Ten Chances Worth Taking

The best part about playing Monopoly was drawing a chance card.

It was risky.
It was exciting.
It was the only way to beat my older brother.

MORE IMPORTANTLY: Chance Cards taught kids that life without risk, isn’t.

What chances are you avoiding?

Consider this list of ten chances worth taking: 1. Every interaction is another chance to give. Charisma is irrelevant when people walk away from you feeling more in love with themselves. That’s the greatest gift you can give people: To be a mirror. To give them a front row seat to their own brilliance.

Every time I interact with someone, I go out of my way to write down at least one thing they’ve said into my pocket jotter. And always right in front of them, too. It makes them feel heard, quotable and smart. What gifts are known for giving?

2. Every mistake is another chance to evolve. Winning is boring because you never learn as much. Personally, I’d rather screw up. It builds character and makes for a much better story. Besides, you can’t win if you refuse to make failure a regular part of your experience.

People who tell you failure isn’t an option need to have their vision checked. The goal is to fail and fail and fail some more, learn and learn and learn some more, and then win and win and win some more. Are you ready to endure the failure that growth requires?

3. Every sentence is another chance to bleed. As a writer, my job is to put my entire world into everything I write. That way, every sentence is a piece of my truth. Every sentence has a story behind it. Every sentence provides experiential value at the point of consumption. Every sentence deliberately sets out to make the reader blink.

And, every sentence holds up a mirror that demands people look at themselves. In my experience, when you approach writing in that way, your material connects with readers in a personal, relevant and emotional way. How bloody is your art?

4. Every decision is another chance to matter. When Alfred Nobel’s brother died, several newspapers accidentally published his obituary instead. He was remembered as, “The merchant of death who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before.”

Devastated, Nobel spent the next seven years making sure he left a legacy that mattered. And then, one year before his death, he created the most prestigious award in human history. Looks like he made the right decision. That’s the whole thing about mattering: The people who do so are the ones who choose so. Who is thanking you for making that choice?

5. Every anxiety is another chance to inhale. Yoga has doubled my pain tolerance. For serious. Thanks to my practice, when I experience moments of discomfort, waves of anxiety, even bonafide bouts of physical agony, I’ve trained myself to breathe through it.

Which doesn’t make the pain go away, it just changes your relationship to the experience of it. Turns out, when you greet the pain with a welcoming and thankful heart, you can use its momentum against itself to convert it into a meditation. When was the last time you gave thanks for your discomfort?

6. Every customer is another chance to research. Even if the customer is unprofitable. Even if the customer is a pain in the ass. Even if the customer is someone you hope takes a long walk off a short pier. Every one of them is a walking case study. Every one of them has the potential to make you smarter.

Listen to them. Loudly. Rejection is cheaper than silence. And don’t forget to take notes, too. Because these people will happily tell you what to sell to them – and how to sell it. Probably not through words, but they’ll still tell you. Whose feedback are you listening to?

7. Every question is another chance to catapult. My presentations overflow with disturbing questions. Not because I want people to answer them, but because I want to flip a mental switch inside their heads.

That’s the mark of a good question: Once you hear it, you’re changed forever. Once you hear it, you can’t get it out of your head. And once you hear it, you begin to answer it with your life.

Next time you attend another pointless department meeting, see if you can ask the most disturbing question of the day. Because it only takes one moment of stunned silence to change everything. What questions are you known for?

8. Every accident is another chance to leverage. Leverage is the bridge between occurrence and opportunity. And since everything unfolds regardless of how we feel, it all depends on how you approach what happens to you.

First, get good at recognizing when life is giving you a gift. Listen to your unintentional music. That way, you can convert accidents into advantages. Next, get good and calmly coping with inconvenience. Instead of fighting or flighting – try friending. It’s much easier to respond to the crap the world hurls at you.

And last, view accidents as adventures and not ordeals. Try making a list of every good thing that will come from change. Do you welcome every opportunity to build resilience?

9. Every conversation is another chance to respect. Being an asshole is not a scalable business model. If you want your people to gasp with delight, help them feel more respected every time they deal with you. Learn to see the world through their eyes. And participate in their lives – not just the conversation about their lives.

I’m reminded of my mentors, Arthur and Bill. They’re more than twice my age – and probably thrice my intelligence – yet both of them ask for my advice almost every time we talk. Point is: Respect is the engine of communication. And we can always sense when it starts sputtering. Who have you disrespected this week?

10. Every audience is another chance to shine. Even if it’s only one person – that’s still an audience. We live in an experience economy. And if you’re not willing to invest a little effort in the art of showmanship, customers will take their business elsewhere. To become a hard act to follow, consider these ideas:

First, ask your audiences to take part in the communication of an idea. Instead of expecting passive recipients, demand an active participant. Second, take a moment to make a memory. Burn the service moment into people’s brains. Third, create a verbal incident. Add something to their lives and rewards them for spending time with it. What’s your sharing device?

REMEMBER: Life without risk, isn’t.

Draw a chance card.

It’s the only way to win.

Especially if you’re playing against my older brother.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are you taking chances on?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “52 Random Insights to Grow Your Business,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

A Young Artist’s Guide to Playing For Keeps, Pt. 12

You’ve chosen an uncertain path.
You’ve adopted an inconvenient lifestyle.
You’ve embarked upon an unconventional journey.
You’ve felt the voice inside you growing more urgent.
You’ve committed yourself enough so you can’t turn back.

