Tag: really long lists

123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask

Since this is my final workweek of 2007, I’m going to post a ridiculously long list … every day. Be sure to check back all week!

And, don’t forget to read the other ridiculously long lists in the series:
101 Lessons Learned from 2007
101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence

But for now:
123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask

1. Are other people telling their friends about you?

2. Are other people repeating your “story”?

3. Are people talking about you?

4. Are the very first words out of your mouth consistent with your brand?

5. Are you broadcasting your brand to the right audience?

6. Are you building things worth noticing right into your product or service?

7. Are you concerned with traffic or transactions?

8. Are you everywhere?

9. Are you giving away enough stuff for free?

10. Are you listening to the word of mouth about you?

11. Are you pushing or pulling your customers?

12. Are you specializing enough?

13. Are you starting positive epidemics?

14. Are you still ripping off that lame-ass “Got milk?” campaign?

15. Are you thinking about your non-customers?

16. Are your products positioned, or do they just have clever slogans?

17. Can your target market afford you?

18. Do people know what you do?

19. Do people know what you’re DOING?

20. Do people know what you’ve DONE?

21. Do you find unusual places to show off?

22. Do you have customers or fans?

23. Do you have them at hello?

24. Do you know which of your marketing efforts have been effective in the past?

25. Do you provide a value message to your customers every week?

26. Do you really think anybody is talking about your yellow page ads?

27. Do your beautiful, award-winning marketing materials actually influence customer decisions?

28. Does a lower fee make you more affordable, or less attractive?

29. Does your website offer proof or just list a bunch of adjectives?

30. Has anybody ever done this before?

31. Have people heard about you?

32. How are you allowing customers to participate in your brand?

33. How are you building a following? (If you’re not presently doing this, send an email to [email protected] and I’d be happy to show you how!)

34. How are you building a permission asset?

35. How are you enabling your customers to do your marketing for you?

36. How are you getting permission from people to market to them?

37. How are you making it easy for customers to tell their friends about you?

38. How are you marketing yourself daily?

39. How are you staying in front of your fans?

40. How can you be visible to the highest number of people?

41. How can you become the best marketer in the world?

42. How can you keep marketing, even when you tell customers no?

43. How can you make yourself more marketable in the next year?

44. How could you encourage strangers to break the silence and talk to you?

45. How do you measure your permission asset?

46. How good are you at attracting attention?

47. How many different ways are you interacting with your market?

48. How many different ways can you leverage this?

49. How many different ways did you leverage your media appearance?

50. How many people anticipate your marketing?

51. How many people do you think really read your press release?

52. How much money do you spend on marketing?

53. How much time do you spend on marketing each day?

54. How often are customers retelling your company’s story?

55. If you have to jump through hoops to defeat someone’s efforts to avoid your advertising, is the result going to be worthwhile?

