Success

Fabrics Of Our PR Society And Economic Culture

Fabrics Of Our PR Society And Economic Culture

Garth Beyer

I had lunch with a Madison PR pro today, and she mentioned how awesome Madison’s PR industry is. No surprise there other than in her reasoning.

Madison Public Relations

In the past if you worked at one agency and wanted to switch to another (a competitor!), you often didn’t for fear of burning bridges, being viewed as a traitor or you didn’t want to lose the friends you made because people at agency A just don’t get close with people at agency B.

But now – and I argue it’s not just Madison – there is no burning of bridges. In fact, there’s little competition. Where there was once disdain, there is now complete respect for one another. Agency B is happy to have people come work from Agency A or C or D or E…

This, of course, isn’t just the way the PR industry has shaped up to be; it’s how the world of work and art is. We are living in a time where success is leveraged by gigs, resources, remarkable work, and constantly changing – but always consistently occurring – partnerships and projects.

Agency A won’t survive if it refuses to connect with those at agency C, and vice versa. Survival may be met by an individual, but success is met by a team, a community.

Our culture – not just the PR culture – is based on innovation, inspiration and connections between people (and agencies).

The wellness of our economy is dependent on the value people like you and me and PR pros and mechanics and Etsy owners create.

It’s easy to become absorbed by the work of the industrial revolution. It’s much more difficult (but ultimately more rewarding) to absorb ourselves in the people around us. At least, we must, if we wish to succeed in business.

This isn’t just a revolution in the PR industry, it’s a revolution in every industry. I’m just happy to see the Madison PR agencies recognize this. Just one more reason to love it here.

 

Stay Positive & People Are Everything

4 Steps To Success (Wisdom From Cambodian Monks)

4 Steps To Success (Wisdom From Cambodian Monks)

Garth Beyer

Steve Jobs Meditation

While in Cambodia at the POP House (meditation resort) a handful of monks taught me a lot about buddhism, life, and success. After a 20 minute meditation session, one monk began to tell us the four steps to success in life. Now I’m sharing them with you.

1) Affection – Show affection to your friends, to your enemies, to strangers. Find ways to show your love of people, of plants, of the world, of life. Care, not only about others, but your self as well.

2) Try – The likelihood of success is connected to the amount of experience you have. The more you try, the more successful you will be. Not only try things you’ve never tried before, but try things you don’t think you could overcome, don’t think you’ll complete, don’t think will change you. Just try.

3) Comment (on yourself) – You are your own judge of whether something worked or didn’t. You must evaluate your actions to confirm what you’ve done has moved you in the direction you want.  Criticism is pointless, especially when given to others. The monks were firm about concerning yourself only with yourself.

4) Experiment – Put things together that you’ve never imagined combining. Try new designs, interfaces, systems, plans, diets. Success is often the result of experimentations, not well-thought out intentions

Bonus: Be like Steve Jobs. Every monk that taught had told me about Steve Jobs and how he followed these four steps. And he meditated often if you didn’t know.

 

Stay Positive & Your Time Is Limited

5 Don’ts Of Business Success

5 Don’ts Of Business Success

Garth Beyer

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1) Don’t ask a group of people to do something you won’t ask your friend to do. Make better surveys. Target the right tribes. Create evaluations people get something from.

2) Don’t think the conversations others have are the ones you want to have. Not everyone cares about what you care about.

3) Don’t start with the product then come up with a story for it. If you don’t have a story to start from, then go out and experience more.

4) Don’t stand in front of your product. Get behind it, engage in the conversation that’s happening, be part of the avant-garde users.

5) Don’t put the spotlight on those who dislike you, your business or your product. Instead, put and keep the spotlight on your best customers.

 

Stay Positive & Simple, But Easily Forgotten

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Out Of Place, But Interesting

Garth Beyer

Something remarkable about Cambodia is that there are a lot of broken objects lying around.

What was once broken, has since been integrated into the environment. Plots of land, homes, playgrounds all have objects that seem so out-of-place, but they make the space interesting. They make the land. It’s a perfect photo for an I Spy book.

The objects show the history, the humanity, and offer perspective on the progress people have made in the last ten years there.

It made me think how hard we all try to hide our pasts, to cast a shadow over our failures, to paint over bad memories with new ones instead of letting them make our lives more interesting.

When we let our failures stay in our box, they may seem out-of-place, but to others they are interesting, they tell your story, they show you’re human.

It’s a step toward happiness. A leap toward success.

 

Stay Positive & If It’s Broken, Let It Be Part Of Your Story

 

Unlocking Potential #9: Q&A With Matt Haze

Unlocking Potential #9: Q&A With Matt Haze

Garth Beyer

Matt HazeThis particular Q&A is with non-other than Matt Haze, the man behind the @30RockTree Twitter account. He’s an entertainer and excessively active on Twitter and Facebook.

Matt has lived on both coasts while working on his career in entertainment and currently resides in NYC.

He’s a radio geek and late night show fanatic, but also a go-getter, mover, and shaker, which makes him perfect for a segment on my Unlocking Potential series.

Welcome the one-and-only, Matt Haze.

Q: Read your Twitter bio. Check. Looked around on your website. Check. Tell us about your real, authentic self in a few sentences, something the Internet hasn’t told us. Who is Matt Haze, really?

