For the first fifteen years of my professional art making career,
I focused on creating things that were, first and foremost, interesting and
inspiring and entertaining and honest and expressive. 

Like philosophies and
jokes and books and songs and movies and performances. Because that’s the story
I told myself about the purpose of art. Not to solve a problem or accomplish a
task, but to communicate a visible manifestation of the soul’s journey. Utility
is afterthought. 

But I’ll never forget what my designer friend once told me. He
said if you design something useful, you’re ninety percent of the way there.
And I thought to myself, wow, what an
fascinating artistic exercise. I wonder what would happen if challenged myself
to create something that was purely functional, and not just beautiful? I
wonder how I could convert my intellectual capital into a helpful tool? I
wonder if, instead of merely having
ideas, I attempted to translate those ideas into a blueprint for a tangible
product that was genuinely useful? 

This creative exercise invigorated me. It
was a completely foreign way of thinking than I was used to. Because it
activated the problem solving impetus of my brain, tapping into the linear,
binary, black and white, cause and effect faculties, which I don’t typically
engage on a daily basis. 

The result of this experiment is an exciting new suite
of single serving software applications, each of which accomplishes
something genuinely useful. 

One app is a strategic
framework that calculates the rate of return on business assets.
Another is a filter for evaluating the potential of a new
project. And another is a note taking template that allows you to deliver
feedback in more approachable, memorable way. 

The point is, I’m energized by the thought of making the
world more prolific through my useful creations. It’s a great reason to get out
of bed in the morning. And even if nobody cares, even if the software fails
miserably, at least I improved my skills, expanded my network, diversified my
empire and improved my energy in the process. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How might you translate your ideas into a blueprint for something genuinely useful?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Eyes Full Of Dreams is a musical and motivational masterclass about making use of everything you are. 

This film will be presented as a serialized, episodic documentary. I’m premiering each song as a stand alone chapter.

Watch the movie, buy the album and download the dream journal at www.eyesfullofdreams.com.

Weapons

Put your finger tips

Up against the iron bell love

Kick out them secrets

Vibrations and tell love

Fire all of your weapons at once

Fire all of your weapons at once

We cannot resist

The siren song of a garden

We are helpless

In the eyes of the garden

Fire all of your weapons at once

Fire all of your weapons at once

As many grains of salt

That you need to feel comfortable

But don’t make it your fault

With a dream waiting to crumble

Fire all of your weapons at once

Fire all of your weapons at once

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s blocking your dreams?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “26 Ways to Out Brand Your Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

I spent five years on the board of my local trade association. 

Sadly, by the time I was slotted to become chapter president, our membership was waning, our budget was dwindling and our enthusiasm was fading. It broke my heart. I thought to myself, I need to fix everything or the world is going to fall apart. 

And so, I tried to save the day. To make everything right again. To rescue and fix and revive the organization. To the point that I developed a savior complex, suffering from delusions of organizational grandeur, convincing myself that I was the chosen one to resurrect this failing tribe of hungry people. 

But then a colleague of mine said something I’ll never forget:

Put away your superman cape, because if you try to be the hero of the organization, you’re going to alienate your constituency. 

She was right. What I wanted for everybody else’s best wasn’t necessarily what they wanted. And if I guilted them into going for it, they were either going to resent me, fail miserably, or both. 

What a horrible job I’d given myself. Trying to take people where they didn’t want to go. If only I’d known at the time, it wasn’t helping me to be the lord of answers for everybody. If only I’d known at the time, I didn’t get to set other people’s goals. If only I’d known at the time, I couldn’t save and fix everybody, trying to control them as a means of anxiety reduction. 

Ultimately, I learned to breathe in the help I needed. The rest of the board members stepped up. And by the time my presidency was over, the membership was on the mend. 

What’s more, today the organizing is thriving. Not because I was the hero, but because I trusted people to walk their own path.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What happened to the last person you tried to fix?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “20 Ways to Make Customers Feel Comfortable,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

When I first started my company, one of the questions my mentor trained me to ask was:

How can I do the work once and benefit many times? 