56. If you have to trick people into looking at your advertising, is the result going to be worthwhile?

57. If you showed your idea to a teenager, what would she think?

58. If you showed your website to a five year old, what would he think?

59. If you stopped advertising, would anybody even notice?

60. If you were your customer, what would you LOVE to have from you next?

61. Is anybody else doing this now?

62. Is your idea simple enough that a five year old could understand it?

63. Is your idea so good that other people are copying it?

64. Is your idea so good that SNL would parody it?

65. Is your idea so remarkable that people make fun of it?

66. Is your marketing interrupting or interacting?

67. Is your marketing making music or noise?

68. Are you creating a website or a destination?

69. Are you sharing link love FIRST?

70. Can your business afford not to have a website?

71. Did you buy the domain first?

72. Did you get their email address?

73. Did you register all of the misspellings and accidental permutations of your URL?

74. Do you have a web-SITE or a web-PRESENCE?

75. Do you really care if your non-customers don’t like your website?

76. Does your website honestly reflect your business personality?

77. Does your Website leave a perception of value or vanity in the mind of a visitor”?

78. Does your website scream, “Look at me!” or “Here’s what you were looking for”?

79. How are you getting customers to come back to your website just to see what you’ve been up to?

80. How are you participating in your online image?

81. How are you taking advantage of the infinite shelf space of the Web?

82. How powerful is your online platform?

83. Is content king on your website?

84. Is your website an experience?

85. Is your website something you can proudly reference?

86. What are the Potential Silent Dialogues when people first come to your website?

87. What makes your website a destination?

88. When someone comes to your website, how do you want them to feel?

89. When someone comes to your website, what’s the ONE THING you want them to do?

90. When was the last time you added new content to your website?

91. When was the last time you bought something from spam email?

92. When was the last time you checked your website stats?

93. When was the last time you Googled a word or idea?

94. When was the last time you Googled somebody?

95. When was the last time you invited your audience to participate at your website?

96. Where are most of your hits coming from?

97. Who’s blogging about you?

98. Why aren’t you blogging yet?

99. Why wouldn’t anyone spend more than 60 seconds at your website?

100. Why would someone come to (and stay at) your website for more than 60 seconds?

101. Why would someone give you her email address (and therefore, permission) to market to her regularly?

102. Why would someone return to your website consistently?

103. Why would someone tell her friends about my website consistently?

104. Why would you put links on YOUR website that send customers to someone ELSE’S website?

105. What are three reasons ANYBODY would want to go to your website?

106. What are you doing to stimulate, harness and increase word of mouth?

107. What are you giving away for free?

108. What could you do to strengthen the relationships with your biggest fans?

109. What have you recently learned about marketing trends?

110. What is it about your idea that makes people eager to spread it?

111. What is your total marketing capacity?

112. What part of your marketing makes people stop and ask, “Huh?”

113. What type of marketing will you use?

114. What would the twenty-second word of mouth ‘sound byte’ be if your customer were to tell a friend about you?

115. What’s the most important word in marketing?

116. When was the last time a complete stranger come up to and said, “OK, so, I just HAVE to ask…”?

117. When was the last time you actually bought something from a telemarketer?

118. When was the last time you invited your audience to participate in your brand?

119. When was the last time you picked up Yellow Pages to find a product or service?

120. When was the last time you updated your brand identity?

121. When was the last time you were THRILLED to get junk mail?

122. Why are you marketing?

123. Why are you (still) wasting money on advertising?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What three questions MUST every marketer ask?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post your lists here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Practices, THEN principles.

No systems. No formulas. Just someone who listens, asks KILLER questions and facilitates creative breakthroughs.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

101 Lessons Learned in 2007

Don’t forget to read the other ridiculously long lists in this series:
101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence
123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask

And now, for today’s ridiculously long list:
101 Lessons Learned in 2007

1. Art doesn’t come from you. It comes through you.

2. ASK YOURSELF: Are customers asking for products and services you DON’T have? What does that tell you? And what are you doing about that?

3. BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF: If you stopped advertising, would anybody even notice?

4. Be quick, but don’t hurry.

5. Cause people to learn it on their own.

6. Cherish your alone time.

7. Clone yourself through teaching others.

8. Compete only with yourself.

9. If you don’t set clear boundaries for yourself, people will set them for you. And then they will violate them. And, most likely, it will be YOUR fault.

10. Create consistent opportunities to demonstrate emotional reliability.

11. Create your own market.

12. Create your own personal security system.

13. Develop an unusual desire to excel.

14. Don’t create a piece of art. Contribute to an ongoing body of work.

15. Don’t “target market.” Reverse it. Concentrate on making yourself into a giant bull’s-eye. If you want to learn how use Reverse Target Marketing, send an email to [email protected] and I’ll tell ya!

16. Don’t set goals that are TOO ridiculous. You may end up adopting an unrealistic standard of evaluation for yourself.

17. Develop a relationship with your own mind.

18. Distrusting change = distrusting the universe.

19. Don’t be an expert; be a trusted advisor.

20. Don’t be satisfied with your first ideas.

21. Don’t count on your customers to connect the dots.

22. Don’t dilute your integrity with thoughtless commitments.

23. Don’t give away the (informational) farm. Offer exclusive content.

24. Dreams make decisions easy.

25. Every single day, your environment gives you small nudges.

26. Everything communicates something.

27. Everything you do should lead to something else you do.

28. Evidence of low trust is everywhere.

29. Figure out where others failed.

30. Get old; don’t think old.

31. The best salespeople don’t sell; they solve and help.

32. The best way to break the rules is to (not) know they ever existed.

33. Get over yourself.

34. Global is the new local.

35. He who talks next, loses. State your fee confidently and shut up.

36. Help people get beyond their misconceptions.

37. Help people see the beauty in things that are not pretty.

38. I’d rather say no than do a poor job.

39. If customers like you, they’ll find a way to buy from you. If customers don’t like you, they’ll find a way NOT to buy from you too.

