How I Made an Entire Career out of Wearing a Nametag ... (Part 2)

May 16, 2007 12:15 PM

If you’re just tuning in, be sure to read part 1 of this post before continuing.

Enjoy!

How to Make an Entire Career Out of Wearing a Nametag, Part 2

NETWORKING. Except don’t call it networking. You’re making friends. With everyone! Work hard at it, but work even harder at keeping it alive. Every time you travel, ask yourself, “Who else lives in this city I can hook up with?” And don’t forget to network online, aka, INTERNETworking. And remember: there’s a time and place for networking. ANY time and ANY place. Because you never know! “Fear not to entertain strangers for by so doing some many have entertained angels unaware.”

OPPORTUNITY. It doesn’t knock once – it knocks all day. You need to open your mind and body to hearing those knocks and answering the door. Maintain a positive, expectation-based attitude every single day and more great opportunities are going to be attracted into your life. It ain’t about luck. There is no luck. There is no Secret. There is only The Law of Attraction, aka, working your ass off and focusing and being disciplined. That’s how you create opportunities. Also, giving away free stuff helps too. The more you give away for free, the wealthier you will be. Write that one down.

PRODUCT. It’s you. They’re buying you. Because people buy people first. Because people are loyal to people, not companies. But you’re not a commodity. You’re a resource. An expert. The Go-To Guy. The Man. If you want to be a great salesman, follow these steps: sell yourself on yourself, sell yourself to your customer, sell your product to your customer by delivering value BEFORE price, then maintain approachability with that customer FOREVER. That’s it.

QUIET TIME. Do it every day with running, walking, swimming, mediating or praying. This quiet time enable you to stay in tune with the world and listen to what it’s trying to tell you. Take regular vows of silence to let your thoughts steal the show. Shut up more often.

READING. Read every book ever written on the topics that you also write about. Read every book written about your industry. Read at least two books every week. Keep your books religiously as precious gifts. NEVER loan them out to anybody, even family members. Every time you read, take notes and underline and highlight, then transfer those ideas onto your computer. Save them in a folder and refer to them regularly. Don’t even think about reading the newspaper. It’s all crap.

SEEK. Get help, especially from mentors. And get more than one mentor. Get ten mentors. Update them on your progress and make them proud. Find mentors who not only coach you on success, but who have actually HAD success too. Be careful about people approaching YOU to be your mentor. Sometimes they want to sell you stuff. You shouldn’t have to pay mentors. Find the ones who will do it for free and it will probably be more effective. Always buy their lunch.

TRUST. Your gut, that is. Because if everyone says you’re nuts, you just might be onto something. Don’t give in when the Sell Out Alarm goes off in the back of your mind. Trust that what you’re doing is right. Also trust your friends and colleagues to tell you when you’ve screwed up. Hesitate to trust publicists, the media, people who PROMISE who they’re going call you back and people who PROMISE they don’t want anything from you.

UNITY. Of all the areas of your brand, that is. Be sure that every touch point is seamless and consistent. Be unconfusable. Be the same no matter what. Be congruent on and off stage, in and out of paper, on and offline. Don’t be “a good guy deep down,” be “a good guy up front AND deep down.” Because people don’t give you credit for what they HEAR you SAY consistently, people only give you credit for what they SEE you DO consistently. Preach what you practice, not the other way around.

VICTORIES. Keep a log of all victories, even if they’re small. Achieve victories daily to build your confidence and hone in your skills. Give thanks for all victories and expect more of them to come regularly. Make a list of 101 goals. Be obsessive about your goals. Carry a copy of your goals with you at all times. Look at them daily and every time you accomplish one, cross it off and say, “YES! I DID IT!!!” (Unless you’re at the airport) Actually, I take that back. Screw TSA. Go ahead and yell at the airport.

WRITE. Writing is the basis of all wealth. Make sure everything you know is written down somewhere. Ask yourself, “What did you write today?” Be sure to write every single day for two hours. But don’t think of your writing as books, chapters, speeches, articles, etc., think of them as MODULES. If you want to become a better writer, just start writing. Stop planning. Just write. Who cares if it sucks? Just write. And don’t wait for inspiration. Combine inspiration with discipline. And remember: if you don’t write it down, it never happened. Also remember to write conversationally. And don’t forget to be a great date for your reader. And don’t forget to study other great writers. Ooh! And be mindful of the ARCHITECTURE of your writing, both online and in print. Keep it short. Write like you talk and people will listen. Be funny often. Journal everything. And do lots of thinking. After all, writing is merely an extension of thinking. So become a better thinker. And write down EVERYTHING. Every idea, every quote, every book, every word, everything! Write, write and write! Did I said write?

XPECT. That great things are going to happen. That great people are going to come into your life. That business opportunities will present themselves when you’re ready. That you will make lots of money. That you will give the greatest speech of your life every time. That you will write from your heart. That you will be amazing. That you will mess up a lot and learn from that. That you need to work hard, long AND smart. That people are going to screw you over. That many of your “friends” are going to stop being your friends when you become successful, which probably means those “friends” weren’t really your friends anyway.

YOUTH. It’s not the years; it’s the mileage. Don’t be ashamed that you’re still in your 20’s. It’s not a challenge; it’s an advantage. Use your youth, energy and enthusiasm to blow everyone away. Contribute your fresh, new, cool, fun, creative and unique perspective to those old dudes who have been thinking the same way about business for 50 years. And even though all you have are your experiences and what you’ve learned from them, age ain’t nuthin’ but a number. And a chicken ain’t nuthin’ but a bird. You don’t need a fancy degree or acronym after your name. Results are the only proof that matter. Blow people away with your creativity, knowledge, ideas, enthusiasm, listening skills, observations and writing abilities, and people will forget all about the fact that you were born in 1980.

ZEAL. Just a fancy word for enthusiasm. Energy. Fun. Craziness. Smiling. Laughing. Passion. Love. Ethos. All of these emotions need to be wrapped up in every website, every speech, every book, every article, every business card, every business encounter and every interview and phone call. Zeal is attractive. They will hire you and appreciate you. Because zeal is cool. Stick yourself out there and you will get them to come to you.

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OK, that’s it!

That’s how I made an entire career out of wearing a nametag.

I hope it answers your question 🙂

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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag