Solution

What It Takes For Ideas To Spread

Garth Beyer

Ideas That Spread

As I’m ironing out speech ideas and book ideas, I’m ruminating on the difficulty of introducing an idea that spreads.

We no longer need a book or a speech or a consultation to tell us how to solve a problem we have. Google and YouTube is there for that. If you’re searching for a “How to,” the Internet is your friend.

But the “Why do” …that might be worthy of print media or a Ted talk or a podcast.

Instead of producing something that shares a solution to someone’s problem, we have the opportunity to share something we are passionate about with someone who might not know they had a problem with their “why,” which, may in turn alter the “how to” they seek.

Our goal, then, ought to be to find those who don’t know they need help and proceed to inspire them with an idea worth spreading.

For a spreadable idea, you few things must fall into place:

1) You must be passionate about an idea that is, at minimum, different from what has been done before. The cue here is often the saying, “We’re doing things just a bit different.” For an idea to spread, there must be both a sense of security (doing things that we know already works) and a little adventure (but doing them a bit differently).

2) The audience must understand the basics of your idea, which you typically don’t need to go in depth about. Recall, Google has you covered as well as bookstores when it comes to the basics. Ideas that spread aren’t sent out to beginners, they are given as a gift to those who 1) understand the foundation of your idea already and 2) trust you. Which leads us to the third and final variable.

3) Ideas spread as quickly as the path established for them allows; that is, the relationship you have, the connection you have built determines the speed at which an idea can spread. The stronger the relationship, the easier it is for an idea to go viral. This goes further than just making a connection between you and someone in your target audience; it requires you to connect your target audience to each other, ultimately creating multiple pathways for the idea to spread.

Lastly, ideas don’t spread simply by throwing them out there. Ideas spread when they are remarkable, as in, worth making remarks about, worth talking to others about, worth sharing.

For an idea to resonate, the idea must focus on the part of doing or thinking about things differently.

 

Stay Positive & Go Spread Something Remarkable

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Problem Solution

Garth Beyer

It has almost been a year since I attended Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event in Tribeca. When I was sifting through a box of my memorabilia I found a card. Not a thank you card, not a blank card, but a life changing card.

Seth gave out these life changing cards that, as you can see in bold, said, “PROBLEM.” You can guess what was on the back, but we will get to that in a moment.

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We were asked to think of the (or any) problem that we were facing that was holding us back from shipping, making the call, and in general, committing to something. Then we wrote it down on the card. We were then told to switch cards with the person next to us and they would fill out the back.

(Jumping forward real quick, this is not my card, we were supposed to keep our own but the lady I did the activity with accidentally kept mine and I kept hers. Not a problem, I’m actually thankful for it. It’s allowed me to write this post.)

The first half of the idea behind this card is that we have to face our fear. We have to think about what truly is holding us back. We had to make sure the problem was one actually worth writing down. Most importantly, we had to let someone else – who we barely even knew – see it.

As you can read, she has a real problem. It’s hard to sell anything to an audience you don’t have and even harder to an audience you have no clue where they are. Obviously, she needs a solution. That’s where I came in.

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Three solutions to her problem.

1. “Just start dedicating time to grow audience and the audience will form themselves.” When you’re just starting out. Forget the audience. Commit to revealing yourself first. No one is going to follow someone they can’t see, someone they can’t connect to, someone who is invisible or a mere shadow. Here’s a thought: Seeds flowing in the wind never land on soil that is never watered. You have to water the soil before any seeds will consider planting themselves.

2. “In order to find your audience, you have to go after everyone by testing your ideas and see the response.” Naturally, this is the second step once you begin “watering the soil.” It’s great to have an idea of what your audience is, but no one knows your audience better than your audience! – and if you’re just starting out, it’s likely you’ll be wrong a few times before you’re right. Better to make the big mistakes now than later.

I started a PR blog to show what I know when other professionals or employers checked me out. Soon I discovered that my audience was made up of students and people interested in learning about PR, not necessarily my original intention. You can have foresight, but never let yourself have a narrow mind.

3. “Take 10% of your time to grow your audience.” That’s not a lot of time, for good reason.  Get good at creating first. Get good at seeking criticism. Get used to challenging your fears. Get in the habit of shipping your work. Then follow-up by connecting, by interacting, by messaging like-minded people.

(Note: The third solution can work in reverse.)

Did this solution help her, I’m positive it did, but believe it or not, that’s not the point or the goal.

The point is that whatever problem(s) you have, there is always a solution. The moment someone else sees that, you’re held accountable, you can’t lie to yourself anymore that there is no solution, and above all, you have no excuse, nothing holding you back.

 

Stay Positive & It’s Often A Move We Have To Make

Garth E. Beyer

We got tricked into this by not knowing what we were doing, why were doing it, or what we would have to do later. It takes someone bold to express what their problem. Are you up to it?

Problems

Garth Beyer

Every problem is like a closed hand, gripped tight, made into a fist and devilishly hard to open.

You would think the solution to the problem is in the hand, you just have to figure out how to open it.

When really, the solution is in you. And once you discover it, the hand opens and what remains is a gift. There is always a gift.

 

Stay Positive & The More Problems Solved, The More Gifts

Garth E. Beyer

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