40. If the first lie requires a second lie, don’t do it.

41. If they’re laughing, they’re listening.

42. Improvisation takes years of practice.

43. It’s OK (not) to shoot all your bullets.

44. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

45. Keep your material fresh.

46. Know what you DON’T know.

47. Learn to thrive in many environments.

48. Look for every possibly opportunity to reduce uncertainty.

49. Love the work more than what it produces.

50. Make it easy for customers to complain.

51. Make the choice to make choices.

52. Mission is higher purpose; vision is long-term aspiration.

53. Most people do not know what you do.

54. Most people do not know who you are.

55. Never let anyone make you second-guess yourself.

56. Nobody can stop you from learning.

57. Nobody can take away what you’ve become.

58. Not risking is the ultimate risk.

59. People don’t care what you sell, the only care what you can change.

60. People respond to simple.

61. People take their cues from you.

62. People want the HOW.

63. Perpetually hunt for insight.

64. Prove to people that you’re not going away.

65. Put yourself into situations where you have neither mastery nor control.

66. Questions are investments in human capital.

67. Questions are the basis of all cooperation.

68. Questions are the basis of all creativity.

69. Recognize threats to your ownership.

70. Refuse to check your personality at the door.

71. Refuse to define yourself by others’ assessments.

72. Register every possible permutation of your website URL.

73. Rehearse the future.

74. Risk today’s time for tomorrow’s benefit.

75. See things incorrectly.

76. Shtick gets you in the door, but only substance keeps you in the room.

77. Small business isn’t a category; it’s a lifestyle.

78. Speak up at the slightest sense of discomfort.

79. Stay over yourself. (See #33 for how to do this.)

80. Stop cursing the darkness. Strike a damn match and make something happen.

81. Stories aren’t just remembered; they’re retold.

82. Study people’s minds.

83. Take a laugh break.

84. The best way to drive your competition crazy is to just be really, really successful.

85. The farther your ideas go, the more your business will grow.

86. The listener controls.

87. The more you notice, the more you can do.

88. The only thing worse than somebody stealing your idea is NOBODY wanting to steal you idea.

89. The theater of the mind is sometimes better.

90. The two ways to become more successful: become BETTER at doing what you do; and/or start doing MORE of what you do.

91. Transparency quickly strips people of their defenses.

92. Walk more than you talk.

93. We live in an “It’s Not My Fault Culture.” So, stop evading responsibility. You always have a choice.

94. When? Now! Who? You!

95. Writing is subconscious absorption.

96. You grow bigger ears by biting your tongue.

97. You will never have all the facts.

98. You won’t know when your client has stopped trusting you.

99. Your greatness will (eventually) shine.

100. Your mind works for you.

101. Your primary task is to diffuse defensiveness.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What were your Top Ten Lessons Learned from 2007?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post your list here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Life Coaches? Bah.

No systems. No formulas. Just someone who listens, asks KILLER questions and facilitates creative breakthroughs.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence

Since this is my final workweek of 2007, I’m going to post a ridiculously long list … every day. Be sure to check back all week!

And, don’t forget to read the other ridiculously long lists in the series:
101 Lessons Learned from 2007
101 Questions Every Marketer Must

But for now:
101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence

1. Blog every single day.

2. Comment on other people’s blogs, especially when they link to your blog.

3. Post at least three videos on YouTube. Make them fun, cool, and most importantly – let the videos show you doing what you do. No more than three minutes each.

4. Post pictures on Flickr of you being yourself, working with clients, doing things you love, and most importantly – doing what you do.

5. Publish at least one article a month on public databases like www.ezinearticles.com. They get AWESOME Google rankings for ya.

