on the world, to go the distance, to be in it for the long haul?

Ryan: My family. Now that I’m a father especially, I find that I’m more motivated to be successful than I have ever been. I want my family to live the best life possible. I want them to see me as their hero.

Q: What do you see people regularly failing to do while starting a business? What would you suggest they do differently?

Ryan: Spending too much time on one idea is a common startup killer. Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that they didn’t get it right on the first try. They had to iterate on their existing idea to make it work.

Q: What are four hacks you can share? They can be about life, relationships, getting a job, starting a business, whatever you would like.

Hack #1. Invest in a virtual assistant and outsource work that takes away from building your business. Challenge yourself to delegate at least one new thing per week to your assistant.

Hack #2. Perfect is stupid. Come up with an idea for a business. Build the minimum viable product (MVP) as quickly as you can and get it to market. Iterate based on feedback from your early customers to get better.

Hack #3. Become an early riser or a night owl and you will get more accomplished than 99 percent of the population.

Hack #4. Take care of yourself. You physical and mental health are strongly linked to your success.

Q: Here’s an open-ended question for you: What are your thoughts on waiting?

Ryan: Don’t.

Q: What about failure?

Ryan: Embrace it.

Q: Would you tell us about a truly challenging time and how you got through it (or didn’t!)?

Ryan: Without going into too much detail, I had a health scare a couple months ago that left me feeling mentally paralyzed. It took weeks for me to feel better and get back to my business. The reason I was able to take the time off that I needed to recover was my amazing team. At some point in the future, you’re going to need to take some time off too and it will go a lot smoother if your company can operate with you missing. Being a great leader means learning how to delegate to your team and trust that they can get the job done. You should spend time early on in your career getting comfortable with this. You’ll thank yourself later.

Q: What are three lessons people should know about building a community?

  • Community businesses are are some of the most difficult businesses to run. I love what I do, but it’s not an easy road to riches. There are plenty of other avenues you could take to get rich quick
  • Great customer service can keep a paying customer loyal even when the product still needs work.
  • People will pay a premium for a concierge-level community experience.

Q: What makes an idea or a business or a person remarkable?

Ryan: Vulnerability. I’m drawn to people, ideas, and businesses that are not afraid to be what they are even if that might lead to them being criticized.

Q: Any last advice you want to give someone in marketing or someone who is thinking of starting a business?

Ryan: Share your ideas with as many people as possible.

Q: Lastly, where can people find you and the remarkable work you do? (Shamelessly self-promote here.)

Ryan: The communities I’m currently building are YEC and FounderSociety. We also run a great startup advice website for early-stage entrepreneurs. Follow me on Twitter. I try to blog semi frequently at ryanpaugh.com.

 

Stay Positive & Go Share Your Ideas, Be A Hero, Start Something

The Desire For Too Much Change

The Desire For Too Much Change

Garth Beyer

Too Much Change

I remained immobile the other day after realizing how much I want to change in my life.

While I’m not one that sees the new year as a time to start something new (because now is the best time to start anything), I can’t help thinking about all the changes I want to make and in such short time I want to make them.

It’s a problem I see with a lot of entrepreneurs, go-getters and people who just want to turn their life around.

By “turnaround,” I mean a quick turnaround. We want our new habits to form from the start. We want to be on all the healthy tracks of eating, exercising, meditating, working, creating, connecting, and so on, all at once, and in a short period of time.

Quite frankly, just thinking about it, trying to plan big change to happen fast… it’s paralyzing.

We have to remember the new year isn’t a 1-day event, it’s a 365-day event, some may even consider it a marathon of sorts.

Small consistent changes are fine as long as they lead you to the place you want to be. We don’t need to have everything happen at once.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t People Who Are In It For The Long Haul Just Make You Happy?

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What Matters Most About Your Reach

Garth Beyer

It’s about what people keep of yours, right? They keep and hoard your books and are the first to buy one when it’s released. They keep their name tag they got at your event they attended. They keep the t-shirt with your logo you gave them. They keep remnants of you in their memory box or inspiration folder or Safari bookmark. Was any of this your goal?

I think it’s better to be talked about, to get someone to wear the t-shirt in hopes someone else asks about the logo, to encourage your tribe to share the books they buy with friends who can also benefit from them and to create an online space where like-minded followers can connect with each other.

Impact is about moving, about connecting, about shaking people into action, not about storing memories.

 

Stay Positive & What Are You Getting Your Audience To Do?

Here’s The Thing About Menus

Garth Beyer

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I love going out to lunch for the sake of staring at the restaurant’s menu. Why?

Because I can read how they describe the meals, what they are trying to sell and how they are trying to sell it. People take lunch to get away from work, I take it to get more into it simply because every product can be written like a meal on a menu. With all the restaurants and menus available to us, there’s a lot to learn.

Seth Godin wrote today about Salmagundi: “Salmagundi is a salad dish, originating in the early 17th century in England, comprising cooked meats, seafood, vegetables, fruit, leaves, nuts and flowers and dressed with oil, vinegar and spices.”

What if we tweaked the description to this: “Salmagundi is a diverse salad dish that will get you to experience variety, the spice of 17th century England.”

By tweaking it in such a way, you’ve done two things.

1. You’ve told the customer how they will feel eating Salmagundi.

2. They’re going to want to know the ingredients and they will ask the server. An advantage because menus don’t sell to people, people sell to people.

Think this through when you’re writing the description to your product. Don’t tell them what it is. Tell them how it will make them feel.

That’s why we buy food, or anything, really.

 

Stay Positive & More Please

Garth E. Beyer

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Why The Digital Age Is Creating A Stronger Sense Of Community

Garth Beyer

Getting things for free feels so good. Getting things for free when you know you shouldn’t – that feels even better.

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Everything that this digital age is producing – whether it be ads, shifts in cultural norms, or tangible products – the result is the same: a stronger sense of community.

(unrelated to digital age) You go to your favorite local coffee shop and since you bought one Turtle Mocha, you get a second one to go for free. Compare this to going to a local coffee shop and buying one Turtle Mocha, but when you pick it up, the barista gives you a second one to go “on the house.”

(related to the digital age) You get one month of Netflix free, after that one month you have to pay. Compare this to getting one month of Netflix free, and after that one month, you get the username and password of your girlfriends’ parents account.

In the coffee shop scenario, getting something free when you shouldn’t have established a connection between you and the barista (effectively the coffee shop too). In the Netflix scenario, you’ve reaffirmed the connection between you and your girlfriends’ parents (obviously a win-win).

This effect is one of the single most important reasons why I love advertising in the digital age. No matter the success or failure of ads, they always leave a stronger sense of community.

Either you buy into the brand and become part of that brands community (coffee deal drinkers or addicted Netflix supporters) or you find a way to get something free when normally you shouldn’t – be it through pre-existing connections (step-brother, in-laws, etc,) or through making new connections (class mates, coworkers, etc,).

The end result is the same: stronger sense of community.

 

Stay Positive & There’s A Reason It’s Called The Connection Economy

Garth E. Beyer

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Here’s a bonus read. Enjoy.