This mindset, he told me, was the key to duplication, multiplication and ultimately, replacing myself. Without it, I would risk driving myself past rational work levels without factoring in the fatigue factor. 

Ever since I first heard that question, became obsessed with the economy of effort. And now, I practice taking myself out of the equation wherever possible. I employee every labor intensity reduction technique that I can. 

Setting up systems that reduce my number of daily decisions. Delegating everything that doesn’t need my personal touch. Cutting corners that nobody would notice anyway. Developing income streams for non labor intensive pursuits. Deleting everything that doesn’t need to be done by anyone. 

Constructing portable creative environments so I can lock into work on a moment’s notice. Using tiny pockets of time to improve my pace and results. Establishing standard operating procedures for every major business activity. Running prospective projects through an opportunity filter that gauges the potential asset value. Building up my template inventory to free up my creative energy for more important tasks. 

Even inventing my own suite of software applications to help streamline and expedite my strategic thinking process. In short, killing two stones with one bird at every opportunity. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s your best labor intensity reduction technique?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “34 Questions to Keep Your Company Growth Minded,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

One of the best mantras I learned from my therapist was,
there are no emergencies. 

Because outside of major health, safety or family
related incidents, true crises are few and far between. We just love to
convince ourselves of the seriousness of things. Creating drama in our lives
makes us feel big and important. 

I’m reminded of a woman I practice yoga with
who’s perpetually late to class. In fact, a few minutes before start time, you
can usually find her barreling down the avenue, hurdling trashcans, dodging
pedestrians left and right, punting the occasional dog out of the way, just to
squeeze through the door at the last minute and finally collapse onto her mat. 

And every time I watch this happen, I think to myself, instead of walking three
times faster, why not leave the house ten minutes earlier? Instead of creating
a race against time, you could create a cushion to make it easier on yourself.
Instead of optimizing every moment of your goddamn life and introducing complexity, spiking your blood pressure, inducing stress and
creating more opportunities for failure, try simplifying. 

See how good it feels
when the shadow of crisis has passed. 

You’ll never go back again. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What level of drama do you attract through your daily schedule?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “22 Questions to Sidestep Entrepreneurial Atrophy,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

All creativity begins with the moment of conception.

That little piece of kindling that gets the fire going. That initial source of inspiration that takes on a life of its own. That single note from which the entire symphony grows. That single spark of life that signals an idea’s movement value, almost screaming to us, something wants to be built here.

Based on my books in The Prolific Series, I’m going to be deconstructing my favorite moments of conception from popular movies. Each post will contain a video clip from a different film, along with a series of lessons we can learn from the characters.

Today’s clip comes from the dancing scene from In & Out:

Closets are for shelves, not selves. Howard has been outed by one of his former students,
and now he’s forced to angrily reassure those who know him that he is actually
straight. But the man doth protest too much. Howard isn’t fooling anybody. He’s
as gay as lemonade sandwich. So after weeks of frustration and confusion, he
ultimately resorts to a self help audio cassette as a final measure to restore
his heterosexuality. And this result is one of the great all time iconic dance
scenes in modern cinema. This movie is an honest reminder that, gay or
straight, we’re all coming out of the closet about something. We’re all trying
to uncover facets of our identities that have been obscured by external and
internal forces. Because we can only closet off the unholy parts of ourselves
for so long. No matter how many audio tapes we listen to, we can’t run from
what we are. We all end up dancing around the living room eventually. And so,
whatever darkness is inside of us, eventually, somewhere, is going to come out.
But the good news is, once we give people a profile of our soul, once we start
talking about what we’re afraid for them to know about us, our world changes.
We experience the freedom that comes from refusing to hide. What’s more, their
world changes too. Because those brave enough to listen will use our stories as
mirrors that reflect their truest selves. At
a certain point, when will your life do the math and out you?