6. Write and give away at least one free ebook a year.

7. Any time someone asks to reprint one of your articles, SAY YES!

8. Any time someone wants to interview you for her podcast, blog or newsletter, SAY YES!

9. Post your tour, schedule or travel calendar on your website.

10. Blog every single day.

11. Make use of social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn. Just try not to get addicted. Accept friend requests from everyone.

12. Create a lens on Squidoo.

13. Publish a regular ezine. Share 1/2 of the main article in the body of your email letter and then publish the rest of it online to drive traffic.

14. Google your name, company name and tagline every week. It’s a great motivator to boost your web presence, especially if the only thing that comes up is your high school golf team score.

15. Publish your profile on ZoomInfo.

16. Post pictures of your customers using your products. Great testimonial.

17. Post videos of your customers using and talking about your products. Even better testimonial.

18. Don’t have (just) a website. Have several. Create an interconnected network of various sites that all point to your MAIN site. Think octopus, not earthworm. And think destination, not website.

19. Get yourself on Wikipedia. (This is REALLY hard to do, but it’s a great goal to shoot for.)

20. Blog every single day.

21. If you’re an author, make ebook versions of your books available for download. I say give ‘em away for free.

22. Include a Media Room on your website. This builds your credibility and expertise. Which will attract other media outlets to seek you out. Which will lead to more interviews. Which will lead to more hits on Google whenever someone types in your name or your area of expertise.

23. Interview other people and post the transcripts or audio files online. They’ll take ownership of the piece and tell everyone they know to come to your site.

24. Start an online TV network.

25. Just be remarkable.

26. Give more speeches. Even if they’re free. See, what happens is, the organization you speak for will include your name and bio on their website. They’ll also post the conference agenda as a PDF online, which will come up as a hit on Google when people type in your name or area of expertise. Sweet.

27. Figure out what everyone else in your industry is doing and then do the opposite.

28. Post lots of lists.

29. Blog every single day.

30. Post your PowerPoint slides on Slide Share or your blog. (NOTE: don’t do this if your slides SUCK. And most people’s slides suck.)

31. Capture emails and build your list. Create a permission asset. Emails are GOLD.

32. Register misspellings, permutations and variations of your main URL and redirect them to your homepage.

33. I don’t know much about Search Engine Optimization, Google Ad words and Pay-Per-Click, but I hear that stuff works pretty well. Something to think about.

34. Got a book? Cool. Get it on Google Book Search.

35. Speaking of Google, get lots of Google alerts on your name, company name, product name, etc. This will help you stay current with what’s being said about you on the Web. (And if nobody is talking about you on the web, you’re in trouble.)

36. Review books on Amazon.com.

37. Do surveys on your website and publish the results.

38. Do audio podcasts.

39. Do video podcasts.

40. Then post them on your blog.

41. (And of course, blog every single day.)

42. Google the names of the leaders in your industry. Evaluate their search results. Check out their web presence and see what they’re doing right. Then copy them.

43. If possible, get on CNN. That really helped me.

44. Join organizations, non-profits and trade associations. Get listed on their directories. Also, consider taking a leadership position or becoming a board member. They might even give you your own page on the organization’s website! (NOTE: don’t sign up just to get listed. Sign up to learn, grow, give back and make friends. Let web presence be incidental, not a intentional.)

45. FACE IT: you’re not giving away enough free stuff. Give more. The more you give away for free, the wealthier you will be. More on that theory here.

46. Share link love FIRST. People will be happy to reciprocate.

47. Send blog posts to people who would appreciate them. BUT, don’t ask them to blog about you. Just deliver value. Reach out to someone new. I did this once and the guy ended up blogging about me, which led to about 1 million hits in five days.

48. Learn about Digg and get dug. Unbelievably powerful.

49. Every time you meet someone who says, “Yeah, I’ve heard of you!” or “Oh, I’ve been to your site before,” write it down. Keep a Word of Mouth Journal. Notice patterns and soon you will hit a critical mass.

