How Much Humanity is Embedded in Your Work?

All work is fundamentally human.

And when we identify the universal experience of
what we do, master the deeper humanity behind our work and embed that spirit
into the whole of our job, we truly have the greatest impact.

As
a writer, publisher, performer and consultant, I’ve worked with hundreds of
organizations worldwide, small and large, from lunch ladies to funeral
directors to pharmacies to landscapers. And every time I spend a day or two at
their offices, I learn something new about the humanity of work. I learn what these
people really do.

Recruiters,
headhunters and staffing professionals enable the explosion of human potential.
Nurses, doctors and healthcare
professionals give oxygen to people’s souls by allowing the dignity of
self-definition. Company and organizational leaders connect the duty of today
with the dream of tomorrow.

That’s what they really do.

Relocation specialists and moving companies unpack the contents of the
human heart. Anti-virus software
companies preserve the inalienable right of digital freedom. And insurance companies help people live
their lives free from fear every day.

That’s what they really do.

Coffee shops create a familiar, daily refuge for people seeking an act of
peace in a moment of chaos. House
painters enable the expression of individual humanity. And
professional networks and industry associations
build a network of human healing.

That’s what they really do.

And
that’s exactly why their customers, employees, patients, members, users and
readers love them forever.

It’s
the humanity embedded in their work.

Sell
that, and it won’t matter how bad the economy is.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What is the human side of your work?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “99 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg


That Guy with the Nametag


Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting


[email protected]



Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2012-2013!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

History Yelds to Instinct, Not the Other Way Around

Having a history together isn’t reason enough to have a
future together.

For two people to thrive, there has to be more than just pile
of memories. We have to know, in our hearts, that there is a rightness to the
relationship.

That’s a key word, rightness. I remember at friend’s wedding about three years back, the mother of the groom toasted to the “rightness” of the
couple.

Sadly, I looked over at my date and saw nothing of the sort.

Plenty of history, not enough rightness.

Shortly thereafter, it ended. Abruptly. Hardest decision I’d
made in years. But few years later, my dad told me something I’ll never forget

History yields to
instinct, not the other way around.

It’s kind of like those public service announcements at the
subway station, “If you see something, say something.”

Except this time it’s more serious.

I might change the wording to, “If you feel something – or
in my case, if you feel nothing – say something.”

Otherwise you’re just winking in the dark.

LET ME ASK YA THIS… 

Are you depending on history or instinct?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “33 Ways to Approach Unhappy Customers,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.” —-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

The Passion Paradox

Passion is illusive.

For years we’ve been told that if we find it, follow it,
channel it, leverage it and stay committed to it, then eventually, with a lot
of hard work, we can profit from it.

How romantic.

I fell for that fairytale when I started my company nearly a
decade ago. And while I’m still a believer in passion and the profitability
thereof, unfortunately, because of the nature of passion, because of its
white-hot burning fire in the deepest parts of our hearts, we quickly forget
that passion isn’t without its own share of problems:

First, passion is not a substitute for
reality.
Without an intersection between our obsession and
the marketplace need, we’re just passionately irrelevant. It’s the difference between making something
useful and just making something.

Secondly, the thrill of our passion dissipates once it
becomes a daily task.
Sometimes what used to bring purpose, meaning
and mattering to our lives slowly begins to cause stomach ulcers. To avoid
this, our passion must be both scalable and sustainable.

Third, passion without
purpose is pointless and leaves us penniless.
Without a strong why, without
a foundation that comes from our truest desires, our passion becomes a blazing
fire that burns everyone we touch, including ourselves. Careful.

Fourth, passion isn’t
the only activity that occupies our time.
If we work a job doing what we
love, we still have to deal with the menial, soul-sucking activities that have
nothing to do with our passion. And if we don’t delegate those tasks, our
passion becomes a chore.

Fifth, passion without
commitment is just an expensive hobby.
Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Hobbies are essential to life. But if we want to turn a profit, if we want to
make dent in the universe, we have to make the decision to play for keeps.

Not to rain on your passion parade or anything.

Because the good news is, every year, people around the
globe make millions dollars doing exactly what they love. Passion is, was and
will always be, a profitable enterprise.

And as long as we’re willing to confront the realities
attached to making a living from our passion, there’s no reason we can’t be one
of those people too.

We just have to make sure we’re not dreaming in the wrong
direction.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What is the paradox of your passion?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “27 Ways to Out the Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg


That Guy with the Nametag


Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting


[email protected]



Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2012-2013!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

The Spirit of Experimentation

The best way to have a good idea is to have a hundred bad ones.

It’s a painful process, especially if we’ve gotten
accustomed to being good. But any seed to imagination, any ignition of pure
creation, is not just healthy and safe, but practical and necessary.

First, it gives us perspective. It humbles our creative
spirit. Second, bad ideas come in handy for other problems later. Nothing is
ever wasted; every idea eventually finds a home. And finally, our process of
experimentation helps create the elbow room for good ideas to emerge. All we
have to do is listen.

In the decade I’ve worked as a freelancer, I’ve had thousands of bad ideas. Horrible ones. Bordering on embarrassing. Several of
which were executed, poorly.

But out of that slush pile, I’ve also had maybe thirty or
forty really, really good ideas. Ideas that spread, ideas that made money,
ideas that made a difference. I believe there are no successes or
failures, only the consequences of our experiments.

We can never lose that spirit. We owe it to our creative
selves to set up a consequence free space for experimentation. A safe place
where we can boldly fiddle our way to the truth.

Thanks to the web, the cost of doing so is approaching zero.
We can run hundreds of experiments a day, if we want to.

But that’s the thing: We have to want to. It has to be
important to us.

