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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.

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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

Thinking Worker, Working Thinker

Garth Beyer

It’s often thought that there are thinkers and then there are doers. Moreover, that which thinkers think should be produced by workers and not the thinkers themselves.

A PR pro thinks of a new brand positioning strategy and calls the doers to see it through while she goes back to thinking, planning, strategizing. Is it right for their to be a divide between thinking and doing?

I came across this statement by art critic John Ruskin, “It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy.”

Thinkers may come up with good ideas, but it’s really only when they themselves see the idea through that they naturally turn it into something remarkable.

Just as the thinker falls short in their thinking when they don’t do, the worker falls short when they don’t think. That’s why there are so many products, services, business that don’t work; there is a disconnect between thinking and working.

 

Stay Positive & Can We Change This?

You’re Not Charging Enough

Garth Beyer

I get asked a lot if a price someone is charging is enough.

“Should the app just be free?” “How much should the admissions ticket be, I was thinking $10.” “I really want to work with this client, should I lower my price?”

More often than not, I get a “Oh… Really?” response when I tell them they’re not charging enough. That is, until I explain why they’re not charging enough.

When I worked with my dad in his painting and remodeling business, I learned there were often jobs he had to bid for. Did he lower his price to compete with other bids? Or did he keep it high, reflective of the quality of work he would produce?

It was more of a question about the fan base he wanted, not how much money he would make. Often times he would bid a higher price to decipher whether the business was a raving fan or not. (Better to work for a fan, a friend than someone who feels they’re in a position to constantly criticize.)

Imagine Dragons can charge $300+ a ticket because they don’t need to allow critics in their concert. The price you charge is the first gateway to deciding what audience you’ll attract. Quite simply, a low price exposes you and your art to people who may not be avid fans. Is that what you want?

Free can help you in some ways. Free can attract the mass. But free won’t get you where you want to go in the world of your craft.

 

Stay Positive & So, Yes, You’re Not Charging Enough

 

In The Box Podcast

Episode 7: Disney Movie Secrets, Print Advertising, Vacations And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we did things a bit different. In addition to talking about email scams, what it’s like to not be surprised anymore, and how to relax on vacation knowing there’s work to be done when you get back, we brought forth a few internet resources to help guide a discussion around Disney movie secrets, terrible (and great) print ads, and beer labels. You can find the links below. Enjoy.

Episode 7: Disney Movie Secrets, Print Advertising, Vacations And More

Disney Movies – Why do you think Disney puts so many secrets in their movies? Just to make secret finders happy? Link to a list of Disney movie secrets

Print advertising – Why are there still terrible print ads? Link to 30 awesome print ads in 2014

Beer labels – Do you think using vulgar names or label images degrades the beer (or even the whole beer industry)? Link to offensive beer labels

Email scams – How the hell are email scams still a thing?

Surprises – How often do you find yourself surprised by something?

Vacations – Are you able to relax on vacation knowing you have a lot of work waiting for you when you get back?

 

Stay Positive & Be Sure To Subscribe On Itunes

Getting That Promotion And Recognition

Garth Beyer

Getting Ahead

You can’t get ahead or become remarkable by asking your boss how. By asking what you can do to get the promotion, to get the recognition, to get the page views, you’re setting their expectations and spoiling the surprise.

I was fortunate the other day when I heard a PR director say they hired someone who wrote weekly posts for the agencies internal blog. That director isn’t going to tell every intern to write those posts. If she did, it wouldn’t be special, wouldn’t be remarkable, wouldn’t be exceeding expectations; it would merely be doing what she suggested.

To get that promotion and recognition you’re striving for, you’ve got to get uncomfortable, you’ve got find ways to do things differently, you’ve got to do the unexpected.

Often times, it doesn’t matter how great what you do is, it’s really just a matter of you doing it. That director never said the blog posts were great. Hell, she might not have even read them. It was the fact the intern did something unexpected (and consistently!) that made her stand out.

 

Stay Positive & What Are You Doing With Your Downtime?

Working To Make It Work

Working To Make It Work

Garth Beyer

People are turned off by opportunities they feel others will have to work hard to make work. They’re willing to put in the effort, but they assume (wrongly assume) the other party isn’t willing to work either, thus they pass the opportunity up.

If I avoided every opportunity, If I didn’t send in every application knowing it would take effort on their end to work it out, If I didn’t ask for what I wanted even knowing the other party would have to make a sacrifice too, I wouldn’t be where I am today. (And I love where I am today.)

Not so surprisingly, when you’re human, you show you care, when you work to make things work – in other words, when you give the other party a reason to put in the effort to make an opportunity work for you – they put in the effort too.

 

Stay Positive & People Care When They See You Do

Unlocking Potential #12: Q&A With Mariah Haberman

Garth Beyer

Mariah Haberman EAA

Welcome back to another Q&A with a remarkable marketer as part of the Unlocking Potential series. I heard about a woman named Mariah Haberman when I first moved to Madison, I found out she worked at the PR agency I hope to work at, and then I got to see her speak not too long ago. (Post about impressions and link to her presentation here.)