50. Dude: just be everywhere!

51. Leverage your expertise in every possible way.

52. Tell your story and make sure other people are telling it too.

53. Don’t cheap out on your website. It’s worth it.

54. Every time someone comes to your website, make sure they know THE ONE THING YOU WANT THEM TO DO, right away.

55. Blog every single day.

56. Blog every single day.

57. Blog every single day.

58. Blog every single day.

59. Blog every single day.

60. Blog every single day.

61. Blog every single day.

62. Blog every single day.

63. Blog every single day.

64. Blog every single day.

65. Blog every single day.

66. Blog every single day.

67. Blog every single day.

68. Blog every single day.

69. Blog every single day.

70. Blog every single day.

71. Blog every single day.

72. Blog every single day.

73. Blog every single day. (Any questions on this one?)

74. Install Google Analytics. Figure out where people are coming from.

75. Post in forums. Write intelligent, value-added responses. And have a cool signature.

76. Blog every single day.

77. Personally, I think press releases are WORTHLESS. However, many people have had great success with PR Web and other press release websites. Something to thing about.

78. Have some kind of lead-capturing device.

79. Submit your RSS feeds to Feed Burner.

80. Buy lots of domains and redirect them to your main site until you find another use for them.

81. Connect with other like-minded professionals who are ALSO creating a web presence. Have virtual lunches, regular email conversations and listserve discussions to brainstorm ideas and keep each other accountable.

82. SIX WORDS: Send This Site to a Friend!

83. Google the phrase “creating a web presence.” Read up.

84. Email [email protected] and ask me what the biggest marketing mistake made by entrepreneurs is. I’m happy to share it with you.

85. Figure out your Noticeable Number. Quantify the most remarkable aspect about your business and put a counter on your page that encourages word of mouth and revisitability. (Think McDonalds’ Billion Hamburger Counter).

86. Everything you write (articles, blog posts, press releases) MUST have a response mechanism built into it. Your writing becomes persuasive and effective the moment it compels the reader act upon (not think about) something. Here’s a mini-list of different types of response mechanisms to try:

o Go to this website, login if you’re a first time user…
o Email me with your three biggest questions about…
o Call me for your free consultation on…
o Send me a copy of your…
o Post your best story about…
o Link to this post on your blog, along with your list of…
o Leave a comment with your three best techniques for…
o I challenge you to try this for a week. Email me after you’ve…
o Try this on your blog and then send me the link…
o For a free downloadable ebook on this topic, go to…
o To receive my weekly ezine for tips on…
o Send an email with the words “I need sales!” in the subject line…
o If you’d like to know the rest of the formula, fax your letterhead to…

87. As you can see, I’m big on writing. And not just because I AM a writer. Mainly because writing is the basis of all wealth. Writing is the basis of all wealth. Writing is the basis of all wealth. Writing is the basis of all wealth. (GOT THAT?)

88. Speaking of writing: blog every single day.

89. And use Technorati to promote your blog.

90. Also, think about getting Meebo Messenger. Coolest thing on the Internet.

91. Contribute to entries on Wikipedia.

92. Start your own group on Facebook.

93. Use lots of colorful, singing, dancing pop ups on your website. (No, wait, sorry. Wrong list.)

94. Read Seth Godin’s blog. Do what he says.

95. Read Top Peters’ blog. Do what he says.

96. Read Bob Baker’s blog. Do what he says.

97. Evaluate your website’s hit and unique user ratio. Set a goal to double it within 12 months.

98. Evaluate your present newsletter, RSS feed or other type of subscriber number. Set a goal to double it within 12 months.

99. Just google “Gitomer.” Now THAT’S a web presence!

100. Read the book Naked Conversations. Totally awesome.

101. Read the book The Cluetrain Manifesto. Absolutely the best book ever written about the Internet.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How’s your web presence?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Right here, right now, post your list: Top 10 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence. We’d love to see it!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Consultants, schmonsultants.

No systems. No formulas. Just someone who listens, asks KILLER questions and facilitates creative breakthroughs.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

14 (Random) Keepers to Mold Your Melon, Secure Sales and Build Boundaries

Every have a bunch of random thoughts you need to get out of your brain and onto the page?

Me too.

So, here’s a list of 14 things I’ve been thinking about lately. Bon appetit!

1. Always think on paper.
2. Art comes through you, not from you.
3. Do everything creatively.
4. Do experiments everywhere.
5. Let experiences change you.
6. Premature organization stifles creative generation.

7. Customers become comfortable when YOU are comfortable.
8. The goal is to get them to learn it on their own.
9.. The listener controls.
10. Everything communicates something.
11. Foster customer activity.
12. Other people who do what you do have already miseducated your customers.
13. Help people get beyond their misconceptions.

14. Recognize threats to your ownership.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are your three random thoughts of the day?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post them here! (Also email them to me at [email protected] – I’d love to hear from ya!)

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Coaching, schmoaching.

No systems. No formulas. Just someone who listens, asks KILLER questions and facilitates creative breakthroughs.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

How to be a Wordsmith, Part 2

Welcome back, Smithy!

(FYI, if your name isn’t Smithy, please read Part 1 of this series before continuing!)

Today we’re going to continue our discussion on Wordsmithing, one of my favorite activities.

Over the years, I’ve been accumulating quite the collection of derivations, origins and etymologies of key business terms.

The other day I (finally) finished going through all of my articles, chapters, blog posts and writings from the past six years (yikes!)

And what’s fascinating about Wordsmithing, especially etymologies, is how your entire philosophy on something (say, “customer satisfaction”) can change once you figure out the TRUE meaning behind the word.

So, we’ll do six today and seven tomorrow.

Let’s get our Smith on…

1. The world APPROACHABILITY comes from the Latin apropiare, which means, “To come nearer to.”

LESSON LEARNED: it’s a two-way street — sticking yourself out there AND getting them to come to you.

QUESTION: Are you doing both?

2. The word DEPRECATION stems from the Latin deprecari, which means, “To avert by prayer.”

LESSON LEARNED: self-deprecating humor avoids threatening, offending or alienating people.

QUESTION: Are you making fun of yourself enough?

3. The word DOMAIN comes from the Latin dominium, which means “property.”

LESSON LEARNED: he who owns the domain, owns the idea.

QUESTION: What’s the first thing YOU do when you get a new idea?

4. The word SATISFY comes from the Latin satisfacere, which means, “Content, to do enough.”

LESSON LEARNED: satisfaction proves nothing.

QUESTION: Do you (really) think “satisfied” customers are telling their friends about you?

5. The word LOYAL comes from the English leal, which means, “faithful.”

LESSON LEARNED: loyalty trumps satisfaction.

QUESTION: Why are YOU loyal?

6. The word INSISTENT comes from the Latin insistere, which means, “To be demanding and repetitive.”

LESSON LEARNED: insistence trumps satisfaction AND loyalty.

QUESTION: Do you have customers or fans?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What’s your favorite etymology or word origin?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Share it here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Wanna write a book?

If so, perhaps I could help on a more personal, one-on-one basis.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

34 Questions to Keep Yourself Growth-Minded

As we approach the end of 2007, it’s important to ask yourself (and your team) Growth Questions.

So, grab a cup of hot chocolate, relax, and let’s start thinking about the future!

REMEMBER: growth, not comfort.

Enjoy!

1. Are you cloning yourself through teaching others?

2. Are you doing business at the level you want to?

3. Are you growth minded?

4. At what point are you making a living vs. building your business?

5. Does this client represent long-term business potential?

6. How are you being stretched and forced to grow?

7. How are you making sure that everything you do is leading to something else you do?

8. How are you typecasting yourself?

9. How can you duplicate yourself?

10. How can you use this to add more value to yourself?

11. How do you self-renew?

12. How often are you bringing in work that improves your skills and keeps you competitive?

13. In what ways are you currently obsolete?

14. What are the most important things for you to work on that will grow your business the fastest?

15. What are you building?

16. What are you doing in the next five years that’s going to set you up for the next ten years?

17. What are you doing to prepare for the next phase?

18. What can you do differently today to add value to your business?

19. What else does this make possible?

20. What is creeping up on you?

21. What kind of clients would you like to have in three years?

22. What kind of work would you like to be doing in three years?

23. What new markets should you be entering?

24. What percentage of your revenues this year came from products and services you didn’t offer three years ago?

25. What’s next?

26. What’s the movement value of this idea?

27. What’s your sequel?

28. When was the last time you brought new skills to your clients and prospects?

29. When was the last time you created new value?

30. When was the last time you entered a new market?

31. When was the last time you reinvented yourself?

32. When was the last time you upgraded your qualifications?

33. When was the last time your business embraced change and did something innovative?

34. Will it make your company more competitive?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you growth-minded?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Share your Top 5 Questions for Keeping Yourself Growth-Minded here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

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If so, perhaps I could help on a more personal, one-on-one basis.