IN SHORT: You’ve decided to play for keeps.

This is the critical crossroads – the emotional turning point – in the life of every young artist.

I’ve been there myself, and here’s a list of suggestions to help you along the way:(Read part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here, part five here, part six here, part seven, part eight, part nine, part ten and part eleven.

1. Artists are gift givers. Everyday I write what I write without knowing if someone is going to pay for it. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. But while money is nice, part of being an artist is accepting payment in the form of how your art changes people.

That’s what gifts do. And as I learned from Linchpin, if your art is a gift so valuable that nobody could adequately repay you, people will be eager to pay for the privilege of being in the room with you.

That’s the bet a creator makes, says Seth Godin. That when you give away something for free, it will be discovered, attract attention, spread and then lead to some portion of the masses actually buying something. But it has to start with the gift. With the intention of deploying your work because it makes you happy. Are you making art to make money or make meaning?

2. Editing is for amateurs. Joyce Carol Oates once wrote that editing a book was like having multiple abortions. Jack Kerouac once wrote that editing was a betrayal of your own thoughts. And Henry Miller once wrote that editing leads to overcooked language.

All three are accurate. Editing is the enemy of expression. It forecloses on your creativity’s full expression. And it leaves your artistic spirit timid and impotent.

Don’t save your opinion for later. Risk at every moment all that you have. And make no restrictions on your testimony. You know the voice you most want to be quiet? Give it a megaphone. Because while sabotage is a safe place to be, the only art that matters is the work coated in blood that reflects people’s realities right back to them.

Make your art raw, bloody and honest. Keep it in the cross-hairs of your heart. Otherwise the red pen will own you. Where are you afraid to express yourself?

3. Maintain artistic perspective. A few sobering thoughts about three famous artists. First, Leo Tolstoy. He had thirteen kids when he wrote War & Peace. What’s your excuse for not creating? Second, Bill Gates. He started Microsoft in a recession. Are you still waiting for the economy to get better? Third, Rodney Dangerfield. He was an aluminum siding installer. What do you need to quit so you can focus on your art?

History is ripe with stories just like these. And if you want to keep things in perspective – especially during the low times – it’s helpful to remind yourself that you’re not alone. That you’re not the only one who’s terrified. And that you’re not the only artist who feels like your entire goddamn career is a hopeless journey.

Use the past to keep the future alive. Do you really thing you’re the first person who thought about quitting?

4. Find your artifact. Records aren’t dead. People don’t want the song, they want a magical way to remember the music that they can own and treasure forever. That’s why digital will always fall just short of art’s full potential. People love stuff. Stuff that changes and inspires them. Stuff they can show to their friends that inspires and changes them too.

The challenge is creating a unique way to extend the influence of your art with an artifact. As a consultant and facilitator, I create identity collages for my clients. These handmade woodcarvings, or brandtags, memorialize the company’s mission into a limited edition art piece. When hung, it becomes an engaging, conversation starting social object that makes people think, blink and share with each other. What souvenir are you providing for the viewers of your art?

5. Always keep kindling handy. Art is more than just what you do – this stuff has to be your life. If you don’t think what you’re creating is the greatest thing that ever was, you’re finished. If you don’t think your art matters in a massive way, you’re finished. And if you don’t think your work is going to change the world forever, you’re finished.

The key is to find private strategies to keep up your original enthusiasm. Two questions I’ve found helpful to ask are, “What injustice did you set out to fight when you first started?” and “What was the impulse that initially got you excited you about what you do?”

Those aren’t questions – those are time machines. And they work. If you want to stay up, stay true and stay fueled, you have to constantly rekindle that original fire. Otherwise your passion will degenerate into a line item. How do you replenish your energy reserve?

6. Paint with the brush of persistence. I didn’t invent the nametag. But I certainly took it farther than anyone expected it could go. And now that word is mine. I own it. Forever. And the people who meet me will never think about it the same way again.

That’s an example of what steady work can finally produce. And the cool part is, you don’t have to be the best – you just have to refuse to go away. The problem is, the odds are stacked against you. Because of our instant gratification culture, we’re impatient. And because of our abundance of choices, we’re quick to quit and pursue something better.

But at the heart of all creative badassery is stick-to-itiveness. If you can get good at not going away, the weak will weed themselves out. And only you and your art will remain. Are you quitting because it’s hard or because it’s right?

REMEMBER: When you’re ready to play for keeps, your work will never be the same.

Make the decision today.

Show the world that your art isn’t just another expensive hobby.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Have you committed with both feet yet?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “52 Random Insights to Grow Your Business,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

What It Feels Like to Create Art That Matters

Anytime you dare to descend down the unknown path, certain elements will always be at work.

Let’s say you decide to try your hand at a new medium of artistic expression.

Here’s what happens:

First, resistance settles in. You procrastinate. You put the work off. You find other things to do. Jesus, anything but initial execution, you think. Because you just know the first few dozen attempts are going to be crap anyway.

But you snap out of it. You stop watching television, light a fire under your ass and make a conscious decision: I’m going to suck it up and sit down and try.

So you do. And even though the canvas terrifies you, it feels right. It feels true.

Then you put pen to paper. You put blood to canvas. And although you have no idea where you’re going, what you’re doing or how the work is going to show up, you follow what comes out of you anyway. Because practice is the only way to get better.

