Profits

Who Are Your Sponsors/Investors/Donators

Garth Beyer

My SO and I listen to the same radio station. She mentioned to me the radio station is asking for $2,000 donations. The two grand donation can be given at once or over a period of a year. She thought it was a lot to ask of people to donate. Why not ask for smaller donations so more people will be willing to pitch in, she suggested.

She’s right. They would get more donations if they requested a smaller donation and reached out to more people. But why? Why spend more money on advertising to the mass who may or may not donate a little bit to the radio station when the radio station can meet their yearly goal with a handful of large donations. It’s truly niche marketing.

If Ferrari really wanted to (heck do I wish they would), they could cut the price of their cars to a quarter of what they are now, sell a ton and still make loads of profit. Why, though, when they can produce a few hundred cars and sell them at high costs.*

Even certain news organizations could put ads on their sites, put up paywalls and charge submission fees for freelance content, but why when their journalism is so thorough and desired that they can meet their expenses just by asking for donations.

I think there are grand benefits in figuring out how much it is you want to make from an idea, invention or business and how exactly you want to make that much. You can follow the steps of selling a product or service and charge what everyone else is charging in hopes of gaining the attention of the mass public. Or (or!) you can find the condensed group of people who will pay top dollar for what you offer.

Might be worth mentioning there is a profit differentiation between the two methods. I think you can figure that out for yourself, though.

 

Stay Positive & Remember, The Less There Are, The More You Can Focus On Each Individual

*Quality of course matters. Yamaha wouldn’t be able to sell their mopeds for half a million dollars. The quality just isn’t worth that. But, there are products and services I see regularly  I would pay more to have than what they are charging. Macs, Mizuno shoes, Biofreeze… Despite this post encouraging increased pricing, I can’t contest there’s beauty (and profit) with the effect of selling something for less than it’s really worth. (Something I’m sure we’re all thankful for.) Discretionary note: never price lower to the point people assume cheapness.

Upgrading What Is Free

Garth Beyer

NittyGritty

There’s a bar and grill in downtown Madison that gives a birthday mug to all those that go there for their birthday. They also fill that mug up with a free drink of your choice if you couldn’t have guessed.

One year they decided to redesign the mug, making it larger and more aesthetically appealing.

It bummed out all those that had gotten the smaller, less good-looking one.

When you upgrade what is free, it is a sign of your business making progress, but you run the risk of hurting your previous customers. It’s never an easy decision to make when you consider that those who have gone to your bar and grill are more likely to return than those who have never been inside.

The first way to fix this is to give the redesigned, larger mug to everyone to begin with. Don’t wait for the profits to do it. We know that people buy into how things make them feel, what also matters, though, is that what the buy continues to make them feel that way. When free things are upgraded, it devalues the feeling of what has already been given away.

I don’t recommend doing it this way.

The second and ultimately beneficial way of fixing the problem is to reach out to those who already received the smaller, less good-looking mug. Suggest that they can come in and swap their mug with a new one. Or state that for the next month, if they come in with their old mug they get a special dessert put inside it, or a discount on their meal, or another free drink.

When you upgrade what is free, you can’t neglect those who already received the smaller, less good-looking thing.

 

Stay Positive & New Customers Is Progress, Old Customers Is Profits

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit

It’s More Than Just PR

Garth Beyer

Businesses, I want to emphasize before I continue, businesses – not people, not small groups, not just customers – but entire businesses are slowly finding ways to connect with people.

Prior to this current era of connection economy (coined by Seth Godin) that we are in, businesses stayed away from political movements, from activist groups, from “the touchy subjects” that spread across America.

Now, we are seeing businesses – who employ thousands of people – take a stance. Most recently for gay marriage. These businesses understand that customers are no longer customers, they are friends, and friends stick together. And when you have a group of friends, friends bring in more friends to the group. Whereas, customers rarely do.

When businesses become more human than industrialistic, not only are profits made, but something miraculous happens – public change.

There has never been a better time for businesses to take a stand for what they believe in, to show they are human, to forget trying to appeal to the mass and connect with the smaller association of people who provide 80% of their profits anyway.

It will probably piss some people off, but anything important and worthwhile usually does.

Figuring It Out On Your Own

Garth Beyer

Sorry Tim Ferriss. Sorry Michael Ellsberg. Sorry to countless of thousands of other people who made a map to success. Sorry to everyone who made a strategy, a game-plan, a step by step process to reach any goal.

Flipping through a folder of all my projects, I came across a printed out version of Tim Ferriss’s/Michael Ellsberg’s blog post 8 Steps to Getting What You Want… Without Formal Credentials. Basically Ellsberg covers the present circumstances of degree required positions and how to get them without a degree; basically referrals. Knowing people who know people.

He communicates that employers require skills, not degrees and it’s up to you to show you have the skills by “creating your own damn credentials”. After giving all the background information and the reality of becoming successful without a degree, he challenges you to follow his 8 step process. Here they are. (View the full post here)

Step 1: Choose Your New Field of Learning

Step 2: Showcase Your Learning

Step 3: Learn the Basics of Good Networking

Step 4: Within Your Budding Social Economy, Start Working for Free

Step 5: Develop Case Studies of Your Work

Step 6: Develop Relationships With Mentors

Step 7: Learn Sales

Step 8: Sell and Deliver your Services Within Your Social Economy

Reading through all of his steps, they will definitely work. I’ve experienced each one of his steps, in my own way of course, and the results are tried and true. The thing is I read this blog post over a year ago. I read it a few times actually, and never implemented it directly. I didn’t sit down and take it step by step to get where I am today. Maybe if I had then I would be much more successful. I’m not. I’m happy though and I have a lot more real experience and attachment to the journey I’ve taken to get where I am.

See, these 8 steps are just one game-plan in a billion. Think of all the different phrases you can search in Google to find step-by-step procedures on how to become successful, how to get noticed, how to monetize something, how to reach a goal, how to become a real artist in your trade. There are billions of proven plans.

Yet, we don’t take them.
Some part of me thinks that Ellsberg even knows this but still puts out a book of how to become successful without a formal education. We desire to know and that makes him and countless others a profit. However, and what I find most fascinating, is that we desire to figure it out on our own much more. We simply learn and practice certain segments of all these game-plans until we create one ourselves and it’s successful. Then we write a book about it, preach it, and sell it to others. In turn, they do the same thing.

Following the plan doesn’t make progress, creating an entirely new one does.

 

Stay Positive & Do What Works … For You

Garth E. Beyer

Getting Your Client To Take A New Angle

Garth Beyer
Maps: Making Exploration Even More Interesting

Maps exert a powerful pull on the public psyche. That same pull can be – and at times, must be – made with your client.

Just because you’re the professional does not mean that you don’t have to convince your client to follow through with your plan. Especially when your plan entails risk, trying something new, and exploring different angles.

The most effective way to persuade is to create a map, a picture journal, a story of exploration.

What we have seen since the original mapmakers is that maps create a sensation, a desire to explore. Maps lead to explorations which are then turned into stories. When you combine maps and stories you receive an overwhelming amount of support and investment to draw more maps and make more stories.

Maps are defined as a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes. Can you see the simplicity of its connection to Public Relations?

You may think your client will go with your plan simply because it shows that treasure will be found if it is followed. In reality, they may already be finding treasure and with most clients you will discover that it isn’t so much about finding more treasure that is the problem.

The wonderful aspect of creating a map for your client is about making the map interesting. Anyone can find treasure, but it takes an expert Public Relations Specialist to design a map that is more invigorating than the profits to be made.

Turns out it’s a win-win situation.

The more enthusiasm a map creates, the greater the reward.

The 6 Questions Every Business Needs To Answer Before Startup

Garth Beyer

1. What problem does your business solve?

If there isn’t a problem your business will solve, than it will be the problem and be dissolved. Elaborate on paper what your product/service is meant to help, improve or assist. The more important attribute to the question is understanding that you need to solve what is causing the problem, not just solve the problem. While many will make money by solving a problem, companies can make even more by preventing the problem because they will always need to be kept stable in order to keep the problem from occurring. If you are only trying to solve the problems as they arrive, you will go extinct when the source of the problem does.

2. Is the problem ready to be solved?

For years the advancements made in technology were held back because the human race wasn’t capable of making that big of a jump. Is it too early for your business? Are people searching for answers to their problem, or did you find the answer before they want it? For example, in a classroom setting, a teacher can teach a 4th grader trigonometry, but they don’t need it for another seven years. Evaluate your niche audience to ensure that the size reaches the tipping point in which they want their problem to be solved.

3. How is your solution unique?

Despite the emphasis on making businesses which offer unique ways to solve problems, the world of entrepreneurs are still falling short on making their signature solution. Being different from any other competitor or being a new problem solver is not acceptable. How are you taking it further and creating something full of passion and character that is still different from other options. Don’t just be different, be better.

4. How will your solution be profitable?

Every business seeks profit. Although, different business creators have different definitions for “profit”. Define your profit, whether it is simply customer satisfaction, personal achievement, monetary amounts or something entirely different. Develope insight into how your “profit” will continue to grow and what will need to be done in order to meet the goals you set.

5. How will your solution be sustainable?

People spend countless amounts of dollars to maintain their hobbies. The same is done with people and their business’s. Coincidentally, it is the group of hobbyists and entrepreneurs who create a hobby or business that becomes self sustaining which introduces the largest of profits and becomes subject to the longest life span. What are you going to do to implement longevity into your business? (If creating a business selling crystal balls, you can skip this step)

6. Are you passionate about the idea?

Are you?

 

Stay Positive & Turn Your Answers Into Actions

Garth E. Beyer