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9 things people don’t care about

1. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … how good you are.
They care how good you’re going to help them become.

2. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … what you’ve done.
They care what you’ve learned, and how those lessons can help them.

3. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … what you can’t do.
They care what you CAN do.

4. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … what they hear you say.
They care what they SEE you DO.

5. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … what you do for a living.
They care what you’re passionate about.

6. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … if you’re having a bad day.
They care how you’re going to help them have a better day.

7. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … about price.
They care about value, convenience and risk.

8. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … about your company.
They care about the problems your company can solve.

9. PEOPLE DON’T CARE … about being apologized to.
They care about answers, solutions and resolutions.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What three things do YOU think people (don’t) care about?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post your list here!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

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10 mistakes that changed the world

THREE QUESTIONS:

1. Are you making enough mistakes?
2. How are you learning from those mistakes?
3. How are you leveraging those mistakes into other ideas?

Historically, making mistakes has been a leading cause of creative breakthroughs.

So, if you want to motivate YOUR melon and increase your innovative prowess, check out this list of 10 mistakes that changed the world.

NOTE: each of these vignettes has a Leverage Question at the end to get you thinking about how to score with your screw-ups!

* * * *

1. One morning in 1930, Ruth Wakefield ran out of baker’s chocolate. So, she brought home semi-sweet chocolate, broke it into pieces and threw it into the dough. And the very first chocolate chip cookie was born!

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: What replacement ingredient could you use?

2. In 1886 while concocting a form of medicine, John Pemberton accidentally added carbonated water instead of plain water to his recipe. When he tasted it, this new drink was so delicious and refreshing, it was later popularized as Coca-Cola.

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: Instead of using the “generic” version of your ingredient, what exotic item could you use?

3. Centuries ago, a Chinese emperor named Shen Nung was boiling water outside when leaves from a nearby tree fell into the pot. He tasted it, enjoyed it, thus creating the very first cup of tea!

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: What would happen if you did your creative work outdoors?

4. At the 1904 World’s Fair, waffle maker Ernest Hamwi noticed a fellow vendor’s booth ran out of dishes to serve ice cream. Just to be helpful, he rolled up one of his waffles into a cone and made an instant hit!

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: How could you join forces with your tradeshow neighbors?

5. One morning, centuries ago, Iroquois Chief Woksis threw his tomahawk into a nearby tree. When he returned the next day, he pulled the tool from the bark only to notice sap furiously dripping onto the ground! If only pancakes had been invented yet…

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: How could you temporarily abandon your idea?

6. In 1928, Alexander Fleming accidentally left a loaf of bread on his windowsill for too long. When he returned and noticed mold, instead of throwing it away, he reexamined the bread and discovered something called staphylococci. That substance eventually created penicillin!

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: What if you left your idea sitting on your window?

7. In the 1870’s at a soap factory, a workman went to lunch and left the machine running. When he returned, he noticed that air had been worked into the mixture, thus hardening the soap! He later poured into frames and began selling it by the bar and made Ivory a FORTUNE.

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: What if you left your idea alone during lunch?

8. In 1905, a young student named Frank Epperson was mixing soda-water powder and water one day. He then accidentally left the mixture on his back porch overnight with the stirring stick still in it, only to return to find the very first Popsicle!

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: What if you left your idea outside overnight?

9. Harry Brearly was a metal worker who threw his old scraps into a junk pile. On day in 1913, he noticed that certain old pieces rusted quicker than others. After analyzing the metal, he found the element that helped produce stainless steel!

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: How could you reuse something people threw away or quit on?

10. In 1907, Arthur Scott, head of Scott Paper Company, had a shipment of paper returned to him by a customer. They complained it was “too hard and wrinkly,” so instead of throwing it away, he cut it into individual sheets and began selling it as “paper towels.”