Then it just becomes matter of trust: Trusting the process. Trusting your abilities. Trusting your heart. Trusting your instincts. Trusting your resources. And of course, trusting the medium.

This level of trust creates a safe and honest space to explore. Not to rehearse – to explore: Failures, mistakes, biffs and all.

So you do.

And just like drawing a bath, it takes time to hit the hot water. So you keep at it, establishing gentle flow, letting whatever pours out of you to take shape as it sees fit. After all, creativity is nothing but active listening. You don’t decide what to create – you listen for what wants to be created.

But that’s when you start to surprise yourself. It’s like, out of nowhere, with one stroke of the pen, you look down and think, “Whoa. This actually pretty good.”

You enjoy a celebratory pretzel. Nothing like a good victory dance to recharge your artistic spirit.

Okay. Enough salt. Back to work.

This time something feels different. This time, you return with newfound strength, fueled by the fruits of your creative progress. And this inspires you to do more, to do better.

So you do.

The progress continues.
The momentum accumulates.
The canvas starts to stare back at you.

And that’s when you realize that it’s not actually canvas at all – it’s a mirror.

No wonder creating art is so scary: It’s nothing but a stark reflection of your truth.

Whatever you put down is who you are. Gulp.

But after a while, the confrontation isn’t so bad. You start to like what you see more and more with each stroke. And you say to yourself, “Seriously man, this thing is really starting to look good.”

So the cycle repeats itself. You get pumped and create more. You just let it flow. It builds and builds and builds. And even though you’re scared, even though you’re confused, you find a place to put the fear and use it as fuel.

That’s when you start thinking about the future.
That’s when you start believing in your creative vision.
That’s when you start imagining how good your work is going to become.

And at that point, it’s kind of hard to stop yourself.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Will you create art that matters?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “72 Superb Songs Under Scott’s Fingernails,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

A Young Artist’s Guide to Playing For Keeps, Pt. 11

IN SHORT: You’ve decided to play for keeps.

This is the critical crossroads – the emotional turning point – in the life of every young artist.

1. Paint yourself into a committed corner. When I started my career as an artist, I never had a plan. But I never had a backup plan, either. And looking back, I realize how powerful that notion was. After all, backup plans are nothing but sabotage waiting to happen. It’s like quitting in advance. As Tom Peters once told me:

“The best, if scariest, path to commitment is purposefully going public and cutting off escape routes.”

That’s the essence of playing for keeps: Answering your whispered call. Deliberately putting yourself in a position where there’s no turning back. Taking a risk. Then watching what the universe does.

Without that level of commitment, you’ll never hold yourself accountable. You’ll never go all in. And resistance will happily stand by to help you throw in the towel. Are you jumping off the edge or sliding down the side of the mountain on your butt?

2. Interact with flaming intensity. As an artist, people need to see that you are possessed. They should feel that you are on fire every time they interact with you. And your flame should shoot a ray of beauty into their hearts that inspires their belief in you, your work and your why.

Without that exchange, without that infection of emotion, the people who matter most will continue to resent your calling, resist your creativity and restrain your expression. And the weight of that negativity will be the end of you.

No, your job is not to make everybody happy – it’s to stop time. To give people a brief and precious glimpse of what they really are. If your work can accomplish that task, it will change all who see it. Forever. What does the recipient of your art receive?

3. Complacency is the hallmark of comfort. As an artist, your title fight is never as important as defending it. That’s the peril of victory: When you’re the challenger, nobody sees you coming. You have the element of surprise on your side.

But when you’re the champ, everybody sees you coming. And because they know what you’re capable of, they throw everything they’ve got at you. This is a dangerous incarnation of resistance. And if you’re not careful, it will beat you senseless.

That’s why I put everything I’ve got into anything I write. Every sentence is an innovation. Every sentence has my entire life behind it. And every sentence is coated with as much blood as possible. Because I know that if I don’t get a fraction better with each one I write, I do my readers a disservice.

Real artists stay hungry. They root out any sense of entitlement. Otherwise complacency knocks them out in the first round. Are you too comfortable?

4. Learn to pull teeth. Inspiration is great – when it shows up. But most of the time, it needs to be yanked out of hiding. You have to create it. You have to channel it. You have to command it. Every. Single. Day.

And that’s the complaint: Creativity can be like pulling teeth. But there’s no point in making mountain out of a molar. If something is like pulling teeth, maybe it’s time to get a new pair of pliers. Here are a few from my toolbox: First, honor the wave. When inspiration strikes, go with it. Write until the vein is out. Because it might not fill up again for a while.

Second, inspiration is the fruit of sustained effort. Build structure into your creative time. Force yourself to be due at the page. Third, book blank time. Regularly go perpendicular to the activity at hand.

By physically and mentally displacing yourself, you allow the lungs of inspiration exhale into your life. Are you standing by for inspiration to arrive or stepping up and taking it?

5. You can’t set art off in a corner. Performance isn’t a nicety – it’s a necessity. You have to be willing stand up and be recognized for your work. Otherwise your art will be ignored. In a recent interview on public radio, songwriter Sheryl Crow made an interesting point on this topic:

“Nobody buys records anymore. That’s why touring is so essential. The best way to afford being an artist is, always has been, and always will be, to go out and play for people.”

When was your last show? When is your next show? Because if you’re not regularly getting up in front of people and giving the gift of your art, what’s the point of doing it?

Without a collision between your work and the outside world, you’re just winking in the dark. Your art is the tree in the forest that nobody heard. The upside of exposure is everything. Are you safe and invisible or risky and everywhere?

6. Artists who don’t sell, suffer. I once met a romance novelist at a writer’s conference. We got on the subject of book marketing, branding and the like. And when I asked her which channel she found to be the most profitable for promotion, she said something I’ll never forget:

“I write books – I don’t sell them.”

That pretty much ended our conversation. Clearly, that woman had zero understanding of what it means to play for keeps. Yes, you’re an artist. But you’re also a salesman. And if you’re not there to sell, you’re just a visitor.

Believe me, I’d rather jump out of a burning building in my boxer shorts — again — than make a sales call. But it’s part of the artistic package. Every product must be sold. Beware of sliding into an entitlement attitude that assumes your art will sell itself. When was the first time someone took you seriously as a salesperson?

REMEMBER: When you’re ready to play for keeps, your work will never be the same.

Make the decision today.

Show the world that your art isn’t just another expensive hobby.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Have you committed with both feet yet?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “52 Random Insights to Grow Your Business,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

A Young Artist’s Guide to Playing for Keeps, Pt 10

IN SHORT: You’ve decided to play for keeps.

This is the critical crossroads – the emotional turning point – in the life of every young artist.

1. Honor thy ache. Anxiety is a right of passage. It’s a sign that you’re on the right path. And thankfully, it’s an effective form of self-pressure to help you get over – and stay over – yourself. Forget about trying to eradicate feelings of inadequacy. They’re not going away.

In fact, the more successful you become, the more those feelings will creep in. Truth is, anxiety is a fundamental human posture. And once you change your relationship to it, you can put it to work.

Instead of convincing yourself that your fears are a futile campaign, greet your worries with a welcoming heart. Accept them a natural part of the life experience. And understand that there is no art without an occasional crisis of doubt.

As Arthur Koestler once said, “If a writer loses his doubts, he’s finished. He’ll just go on writing the same book like an idiot.” What are you converting your anxiety into?

2. Break out of the deadlock. A book that every artist needs to read is called Mental Traps, by Andre Kukula. It explores how chronic indecision, monumental overplanning and endless anticipation cripple your artistic and earning capacity. Here’s a rapid-fire list of suggestions that flipped a few internal switches in my artist’s heart:

Stop attending to project when they’re not calling for your attention. Stop carrying around a scenario for everything. Stop scrubbing the world clean of surprise. Stop remaining perpetually ahead of yourself. Stop killing yourself trying to accomplish an outdated goal.

In short, the book reminds us that life isn’t one prefigured scenario after another. It’s not an endless stream of things to get over. Are you standing on your tiptoes to foresee the future, or grounding your heels into the earth and making love to the present moment?

3. Art that mirrors, matters. Botticelli was Davinci’s mentor. During an interview about his student’s work, he said, “It will reward the viewer from any angle.” Does your art meet people where they are? Does your art make people’s own experience available to them?

That’s the whole point: Art’s purpose is to remind people that they’re not alone. That they’re not the only ones having an experience.

Next time you sit down to create, don’t write, paint or draw – breathe life onto the page. Create an infection that leaves the viewer better. Turn your art into a mirror in which people can see their own reflection, and you will make your name dear to history. Does your art recognize the pain in its patron?

4. Quantity eventually produces quality. I write between four and seven hours a day. Not just because writing is my religion, and not just because I have a love affair with my art, but because value is a function of volume. My experience has taught me that if you want your voice to matter, if you want people to follow your thinking and if you want to make a name for yourself, volume is the vehicle for being heard.

It’s more important than accuracy, knowledge, winning, talent, popularity and influence. Simply by playing the numbers in a prolific way, quality eventually shows up.

It has to. Because the best way to have a great idea is to have a lot of ideas. Even if most of those ideas suck. Sometimes you have to slog through a sea of shit just to find the one diamond. If you tripled your creative output, how much better would your body of work become?

5. Confidence opens checkbooks. If you’re in art, you’re in sales. Period. You have to show the world your wares and ask them to give you money for it. Otherwise you’re just winking in the dark. And this doesn’t come easy for a lot of artists, myself included.

Personally, I hate the business side of art. I don’t care about making money. I could care less about closing sales. And the mere thought of quoting a price for one of my pieces makes me want to ram my head through a steel wall.

But selling is part of the job description. And if you don’t make peace with that reality, you will cripple your earning capacity. As George Plimpton observed in Writers At Work, “You can’t set art off in a corner.”

The secret is to get good at stating your fee. Whether you’re a performer, writer, painter or singer, here’s the rule: Speak with uncompromising language. Be unapologetic. State your fee confidently – then shut up. Otherwise you’ll spend the rest of your life donating your work to charity auctions. Do you feel guilty for demanding compensation for your value?

6. Balance creative needs with survival needs. The art is essential. For the sake of your sanity, you must yield to the devout motions of the soul. But for the sake of your survival, you also have to yield to the devout motions of the mortgage. The secret is to hone in on which of your artistic efforts are the most income generating.

Not just fun. Not just cool. Not just creative. But the specific actions that physically put money into your bank account on a predictable basis so you continue to make the art you want to make.

And you have to prioritize those efforts over the majority of your daily endeavors, save your actual creative time. Otherwise you’re going to end up sitting on the floor surrounded by piles of your own work, eating beans out of a can with nothing to show for it.

