Vulnerability

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)

Driven By A Core Tribe

Garth Beyer

All of your idols have a core tribe.

It’s easy to distance yourself from their popularity, their status, their celebrity because they have such a large following. Surely you can’t be like them because they already exist and surely you can’t take away from their tribe, so why try?

It’s an illusion.

The most popular marketers, branders, bloggers, speakers, artists have far less true fans than you realize. They have a core tribe, likely 20 percent of all the people you think are their tribe actually are and provide for 80 percent of their status, income, and drive.

Just because someone views a blog daily, doesn’t put them as part of a person’s core tribe. Most often the core tribe is a collective of friends. You have friends, right? Then it looks like you’ve already started down the path of becoming noticed, appreciated, and respected. You’ve began growing your core tribe.

It’s not as hard as it looks. All it really requires of you is to befriend people (to be nice more than interesting) and to show up every day (give something and embrace vulnerability daily).

 

Stay Positive & 1 Million Followers On Twitter Is The Wrong Goal

Dancing Personas

Garth Beyer

Personas are built, not bred.

Marketers establish their buyers’ persona to give them direction on how to communicate.

Kids establish their everything is silly and cute persona to get out of spilling the cup of juice you gave them in the pool.

I’ve established this persona of allowing myself to be vulnerable so it makes it easier to ship something each day.

Personas are incredibly interesting because they are ever-changing, always dancing. We, as marketers and as people, have the ability to influence the persona of others, but we’re also forced to update our persona when it doesn’t work anymore.

Leaving direct mail on the doorway handles of people’s homes used to work for a construction business. It fit their buyer’s persona…until it didn’t. Same with the kid and his juice. Silly and cute only works for so long. And it will be interesting to see if being vulnerable ever stops working for me. (I assume it will once it becomes constantly expected.)

While no persona lasts forever, we have a say in the longevity of it for ourselves and others.

I have a young friend who you would think is an old man by how much he aches, complains, and doesn’t care what comes out of his mouth. Not to mention how slow he drives. Since his friends (including myself) always call him a geezer and point out all the things that make him an old man, he continues to fill the shoes of that persona.

Michael and I chatted about this phenomena on our podcast (episode 9) when discussing why people become referees. Since recognizing my influence, I’ve started pointing out all the things that make my friend young and I holler at those who feed his old man persona.

Personas are simply a new name for category, and humans are naturally categorical in thinking, in acting, in deciding to buy product X or product Z, but they don’t often realize it.

Being the best you, making a positive impact on others, and crafting the greatest marketing message is almost all rooted in your understanding of the personas of those you’re engaging with as well as yourself.

 

Stay Positive & Now You Know, Leverage It

In The Box Podcast

Episode 5: Stealing At The Bookstore, Being Vulnerable, Planning Ahead And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we dove into some big ideas and a lot about books.

We chatted about scarcity still being an issue and why it always will be, the advantages and disadvantages of planning ahead, how to handle agents (book, music, etc,.), unique things to add in a book, if it’s stealing to read a book at a bookstore, and why vulnerability makes you beautiful. This is a packed episode. Enjoy.

Episode 5: Stealing At The Bookstore, Being Vulnerable, Planning Ahead And More

Scarcity – Is scarcity (food, clothing, shelter) still an issue in 2015? if so, why?

Plans – What are the advantages and disadvantages of planning ahead?

Agents – If you have an agent, how do you handle them not understanding your value?

New uses for book – What’s something new you can do with a book?

Vulnerability – What Does being vulnerable mean? Does vulnerability make you beautiful?

Is it stealing? – Is reading a book at a bookstore stealing?

 

Stay Positive & Share Your Thoughts In The Comments Section Below

Without Asking For Help

Garth Beyer

“Those who don’t move forward aren’t sharing what they want.”

Lifted By Others

You would be amazed at how many people are out there who want to and can help you get what you want without being asked.

Born naturally good versus naturally evil argument aside, generally people want you to succeed, and if they don’t, that may be a sign you’re down a wrong path, surrounding yourself with the wrong people or wanting the wrong things.

Once you open up, once you allow yourself to be vulnerable, once you overcome the fear of accountability by telling people what you want, you’ll find yourself lifted there, easily, passionately, happily.

Try it. Trust me. Trust the people around you.

And if you can’t trust them, find new people to surround yourself with.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t You Think It’s Time To Be Lifted?

Photo credit

Keep It Short

Garth Beyer

People connect on vulnerable terms. Progress is most effectively made in short bursts. Keeping it short is taking away the fluff, the cushion, the safety net. Short is hard work. Hard work is valuable work. And valuable work is always the result of people becoming vulnerable.

 

Stay Positive & Worth Watching… don’t worry, it’s short.

Keep Your Client (Squaders)

Garth Beyer

Back in the day, if you were sitting in a room with friends and you had to go to the bathroom, you would hold it. After all, if you got up, someone would take your spot!

Then an act of seat reservation was adopted. It was called “squaders.” Before getting up from your spot, whether it’s a log around the campfire or the one of few fancy chairs around the dinner table, you call “squaders!” and no one can take your spot while you are away.

Sitting with friends the other night, I got up and before walking forward, asked, “do we call squaders anymore?”

Of course we don’t. More people, specifically clients, are naturally mobile and resourceful. (If they are not, then maybe you don’t want them as a client.) We have to understand that the client can shop around, that they are okay not staying in their chair, that, sometimes, they go off and build their own chair.

Squaders is about attachment – and attachment is about vulnerability – and vulnerability is what the chair maker should feel, not the one sitting in it.

 

Stay Positive & Since We’re Talking About Chairs And Success

Garth E. Beyer