PR

In The Box Podcast

Episode 19: Interpretation, Delight, Place Of Anger And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we talked about the concept of forgive and forgetting. We also chatted about handling situations where someone interprets a situation differently than you, why it’s hard for businesses to delight customers, what it means to be a professional and if it’s possible to do good work when you’re angry.

Download our podcast here.

Forgiveness – Forgive and forget?

Interpretation – How do you handle a situation where someone interprets something completely differently than you?

Delight – Why is it so hard for businesses to delight customers?

Expert/Pro – What does it mean to be a professional or to go pro?

A place of anger – Do you find you do good work when you’re angry, fed up or frustrated?

 

Stay Positive & Focus On The Passion

The Hardest Part

Garth Beyer

I’ve just been given the best client to strategize a new PR and social media plan for: It’s the agency I work at.

I figured I would share some wisdom from past experiences working with a new client, from a craft brewery to my own business to a multi-million dollar retail company, and now the agency I work at.

It’s easy to start with the logo, the name, the website design, and the tagline. Much harder to start with the most simplified message of why the entity exists, who you want to appeal to (because it HAS to be narrow), and, my personal favorite, the four words that you identify with your brand, which will easily be seen in every single message you put out.

The latter of the above is exactly what makes the former fluid and all-around accepted, because while those items might be easy to start with, they’re not as easily approved by the business, the customers, the stakeholders.

You can’t convince anyone a message works unless you inform them and enforce why the message exists in the first place.

Lastly, while it’s fun to focus on the shiny, it’s more fun to work on it when you know someone will care that it shines. Not to mention you save time when you prioritize the hard work.

 

Stay Positive & Do The Hardest Part First

Talking More

Garth Beyer

When I pick up the phone to pitch to journalists I don’t know… When I type up an email to send to a CEO I’ve never met… When I attempt to write a personal note on a LinkedIn invite to someone inspirational, but has no clue who I am… fear tends to creep up on me.

If you think cold calling is tough when selling, consider how tough it is to connect cold, to establish a relationship with someone who knows nothing about you.

Here’s what gets me through it.

Before I reach out to anyone I’ve never met, I remind myself the more people I talk to, the easier it will be to do, ask, and connect with people later down the line.

If you had to guess which scenario feels better, would you rather dial the number of a journalist who has never heard of you before or would you rather dial the number of a journalist who you’ve talked to before, if even once.

Or… would you rather send an email to someone saying “Hey, I’m friend’s with John Appleseed. He’s spoken highly of you. Would you have time to chat for a few minutes?” That’s certainly better than “Hey, would you have time to chat for a few minutes?”

The more people you talk to now, the more times you put yourself out there to warming a cold connection, the easier things will fall into place for you in the future.

The quickest way to dissipate the fear is to dive straight in it.

 

Stay Positive & Who Are You Connecting To?

How To Talk So As To Always Be Understood

Garth Beyer

There’s a universal voice out there.

Some refer to it as being human, others consider it vulnerability. Personally, I don’t have a name for it, but I do know it involves stripping all thoughts of being something you’re not.

In terms of pitching for clients, I want to be excellent and place a lot of stories. PR pros are told we can accomplish this if we follow a pre-approved pitch email and phone script (given some flexibility, of course, but not much).

The times I’ve had the best pitching experiences is when I’ve stripped down the layers of scripted professionalism. The times I’ve had the most heart-to-heart conversations is when I’ve stripped away the fear of appearing weak. The times I’ve written the most resonating blog posts have been when I’ve written in the universal voice.

When you’re speaking in the truest, most intimate voice about your life, you are speaking with the universal voice, according to Cheryl Srayed who wrote the story Wild.

When you speak in that voice, you will always be understood.

 

Stay Positive & Give It A Try (And Try Hard, You Will)

“I Won’t Be To Blame.”

Garth Beyer

I Won't Be To BlameEarlier this week I went out to lunch with my PR team. A couple of us began talking about where we would live if we had to pick one place for the rest of our lives. One asked if money mattered, if it had to be “a realistic place.” I hadn’t even considered that…

I responded, “Well, I’m not going to say you won’t end up being a billionaire. So I guess any place is realistic.”

It’s difficult to acknowledge our own moments of blame, when we seek a scapegoat, when we pin the responsibility on someone else. It’s even more difficult to stop others from blaming us.

If she doesn’t become a billionaire or even a millionaire, at least I know I won’t be to blame. I didn’t add to her tank of self-doubt. I didn’t tell her it was impossible. I didn’t let her off easy.

I’m not one for “realistic.” I know something is up when I hear it.

If we could just retain some spirit of possibility with one another, we may have a new world opened to us. Maybe not a millionaire world, but certainly something special.

 

Stay Positive & Lift, Don’t Level With People

Photo credit

Small Talk

Garth Beyer

It’s awkward for everyone…at first.

The folk you think it comes naturally for have simply made more rounds than you.

A good PR friend of mine stops at every person’s desk in the morning before he gets to work at his. It didn’t come easy for him to begin with. It was awkward, there wasn’t much to relate to each person with, and most days he just didn’t want to for a dozen reasons his lizard brain came up with.

Now each person is left with a smile as he leaves their desk to talk to the person.

Was it worth him to work through the awkwardness of small talk? Without a doubt.

People are more open with him, they trust him, they respond quicker to him, they take on tasks he asks because he’s established a relationship. There’s so much more you get out of small talk then knowing what Netflix show they binged on over the weekend.

 

Stay Positive & Are You Making The Rounds?

In The Box Podcast

Episode 2: The Daily Me, Workplace Hierarchy, Streaking And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box podcast, we talked about the narrowing of journalism, customer acquisition for startups, a bit about ice hockey, restaurants in Madison, the computerization of the workforce, and the importance of feedback in the chain of command in a company.

Episode 2: The Daily Me, Workforce Hierarchy, Streaking

Ice Hockey – “Good isn’t good enough when better is expected.” What do you think of this?

Restaurants – Favorite restaurant in Madison in terms of bang for your buck?

Startups – What’s the first best move a new business can take to get more customers?

Journalism – How do you feel about the narrowing of information? Is only seeing what you like bad for society?

Computerization of the workforce – Are we overlooking the leverage imbalance created by the computerization of the workforce?

Workplace Hierarchy – How important is chain of command in a company?

 

Stay Positive & Think About Things Differently