You can’t just write all day. Eventually, you’ve got to get your ass out there and make some money. What consumes your time that isn’t making you any money?

REMEMBER: When you’re ready to play for keeps, your work will never be the same.

Make the decision today.

Show the world that your art isn’t just another expensive hobby.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Have you committed with both feet yet?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “52 Random Insights to Grow Your Business,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

6 Ways to Increase Your Digital Approachability

I wear a nametag twenty-four seven.

But sometimes that’s not enough.

THE REALITY IS: Approachability is more than just face-to-face.

It’s about being findable.
It’s about being reachable.
It’s about being knowable.

Straight from my monthly column with American Express Open Forum, here are six ways to increase your digital approachability:1. Build online knowability. Since day one, you’ve been beaten over the head with three words: “Know your customer.” Actually, there’s a bigger question at stake: How well do your customers know you?

This question matters because trust is a function of self-disclosure. It’s a basic tenant of human communication. And when trust is the only currency that counts – which it is – if your customers don’t know you, you lose.

The secret to making your online identity more knowable is a combination of several elements. First, photography. Images showing you doing what you do in front of the people who matter most. Second, role definition. Mapping out the various ways customers can use you. Third, memorializing your values. After all, people don’t just buy what you sell – they buy what you stand for and why you stand for it.

Hiding the true picture of who you are is a form of reputational risk you can’t afford to take. Share yourself. That’s all branding is anyway: Committing to and acting from the best, highest version of yourself – every day. How well do your customers know you?

2. Keep the virtual loop open. Otherwise you’ll never develop an ongoing relationship with your market, audience, customers and other people who matter. The key is to combine outreach with attraction. To make it easy for readers, subscribers and audience members to engage with you, every day. Whatever online tools you use to keep the loop open, here are the essentials:

First, the speed of the response is the response. Even if you’re not able to solve your people’s problem right away, providing consistent assurance that you’re on the case preserves their sense of control. Second, ask for their feedback. Take heed. Take notes. People will tell you how to serve them better. They will also tell you how to sell to them better.

Third, communicate with meaningful concrete immediacy. Address only what’s relevant to their experience, be concise in your messaging, and give people actionable ideas they can execute – today – to make their lives better. Do you get back to customers quicker than your competitors?

3. Consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness. Did you know that eighty percent of divorce lawyer have reported a spike in the number of cases that use social media for evidence of cheating? Apparently, Facebook is by far the number of cases that use social media for evidence of cheating. According to the study by the American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers:

“Flirty messages and photographs are increasingly being cited as proof of unreasonable behavior or irreconcilable difference.”

It’s not a computer problem – it’s a character problem. The longer you keep lying to the person you’re supposed to be committed to, the more it’s going to show – not just on your Facebook page – but on your face. And if you’re a cheat, your body will always tell the truth. Especially to the people who matter most.

If you plan to live a dishonest life offline, there’s going to be a huge echo online. And your digital footprint will slip on the technological banana peel to destroy the most important thing in your life. Don’t scapegoat your dishonesty on social media – blame it on social stupidity. Is your online performance equal to your offline reality?

4. Grow bigger ears. A few sad realities: The world is not waiting breathlessly to hear what you have to say. The blogosphere is not standing on the edge of their seats eagerly anticipating your next post. And your followers on Twitter – who, by the way, don’t care about your tweets as much as they care about their stats – are not waking up an hour earlier just to read the hilarious update about your Rottweiler’s latest genital licking adventure.

Social media isn’t a marketing tool – it’s a hearing aid.

Stop using it as a selling too and start leveraging it as a listening platform. For example, I contribute to around fifty different publications, both online and offline. And as a writer and speaker, doing so is essential element of my visibility plan and a crucial component to my listening platform.

But I don’t just give people my email – I offer them an additional resource to supplement the piece of content they just read, watched or listened to.

That’s how I’ve changed the interaction model. And the cool part is, growing bigger ears enables the following leverage question: What does expanding your listening platform earns you the right to do? Answer: Everything, that’s what. Everything. Are you listening to the sound of your own voice or the music of your customer’s voice?

5. Be a virtual extrovert. In the pivotal book Jim and Casper Go to Church, I learned the difference between “outreaching,” which is inviting people to join your group, and “inbreaking,” which is joining an existing community action. According to my friend and occasional mentor Jim Henderson:

“We can find out what groups in our community are already doing to make life better for people and join them. Rather than start groups, we could join their groups. Rather than join groups to convert people, we could join them to connect with and serve people.”

Next time you go online, try this: Consider the types of members you hope to attract. What groups are they already a part of? What role in the community do they currently occupy? Create a gameplan to take a more active role in those spaces. People will notice. People shouldn’t have to adjust to you. You need to adapt for them. Less outreach, more inbreak. Who life are you willing to become a part of?

REMEMBER: Being approachable is much more than face-to-face interaction.

It’s about creating a digital nametag.

Stick yourself out there today.

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

New website go live this week?

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Watch video lessons on spreading the word!

How to Hire Yourself

I never went to the career fair.

I just hired myself and got to work.

And after ten years, I still haven’t been fired.

That’s the cool part:

When you hire yourself, you stay free.
When you hire yourself, you call the shots.
When you hire yourself, you don’t have to wait.
When you hire yourself, you execute what matters faster.
When you hire yourself, you remove the threat of rejection.
When you hire yourself, you become a more educated entrepreneur.