Otherwise, if we’re not trying things, every day, until we
die, we’re not fully living.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How many experiments did you run yesterday?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “11 Things to Stop Wasting Your Time On,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg


That Guy with the Nametag


Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting


[email protected]



Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2012-2013!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Are You Using Your Talents or Investing Them?

Freedom means finding a home for all of our talents.

Not hiding our light under a bushel, not asking for
permission to shine, not waiting to be picked, not waiting to be paid, and not
hesitating to take our talents on the ride they deserve.

Instead, allowing our entire portfolio of talents – tiny,
titanic and in between – to have a more prominent place in our lives,
regardless if the world approves.

Nobody epitomizes this more than
Keller Williams. At any of his hundred concerts each year, audiences drool as
he plays an average of twenty instruments per show, they marvel as he takes
live digital looping to new levels and they cheer as he sings hilarious lyrics
to improvised songs.

His life, his career and his fans
prove that talent isn’t just a gift, it’s an asset.

Our job, not just as artists but
as humans, is to invest it as aggressively, creatively and prolifically as
possible, and never to feel guilty about having it or ashamed about expressing
it.

Whitman said we contain
multitudes.

It would be ashamed to watch it
go to waste.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you using your talents or investing them?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “8 Ways to Out Question Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2012-2013!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Customers Don’t Know What They Want Until You Show Them

If we’re too busy listening to everybody, we’ll never hear the sound of our own voice.

Yet another great dilemma of the entrepreneur.

On one hand, we could listen to what people say they want. Do market research and focus groups until we’re blue in the face. And then launch something that predictably fits into their nice little box.

It’s the safe path that pleases people, satisfies their expectations and challenges the competition for a while.

On the other hand, we could figure out what people are going to want before they do. Give them what they don’t realize they need. And hope that they get to a point where they can’t live without it.

That’s the bold path that changes people, captures their imagination and erases the competition forever.

Steve Jobs rarely gave the customers what they wanted. He believed people didn’t know what they wanted until somebody showed them.

So he spent his career showing them.

And the entire world watched in awe.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What do you need to decide?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “12 Ways to Out Service Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg


That Guy with the Nametag


Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting


[email protected]



Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2012-2013!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!



What Nobody Tells Us About Our Dreams

There’s nothing more painful than being patient with a dream.

Even if we do cast a vision, enlist support from every angle, hustle while we wait and take small, daily steps to move the pile forward, the dream still feels miles away.

And in the process, our expectations get crushed.

It takes longer than we like. Nobody tells us that when we answer the call to adventure, we might be placed on hold for a year.

It feels harder than we predicted. Nobody tells us that arriving to a new world is just as demanding as thriving in it.

It aches more than we thought. Nobody tells us that when we decide to play a bigger game, chest pains and anxiety attacks come with the package.

It changes more than we imagined. Nobody tells us that when we take the plunge, we have to leave parts of our former selves behind to stay afloat.

Turns out, waiting in line to get tickets for the game is just as important as the game itself.

But the upside is, all the prework to the dream, all the battles and pains and tears and doubts, are essential in building our resilience for when the dream finally comes true.

Because by that time, we’ll be so beaten up that resistance will back down. It will know we mean business, and it will get the hell out of our way.

And the dream will have no other choice but to come true.

LET ME ASK YA THIS… 

How long are you willing to wait?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “10 Reasons Your Business Doesn’t Really Exist,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.” —-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

The Nametag Guy Live — Hire Yourself

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s your nametag?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “11 Ways to Out Google Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg


That Guy with the Nametag


Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting


[email protected]



Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2012-2013!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Excuse Me, But Nothing Just Happens

Six years ago, my left lung collapsed.

When I woke up in the recovery room with tube in my chest,
the first thing I did was ask the surgeon why this happened to me.

He said it was spontaneous.

Spontaneous. Really. That’s your diagnosis? That’s the best
you can do? Surely there must a more biological reason behind this physically
traumatic episode.

Not really. It just happens, he said.

Excuse me, but nothing just happens. Especially not the
sudden failure of my primary respiratory function.

So instead of accepting what the doctor said, I spent the
next week in the hospital making a diagnosis of my own.

My lung collapsed because I got too successful, too fast,
too early. My lung collapsed because I didn’t have a healthy relationship with
my breath. My lung collapsed because I allowed my career to take priority over
my health. My lung collapsed because I didn’t possess the physical, emotional
and mental constitution to manage my own chaotic life.

I told myself a lie because I knew the truth wouldn’t be
enough for me to change.

And it was the best decision I ever made.

Sometimes dishonesty is the best diagnosis.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What are you unwilling to accept?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For 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


Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting


[email protected]



“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.”
—-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

Out With The Meh, In With The Amazing

It’s hard to turn down food when we’re
really hungry.

Whether it’s a down economy, a struggling enterprise or a lonely love life,
desperate times activate the primal instinct to say yes to whatever satisfies
our hunger.

So we settle. We give our love, our attention and our resources to the highest
bidder, accepting opportunities that are more meh than they are amazing. And
before we know it, mediocrity settles in like an unwelcome dinner guest.

I’ve had multiple periods of meh in my life, both personally and
professionally. Turns out, even though it kept my heart afloat, kept my
business churning and kept my ego from whining, meh ultimately left me feeling
unfulfilled and resentful.

But thanks to a few honest jabs from a compassionate mentor, I made a decision.

Take a sledgehammer to
as much mediocrity as possible.

So far, the pile of rubble is shaping up nicely.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What meh do you need to destroy?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “9 Things Every Writer Needs to Do Every Day,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg


That Guy with the Nametag


Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting


[email protected]



“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.”
—-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

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