A needle in a stack of needles. It’s one thing to take pride in your identity. But it’s
another thing to turn personal narrative into a religion and disappear down the
rabbit hole of your own mythology. The reality is, nobody is paying as much
attention to you as you are. It’s nothing personal, people simply don’t have
the bandwidth anymore. Millions of people are trying to make their ideas more
popular than yours. Tens of thousands of bits of data and stimuli and noise are
coming at them faster than their constitutions can handle. And so, the
assumption that they’re going to take the time to find a needle in a stack of
needles is ludicrous. This was a grim reality for me to accept. After all, attention of other people is the
most irresistible of drugs. When I started my career, it was still
possible to cut through the clutter. Getting noticed wasn’t yet an exercise in
futility. If you delivered the right message at the right time to the right
person through the right channel, you might actually engage the world with a narrative that won them
over. But not anymore. Now, most people are just not paying attention. I’m
reminded of an interview with a filmmaker who said he purposely started
making his films twenty minutes too long. When asked what his reasoning was, he
said people’s attention spans were getting shorter, and he wanted them to
suffer. Yikes. The point is, we have
to empty ourselves of expectation. We can’t be attached to any outcome. If our
remarkable identity is met with crickets, we can’t take it personally. Are you exerting your identity for its
sake, or for the attention and applause?

It doesn’t
matter how many people don’t love you. I’ve received a lot of hatemail over the
years. Apparently wearing a nametag everyday bothers people. So much so, that
they feel the need to call me names and ridicule my brand and tell me how
worthless my existence is. I remember one letter that said, you’re nuttier than a bag of trail mix!
How sweet. And admittedly, the first few hundred letters hurt my feelings. But
eventually, the hatemail just became a source of entertainment for me. Proving,
that identity is a journey of acceptance. Not only the accepting yourself, but
the accepting other people’s experience of your self. Positive or negative. Especially negative. After all,
your being is not something everybody is going to be on board with. I once read
inspiring book about real love that addressed this very topic. The author suggested
we tell our truth, even when we’re not certain we’re being accepted. To be
honest with ourselves long enough to see the positive effect that always
follows. Because although some people will attack us when we tell the truth
about ourselves, the bottom line is, it doesn’t matter how many people don’t
love us. Besides, people’s
power over us is inversely related to our need for their approval. Once we accept that there’s
nothing we could say that would make us good enough in their eyes, liberation
ensues. In what situations do you have
difficulty accepting yourself?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What did you learn from this movie clip?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “11 Ways to Out Market the Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Around the time of the invention of the automobile, there was famous article in Popular Mechanics that announced a new invention based on an old proverb. 

According to the article, seen in the streets was a prototype of a horse pushing carriage from behind. Drais, the vehicle’s inventor, claimed that his invention had several great advantages. 

First, the horse couldn’t run away. Second, the carriage was not exposed to the dust and grit generally thrown by the horse. Third, the conversation of the travels could not be overheard. And fourth, the fumes of tobacco did not inundate the travelers. Which actually made sense in theory, but in reality, it looked preposterous. 

The invention was ass backwards, quite literally. And as a result, people were doing things in the wrong order, with the wrong emphasis, confusing cause and effect. 

What’s amazing is, businesses still make this mistake. They believe thinking backwards can serve their strategic purposes, assuming the cart knows something the horse doesn’t. 

I once had a client who had been in business for ten years, and finally decided it was time to do a complete website overhaul. Which would have been a smart investment, except for one minor problem. They didn’t know who they were. There was no brand. No purpose driven uniqueness. No distinctive set of expectations for which they were known. 

And so, I told them, you’re putting the cart before the horse. Your website is merely a downstream spoke of a larger strategic wheel. You don’t need a new website, you need a basic understanding of your own identity. Because if you don’t know who you are, no amount of money will create materials explaining who you are. 

The point is, implementing new marketing strategies, i.e., the cart, without adequate forethought or discussion around your identity, i.e., the horse, is a backwards approach to business. 

Figure out who the hell you are first, and build out from there. 

Make your mission more than a statement, and treat identity as the engine that drives you to greatness. Giddyup. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Where are you putting the cart before the horse in your business?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “23 Boundary Questions to Help You Draw the Line,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Ideas are free, execution is priceless.

That’s been my mantra since day one of starting my business.

It’s also the title of a book I wrote a few years back. You can download it for free here.

But here’s the problem. I’m an idea junkie. Everything I look at in the world breaks down into a collection of ideas. I have about fifty new ones every day, and sadly, I can only execute so many of them. Even if I had all the resources and all the time in the world, I still wouldn’t be able to keep up with the whirlwind of insanity that gusts through my brain.

And that’s where you come in.

I believe ideas were never meant to stay that way. And so, in this new blog series, I’m going to be publishing a sample of them on a weekly basis, in the hopes that they inspire you to (a) execute them, (b) improve them, or (c) invent something completely different.

Remember, once an idea springs into existence, it cannot be unthought.

Even if that idea is ridiculous.

Enjoy! 

Steal Scott’s Ideas, Issue 006

01. Bathroomate. A machine that allows you to go to the bathroom for your spouse when they’re too tired to get out of bed.

02. Hire Ground. A digital printing service that specializes in creating business cards for unemployed professionals looking for work.

03. Grayscale of Justice. A traveling art exhibit that shows time lapse photography of presidents aging during their terms.

04. Guybrarian. A slasher film about a man working in a library who paper cuts buxum coeds to death.

05. Sweat Out The Sad. A group exercise program for sufferers of depression who want to purge their despair through sweat.

06. Yaytred. An anonymous app for people to rage but also celebrate the people in their lives that they irrationally hate.

07. Noggin Settle. A self hypnosis relaxation based alarm clock designed for insomniacs with racing brain syndrome.

08. Cynyc. A positive affirmation app for people who move to NYC and can’t stand all the cynical jerks walking around.

09. Benefits. A musical about millennials who work crappy jobs to just to get health insurance.

10. Subwayste. A city wide art project that makes beautiful sculptures out of train track trash.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How will you turn these ideas into I-dids?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “49 Ways to become an Idea Powerhouse,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Rousseau’s school of thought suggests
two paths to the development of the self. 

Amour
propre, which is a sense of self defined by the opinions of others, and amour de soi, which is a sense of self
defined by personal identity and genuine esteem. 

But as his philosophy pointed
out, only the latter was compatible with wholeness and happiness. The former,
he wrote, was an unnatural form of love that arose only with the appearance of
society and people’s consequent ability to compare themselves with one another.
Because when we make comparisons, we’re never satisfied, and never could be. 

That
was nearly three hundred years ago. And yet, his school of thought still
applies today. A life of compare still leads to a life of despair. Perhaps even
more so now, considering we have instant and unlimited access to everything
everybody is doing, all the time, forever. 

If comparison were a drug, the
internet would be one giant transcontinental opium field. 

And so, our mission
is to develop a sense of self that doesn’t hinge upon constant external
validation. To take responsibility for our own wholeness. To drop an inner
anchor that allows us to trust our own perceptions. Because once we liberate
ourselves from other people’s opinions, one we unshackle the self from the
prying eyes of the world, life suddenly feels free and light and peaceful. And
we can cultivate a self that the world cannot probe. 

Amour de soi, indeed. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Where in your life are you not choosing wholeness?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “22 Questions to Sidestep Entrepreneurial Atrophy,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Eyes Full Of Dreams is a musical and motivational masterclass about making use of everything you are. 

This film will be presented as a serialized, episodic documentary. I’m premiering each song as a stand alone chapter.

Watch the movie, buy the album and download the dream journal at www.eyesfullofdreams.com.

Bloodhounds

Tell yourself you’re weary of

Worthy of this dream

It’s cheaper to be cynical

Then try anything
Any path so serious

Has a dozen little deaths

Your green eyes

Ain’t seen nothing yet
The bloodhounds went

And lost their scent

The bloodhounds went

And lost their scent
You know a man with holy habits

He ain’t hard to find

Excuse my ego

To save my spot in line
Rinsed for a while

In the suds of sober reason
The bloodhounds went

And lost their scent

The bloodhounds went

And lost their scent
Everybody tells

Everybody tells

Everybody tells

Their story of struggle
Everybody sells

Everybody sells

Everybody sells

Their story of struggle

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s blocking your dreams?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “26 Ways to Out Brand Your Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!”  –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!