Tired of waiting to be picked? Consider these ideas for hiring yourself:
1. Kick your addiction to permission. Permission is a spiritual revolt. It’s an inner imperative. A soulful drive for significance. And the bridge between mediocrity and remarkability. The problem is, permission is very real and pervasive in most of our lives.

And as such, there are two kinds of people: Those who sit back and ask for permission, and those who step up act without restriction. I wonder which one describes you. Truth is, it’s not a question of who’s going to let you, but rather, who’s going to stop you?

And the answer is: Nobody. Except maybe you. Because the only permission slip that matters is the one you sign for yourself. That’s your first challenge: Greenlighting your own work. Becoming your own authority figure. And sticking your fingers in your ears so you can hear the sound of your own voice.

Otherwise you get sucked into a life situation where mediocrity is exalted. Are you listening to your voice or a program created by someone else?

2. Mainstream is lamestream. Absolute unfreedom is allowing other people to chart the course of your life. But when you hire yourself, everything changes. Just ask Kevin Smith. After writing the screenplay for the movie Red State, the filmmaker promised that the rights to the film would be auctioned off to a distributor at the Sundance Film Festival.

But last minute, Smith decided to purchase the rights to himself. He then self-distributed the picture under an independent banner. And through his persistent social media efforts, he created a sold out traveling show in select cities before officially releasing the movie.

This process saved millions of dollars, reached millions of and elevated his online and offline platforms to stratospheric heights. Smith’s relentlessness is a shining example of what happens when you stay on the path of your heart. He proved that if you’re not making people react you’re not making a difference. He proved that anything worth doing is worth being attacked for. Are you willing to create something critics will criticize?

3. Being picked keeps you passive. You don’t need a resume. You don’t need an internship. You don’t need another degree. You don’t need more credentials. And you don’t need to attend another industry convention just to kiss the collective ass of a bunch of crusty veterans who still put the word “the” in front of Google.

What you need is initiative. What you need is an enterprise mentality. What you need is to stand on the edge of the abyss and choose to fly. What you need is the desire to take massive action combined with an abundance of chutzpah.

That’s how you say yes to your own value. That’s how you reject the tyranny of being picked, says Seth Godin. Because if you’re just waiting to be discovered, you’re just going to end up waiting tables.

Make yourself the default. Change the rules so you can win at your own game, change the game so there are no rules, or become the exception to every rule. Because you can’t hire yourself if you’re not interactive, reactive and proactive. Are you waiting for your big break, or manufacturing your own big breaks by making yourself more breakable?

4. Stable is for horses. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, only twenty-five percent of recent graduates who applied for a job had one waiting for them after graduation. It’s no secret: Hiring yourself is no longer a renegade choice – it’s a viable path.

First of all, the tools are accessible, affordable and have rapid learning curves. Secondly, offices are a thing of the past and mobile workforces the thing of the present.

Third, open-source software reduces or eliminate the need for consultants and tech support. And lastly, microfinancing, business incubators, peer councils and digital fundraising opportunities are abundant and available – as long as you know how to make a case for yourself.

Yes, half of all new businesses fail within the first five years. And yes, the entrepreneur life is filled with risks, stresses and sacrifices. But it certainly beats working a job that eats away at you just a little more each day. So maybe you take fewer vacations. Big deal. Isn’t it worth it to set up a life you didn’t need to escape from?

5. Farming isn’t for farmers anymore. As a writer, publisher and artist, I’ve learned that best way to bring home the bacon is to raise your own pigs. Think about it: No more traffic on the way to the store. No more inflated retail prices. And no more waiting in lines with the other carnivores.

If you raise your own pigs, and you want some bacon – you just grab a knife and walk outside.

That’s what impatient, persistent, heartstrong people do: They sing the song that is natural for them to sing, in the way that is natural for them to sing it, in front of the fans who most need to hear it. Then, they give their audience permission to be taken over by he performance. Even if they have to rent the theater themselves.

If you are fortunate enough to find the work you were born to do, find ways to do that work no matter what. No. Matter. What. Because the only thing worse than not having a song to sing is having a song to sing, but not giving yourself permission to sing it. The show must go on. May as well hire yourself as the headliner. When was the last time people watched you do what you do?

REMEMBER: It’s about fearing rejection – it’s about putting yourself in a position yourself where rejection can’t even find you.

Burn your resume.

Hire yourself.

It might be the smartest career decision you could make.

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

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Are You Offering Content Or Enabling Contact?

People can get information anywhere, anytime, immediately, for free.

But that’s the thing.

We don’t need more access to information – we need more access to each other.

IN SHORT: Contact is the new content.

Which doesn’t make information irrelevant.

But contact offers an unquantifiable humanness that content can’t provide. And if your brand fails to deliver that interaction in addition to the information people need, customers will quickly switch to another brand that will.

Here’s how to install a greater sense of approachability, both online and offline, in your organization’s daily life:1. Give everything a recognizable human touch. Lately I’ve been receiving messages from readers, followers and customers asking if my responses are actually from me, or just some robot disguised as me.

This trend is baffling. Not because people assume I’ve delegated my contact to a machine, but because there are people out there who actually do that. And customers are sick of it. The fact that people even wonder whether or not responses are automated should be enough of warning sign.