I’m just a guy observing things in the world and hoping to share what I see through comedy.  There’s so many thoughts that run through my head that if they don’t get out, I really think I will explode!

Q: What does a day in the life of Matt Haze look like?

There is never one exact day, really.  Which in a way is bad because real creativity comes from habits.  I’m a loyal Seth Godin fan and I know that persistent shipping of content every day is what gets you out there.  For years I’ve wanted to build a daily routine, but it’s tough.  Some days, I start really early to do a radio or TV thing.  Some days, I sleep in because I was hosting an event until the wee hours of the morning the night before.  Some days, I’m on the road to get to another gig.  But I honestly love it that way.

Q: What’s your muse, you art, your purpose? (Was it hard to discover this?)

To make people laugh like they’ve never seen or heard something before. I’ve always had an idea what it is I do, but it’s always been tough to put into words.  A few weeks ago, my buddy Sammy Simpson and I had a catch up coffee.  This is the exact topic we talked about.  He’s a really smart guy and he helped me to formulate that into words.

Q: What has been the toughest decision you had to make? How did you decide what to do?

There’s two that come to mind.  First, when I left my full time radio gig in Akron, Ohio in 2005.  Part of me knew I wasn’t going to stay there and it was time to do something different.  My last day was a mess because part of me was really thinking that this was a mistake.  Looking back, it was a good thing I left for many reasons.  It was the start of a crazy new journey and chapter.  Secondly, when I decided to go back east and leave Los Angeles.  Part of me felt like I failed at LA.  When, in reality, it wasn’t for me.  It was a good learning experience and I’m glad I did it.

Q: What is success to you?

This has been something I’ve been struggling with the last year.  For many, they look at what I’ve done and think “oh he’s successful!  He’s done stuff!”  But I grew up in the old school media world.  There’s still part of me that feels I need to be validated by some higher being (boss or company) to feel “successful.”  But as the landscape has changed in the last 10 years, I also know that’s total bullshit.  Success is doing projects that are meaningful for me.  If I’ve made someone happy or succeeded a client’s expectations, I’d call that a success.

Q: What are three essential habits for success?

Oh I am HORRIBLE for habits.  But here’s three things I do every day that I know help me grow.

  1. I consume content. I’m always looking at links, stories, videos, whatever people are talking about.  I may not watch the big TV shows people are talking about, but I know what they are.  You have to have an idea what is going on out there to be able to create content that relates.
  2. I interact on social.  If I didn’t interact with people, they wouldn’t share my content or help me get a gig.  Social is a two way street.  You have to treat it that way for it to fully work.
  3. I network.  It goes with number two, but I make an effort to reach out 2-3 times a year with my top influencers to remind them I’m out there and see how I can help them.  When I sold real estate for two minutes, I was taught that most people only have space in their brain for 1-2 names of agents.  You want to be one or two of those.  No matter what you do, I feel this is true.  Being top of mind is KEY.  And that takes effort, communication and talking to people to make happen.

Q: What was holding you back from being a remarkable entertainer?

MYSELF.  I am my own worst enemy.  My closest friends hear my private thoughts about how I feel about my work.  I’ll get a call about an amazing opportunity and I’ll instantly start to doubt myself.  “Oh someone must have made a mistake.”  I think we all suffer from this.

Q: If you got to go back ten years, but could only take with you one piece of knowledge that you know now, what would it be?

Trust your gut.  Just do it.

Q: What are a few life lessons you want readers to take away from this?

The biggest one is to not be afraid to take a chance.  There are people who will come out of the woodwork to help you achieve whatever it is you want if you’re authentic.  If what you’re doing is true to your purpose and soul, people will help you.  Keep going.

Q: Where can people find your art?

Shameless plug: matthaze.com

 

Stay Positive & Seriously, Trust Your Gut

 

Meditate On Doing The Work That Matters

Meditate On Doing The Work That Matters

Garth Beyer

Meditate On That

 

It’s probably time for a sexy website revamp, right?

And you ought to post to Twitter more often.

And don’t you think you need to publish more Instagram photos?

And your profile picture seems kind of old, doesn’t it?

With the new year comes the feeling of needing to update, to design a new book cover for your life, to work on that index, to focus on the prologue. In doing so, we miss out on the chance to write the book, to focus on moving forward, and to do the work that matters.

When it comes to tasks you think need to be completed, a simple reality check is to ask if it is for your inside success or out?

 

Stay Positive & Meditate On That

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Success Inside And Out

Success Inside And Out

Garth Beyer

It’s not about where you end up, it’s about what you learn and feel along the way.

Success Journey

We’re aware of what the outside of success looks like.

It’s shiny. Glamorous. Often inspiring and flashy.

The consequences, though, are that the stakes get raised and judgement sets in, the pressure is on, all eyes are on you to keep creating remarkable work, to continue a streak of successes.

But while outside success guarantees inside success, inside success doesn’t guarantee outside success.

A failed product launch may be an inside success: you now know what it takes to launch, what the market looks for, how to communicate with potential investors.

Launching a business may be an inside success (it’s been a dream of yours and you accomplished it… go you), but there is no outside success because the business closed after a month (sorry, keep at it).

The sweetest advice I can give when it comes to outside and inside success is strive for inside success… it’s the best way to ignore the pressures that come from outside success.

 

Stay Positive & Success Is A Selfish Process, Rightfully So

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