Mariah has drive, excitement, and more passion that I thought one person could have. It will be clear as you read on. Without further ado, welcome Mariah.

Q: What motivates you to get out of your bed in the morning?

Mariah: Caffeine! And lots of it! I am so not a morning person so the fact that I make it into work before 10 a.m. is a miracle in itself. That said, I can honestly say I have never dreaded a day of work. Getting to discover Wisconsin is a cool gig but I think working alongside amazing and talented people is just the best thing ever. (Also: Free Sprecher root beer :D)

Q: What business would you say you’re in and how did you get there? What’s your story?

Mariah: I have a weird hybrid role: I’m both a television/radio host and a PR and social media marketer.

I always dreamt of working in television. In fact, I can recall writing my sixth grade career report for Mrs. Herbers about my aspirations of becoming a news anchor. In college though, I threw those dreams out the window after coming to the conclusion that a television career in Wisconsin during a recession was a ridiculous dream to have.

So I picked public relations. And upon graduating from UW-Oshkosh, I threw a few suitcases in my tiny ’02 Corolla and with my shiny, new diploma in tow, I made the trek to Chicago. There, I worked as a temporary assistant at an entertainment PR firm. Next, I decided to freelance back in the Madison area and then I worked at a wonderful marketing agency in town.

Meanwhile, I spent three years competing for the title of Miss Wisconsin. That endeavor really reignited my desire to pursue television. So, I reached out to the one contact I had at Discover Mediaworks and asked if, by any chance, they’d ever consider letting me guest host an episode or two. After several months of back-and-forth, the crew finally invited me to come in for an interview and audition. Apparently, they saw something in me, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Q: What are four life lessons you’ve learned from following your muse?

1) Make things happen for you.

2) Be nice to people.

3) Own up when you’ve messed up.

4) Never take yourself or your work too seriously.

Q: You’re constantly putting yourself out there. How have you dealt with fear – be it of rejection or failure or even success?

Mariah: I hate to quote the most buzzed about kid flick of all time, but when it comes to being in front of crowds, you really have to just let it go. I’ll get nervous from time to time during the preparation of a big shoot or speaking engagement, but once I am on stage, or those cameras are rolling, I don’t even let myself go to that place of self-doubt. You’ve really gotta own it and believe in yourself, and when you make mistakes, you assess and move on.

So much of the television business I think is listening to your own gut. You are going to get people who absolutely adore you and your work. And the opposite of those people are Internet trolls :). I take it all with a grain of salt—both the compliments and the critiques.

Q: What do you do to continue growing in your field? Are there a few special practices or habits you think people reading may benefit from doing too?

Mariah: The idea of being stagnant or out of the loop as both a host and marketer downright scares me. I am constantly trying to learn and get better at my craft whether it be through improv classes or online marketing research—you name it. Regardless of how long you’ve been in the biz, learning is essential.

The beauty of working in the agency world is that you’re surrounded by folks who specialize in all sorts of things that you may not necessarily be an expert in. But making an effort to understand their work inherently makes you better at your own.

Q: What has been a major highlight of your work?

Mariah: A viewer reached out to me on Facebook the other day to tell me that he and his daughter make it a weekly tradition to sit down every Saturday morning and watch Discover Wisconsin together. Hearing things like that – from people who make our show a part of their lives – is the kind of stuff that sticks with me.

Q: What is one characteristic you’ve noticed every successful marketer has? Better yet, what the heck does it take to become a remarkable PR pro or marketer?

Mariah: Great marketers want to learn; they are asking questions. They are paying attention not only to what other brands are doing out there, but more importantly, they’re noticing what people care about, why they do the things they do, buy the things they buy, and hang out with the people they hang out with. I think a marketer has to be easily fascinated by and curious about the world around him or her—and I’d say the same thing applies to great TV/radio hosts.

When you understand why people do the things they do, the ideations, strategizing and executing for brands comes a whole heck of a lot more naturally. (It’s still a tough gig, don’t get me wrong!)

Q: Would you tell us about a time you almost gave up and what you did instead?

Mariah: Interestingly enough, I actually have to tell myself to let go of things more often. (Noticing a theme here?) I get invested too easily. I love to dream big and I think the upshot of dreaming big is that you tend to bite off more than you can chew. So while “giving up” often has a negative connotation, I really have to continue to remind myself the importance of walking away from the stuff I can’t or shouldn’t fix.

Q: How do you try to live your life? Do you have a life motto or a particular quote you stand by?

Mariah: Nah. No life quotes really. I just try to live life to the fullest…you know, find the silver lining in even the crappiest of days!

Q: What is a dream you have or a project you want to create that you haven’t had the time for?

Mariah: Sooooo many. I want to write my own book(s). Open a wine bar. Learn French. And piano. And how to cook (better). And more time for travel would be lovely!

Q: Where can people find you and your work? (Shameless self-promotion here!)

Mariah: Why, you can watch “my work” every weekend on your TV screens (or laptops or tablets or smartphones)! Broadcast guide here: www.bobber.discoverwisconsin.com/broadcast …and because social media is my thang, I’m pretty easy to find on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 🙂

 

Stay Positive & Curiously Alive