I find this detachment from humanity to be embarrassing. In the great game of business, what matters is how you talk to your customers. What matters is your unique way of interacting with people. And that matters is how they experience themselves in relation to you. Don’t outsource the human function. Make sure soul has a palpable presence in your contact efforts. Does your brand give more credence to computers or humans?

2. Provide information plus interaction. Content is great for deepening awareness, but only through contact can you deepen an emotional connection. Only through contact can you truly resonate with the soul of another human being. And whether it’s in person, over the phone or online, here’s the formula:

Create simple, inclusive, accessible, relevant and human encounters that change the momentary experience of engaging with your brand.

Here are a few examples to consider:

*Are you providing people with opportunities to participate, like making blog comments open to the public?
*Are you creating invitations to act and engage with your brand, like running contests on social media platforms?
*Are you creating acts of intimacy in moments of distance, like encouraging clients to upload picture of themselves joyfully using what you sell?

I hope so. Because content without contact is conartistry. What act will you deliver to draw people into the deeper meaning of what your brand does?

3. Shock people with your love. According to a study by the Customer Contact Council, about ten percent of Comcast’s service calls have nothing to do with their products. To leverage this asset, the company recently launched a help service for residential customers.

And now, for a fee, customers can receive help with problematic wireless gaming consoles, personal computers, tablets, smartphones, and networking equipment – none of which are actually Comcast products.

This is the kind of contact you can’t put a price on. The kind of contact worth crossing the street for. And if your brand wants to deliver the same, think about what underleveraged assets you might be able to exploit. Think about what populations of readers, customers or subscribers you might be able to attend to in a delightfully shocking way.

Escort them with your love and watch the fireworks begin. After all, content is a commodity – but contact is a communion. How does your brand deliver unexpected value?

4. Contact plus content equals conquest. As a writer and publisher, content will always be core to my enterprise. But what I’m starting to discover is that the speed of the response is the response.

What I’m starting to learn is that when you’re genuinely and assertively responsive, the medium us the message. Especially in a commoditized marketplace when service is the key differentiator, contact is the primary victory. Contact is the asset that paves the way for future interactions.

Without it, you’re just another content provider who takes forever to provide impatient customers with a human being who speaks in a human voice that solves human problems. Think of it as digital approachability. Keeping the virtual loop open.

Because if you’re not able to solve your people’s problem right away, providing consistent assurance that you’re on the case preserves their sense of control. Do you get back to your customers faster than your competitors, or does information stand in the way of engaging with the people who matter?

5. Information is not a replacement for interaction. Wearing a nametag everyday for a decade changes your behavior: It keeps you accountable, keeps you honest and keeps you true to who you are. That’s why I no longer litter, rarely act like a jerk and never pretend to be someone I’m not.

In the same vein, the greatest advantage of online technology is the ability to connect instantly – but the greatest danger is the option to do so anonymously. And that’s the caveat to contact: Making sure you do without collapsing your identity.

You have to keep your digital nametag on, or you’re going to get yourself into trouble. Because when you retreat into depersonalization and namelessness, you take less responsibility for what you do and say.

On the other hand, when you resist the temptation to engage from a place of anonymity, your actions are more accountable and more human. It all depends on how vulnerable you’re willing to make yourself. Will you stick yourself out there or surrender to the status of anonymous?

REMEMBER: If content is king, contact is queen.

It’s no longer enough to be a content provider – you also have to be a contact enabler.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you giving people more information or more interaction?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “11 Ways to Out Market Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

New website go live this week?

Tune in to The Entrepreneur Channel on NametagTV.com!

Watch video lessons on spreading the word!

How to Take a Chance on Yourself

Gambling is for fools.

It wastes your time.
It burns your money.
It corrupts your thinking.

As Robert DeNiro said in Casino, “The more they play, the more they lose. In the end, the casino gets it all.”

HOWEVER: Some things are worth taking a chance on.

Namely, you.

Here are a few things you might keep in mind: 1. Desire is not an occupation. The first word to delete from your success vocabulary is “aspiring.” Never aspire to anything. Aspiring is for amateurs. Aspiring is the hallmark of working small. Whatever you want to become, start by being that thing already.

Like George Carlin used to say, “There are only two states an oven can possibly exist in: Heated or unheated. Preheated is a meaningless term.”

Where are you still preheating yourself? You either are, or you aren’t. Instead of waiting to be who you are, make the decision to raise your own bar. Go pro. Go full time. Go all in. Start playing for keeps.

Once you know what you believe, everything becomes a lot easier. Once you take a chance on yourself, people will start showing up ready to match your bet. And once you submit your resignation to the purgatory of wannabe, providence will move to orchestrate the ideal conditions to win. Which of your fears are diminishing your commitment?

2. Never underestimate the weight of victory. The scariest part about taking a chance on yourself is not the prospect of failure, but the possibility of success. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine anything more terrifying than getting exactly what you want.

Think about it: You might realize it’s not enough. You might become a victim of your own success. You might discover it’s not actually what you thought you wanted. You might mishandle the changes success brings into your life. You might stop taking the creative risks that made you successful in the first place. Or you might fail to live up to the expectations and reputation attached to your success.

At least failure is predictable. At least failure you can read books on. Success is the great unknown. Success is what we’re really afraid of. And that’s why part of us thinks that sometimes; it’s safer to just want things.

Which it is. But safe is a very dangerous place to be. And if you truly want to take a chance on yourself, you have to be prepared for the possibility of victory. Otherwise you’ll never take the time to enjoy it when it comes. Are you emotionally ready for success?

3. Accept the existence of your shadow. Sometimes we’re too close to ourselves to see the truth about ourselves. And if we don’t customize a system for exposing our blind spots, the chance we take on ourselves becomes too risky. As Rob Bell explained in Love Wins:

“When sameness takes over, when everyone shares the same story and when there is no listening to other perspectives – there is no stretching and expanding and opening up.”

That’s why I’m eternally thankful for my girlfriend: Her thinking is often perpendicular to my own. And as my partner, she’s in a unique position to give me an invitation into myself, lead me into my blind spots and remind me of just how moronic I can truly be.

Who’s your partner? Who could you admit into your life as a teacher? Whether it’s your spouse, significant other or business partner, ask them to reveal to you what you’re too in love, too proud or too close to yourself to see. It might hurt your ego, but it definitely helps your chances.

Anytime you can invite intellectual diversity into your life, it makes it easier to expose your unperceivables. What are you afraid to know about yourself?

4. Respect the paradox of the journey. On one hand, your inner dreamer believes you should be more successful by now. On the other, your inner realist knows you have to pay your dues for longer than you’d like to.

But like a good yoga student, you have to achieve balance between total relaxation and complete exertion. And a helpful way of doing so is to ask two questions. First: Where can you afford to be patient? Not idle, not passive, but patient. Because as long as you don’t wait so long that it becomes too late to take action, and as long as you’re not investing valuable time waiting for something that’s never going to happen, it usually pays to wait it out.

Second: Where can you allow yourself to be impatient? Not reckless, not irresponsible, but impatient. Because while patience is a virtue – impatience pays the mortgage. And sometimes you just have to trust yourself, trust the process and gather whatever momentum you can to start moving in the right direction. Otherwise you may never execute anything that matters. How can you be patient and impatient simultaneously?

5. No labels, no limits. Putting things in the right category doesn’t mean you control them – it just means you have more boxes. The reality is: If you have a plan for everything, unexpected turns will never take initiative toward you. If you have a plan for everything, you lose the psychological freedom to pivot into new directions. And if you have a plan for everything, you’ll never be able to live larger than your labels.

Don’t close the door of opportunity on yourself. Instead of creating a false ceiling on what you can accomplish, keep your eye on the things you can’t see. Always ask the question, “What am I afraid to see because it doesn’t fit my nice little plan?” Then, just listen. Because opportunity doesn’t knock – it whispers. And if you’re not paying attention, it will sail right past you.

There’s no shame is having no sense of direction. Try getting lost. Try not knowing. Try flying blind. Because if you don’t know where you’re going, nobody can stop you. Are you leaving enough room for the unexpected?

REMEMBER: You are a risk worth taking.

If you are going to take a chance on something, it may as well be on yourself.

Sure beats playing video poker.

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Who’s telling their friends about YOU?

Tune in to The Marketing Channel on NametagTV.com!

Watch video lessons on spreading the word!

6 Steps to a More Fearful You

Fearless people scare me.

It’s one thing to have confidence.
It’s one thing to believe in yourself.

But you’re never scared of anything, there’s something wrong.

Fear is a healthy, human reality. It’s an essential part of the life experience. And sometimes you have to scare yourself for the right reasons.

But if you’re trying to scrub your world clean of it, you’ll never reach your full potential.

HERE’S THE SECRET: Fear isn’t meant to be ignored – it’s meant to be invested.

As my therapist famously told me, “The healthiest way to handle your fear is to change your relationship to it.”

Here are six steps to a more fearful you:1. Instead of fighting with it – bow to it. Accept the bid. Honor it. And greet fear with a welcoming heart. Respond with an expansion; don’t react with a contraction. How to do you extend namaste to that which scares you?

2. Instead of complaining about it – give thanks for it. Be fundamentally affirmative. Extend gratitude for fear’s arrival. It’s here for good reason. Are you grateful for that which scares you?

3. Instead of running from it – make friends with it. Don’t fight. Don’t flight. Don’t freeze. Befriend. That way it can’t hurt you. Are you willing to buddy up with that which scares you?

4. Instead of waging war against it – put your arm around it. By approaching fear as an ally, you redirect its power into something useful. Can you join forces with that which scares you?

5. Instead of putting a blanket over it – learn an important lesson from it. Fear is the final compass for finding what matters. Please listen. Can you grow from that which scares you?

6. Instead of being taken over by it – decide what fuel can be made from it. Fear is a wave waiting to be surfed. Let it carry you to bright new shores. Will you energize your efforts with that which scares you?

REMEMBER: You have nothing to fear but fear of fear itself.

Stop ignoring it and start investing it.

The dividends are worth it.

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When was the last time you scared yourself?

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For the list called, “24 Ways to Out Grow Your Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

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Tag: play for keeps

Ten Chances Worth Taking

A Young Artist’s Guide to Playing For Keeps, Pt. 12

What It Feels Like to Create Art That Matters

A Young Artist’s Guide to Playing For Keeps, Pt. 11

A Young Artist’s Guide to Playing for Keeps, Pt 10

6 Ways to Increase Your Digital Approachability

How to Hire Yourself

Are You Offering Content Or Enabling Contact?

How to Take a Chance on Yourself

6 Steps to a More Fearful You