MAKE THIS MISTAKE: What is another use for this failure?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What have you learned from a recent mistake?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Share your epiphany here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

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Soften your eyes

Remember those Magic Eye posters from the 90’s?

They were totally cool.

You’d stare into the image.
You’d relax your eyes.
And eventually, a “hidden picture” would appear!

The scientific name for this kind of image is an autostereogram. They allow people to see 3D images by focusing on 2D patterns.

According to the Magic Eye website:

“Autostereograms produce an illusion of depth using only a single image. The computer-generated image repeats a narrow pattern from left to right. Then, by decoupling eye convergence from focusing operations, a viewer is able to trick the brain into seeing a 3D scene.”

Now, if you’ve ever found yourself staring at a Magic Eye poster for an extended period of time, you know how frustrating it can get.

Especially when one of your smarty-pants friends walks by and says, “Hey, look! A sailboat! Cool…”

This makes you want to yell, “No, shut up! I haven’t seen it yet! Go away!”

OK. Settle down. It’s just a picture.

ANYWAY, HERE’S MY QUESTION: what was the difference between your vision and your friend’s vision?

Simple: your friend softened her eyes.

See, we live in a hyperspeed, A.D.D., instant-gratification, advertisement-saturated culture. It’s information overload!

And millions of powerful forces are constantly vying for your precious time and attention.

So, “softening your eyes” is more than just a technique, it’s a philosophy. And it’s not just physical, it’s mental and spiritual as well:

It’s about slowing down.
It’s about noticing the novelties of life.
It’s about studying ordinary things intently.
It’s about making the mundane memorable.
It’s about being mindful of your surroundings.

AND HERE’S THE BEST PART: when you maintain a Soft Eyes Philosophy, three cool things happen:

1. You OPEN your mind to the world around you.

Which means your optical guard lets down.
Which means you’re less likely to neglect key opportunities.
Which means you’re more willing to accept multiple perspectives.

RESULT: more ideas for your business.

2. You OBSERVE patterns quicker and more frequently.

This enables you to make connections between seemingly unrelated things.
This enables you to notice things and give them names.
This enables you to have more creative thoughts.

RESULT: better ideas for your business.

3. You ORGANIZE your thoughts with ease and comfort.

Which helps you filter them through your personal theory of the universe.
Which makes them YOUR unique ideas and theories.
Which makes them easier to spread.

RESULT: word-of-mouth worthy ideas for your business.

All from Softening Your Eyes.

Now, as you’ve probably guessed by now, we’re not exactly talking about Yoga here.

(Although, physically softening your eyes is a great relaxation technique!)

So, if you want to put the Soft Eyes Philosophy into practice, consider this list of 13 leverage questions to ask yourself (and your team) on a daily basis:

1. How are these issues related to each other?
2. How could you use this as an example in your work?
3. How does this fit into your theory of the universe?
4. How does this have to do with your expertise?
5. How is this a symbol or example of you expertise?
6. What did you (just) learn from this experience?
7. What does this have to do with you?
8. What else can be made from this?
9. What else does this make possible?
10. What else is like this?
11. What is around you that you can use?
12. What’s the key idea here, regardless of the context?
13. What’s the Universal Human Emotion?

HERE’S YOUR FINAL CHALLENGE: if you truly want to LIVE this philosophy, try this. Write a few of these questions on sticky notes and post them all around your office!

By practicing QREATIVITY regularly, you will train your eyes to soften regularly.

And a result, EVEN in our crazy-busy, information overload culture:

You will slow down.
You will notice the novelties of life.
You will study ordinary things intently.
You will make the mundane memorable.
You will be mindful of your surroundings.

And you will develop higher quality ideas than ever before.

Even if you (still) can’t see that damn sailboat.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What have you recently discovered by softening your eyes?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Share your revelation here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

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If so, perhaps I could help on a more personal, one-on-one basis.

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Things I’ve recently unlearned, part 3

(Read part 1 of this post series here!)
(Read part 2 of this post series here!)

11. Well-roundedness is overrated. Let go of your past programmed, liberal education mindset. Instead, just get really, really good at one (maybe two) specific things.

THEN, be known for them.
THEN, be the first hit on Google for them.
THEN, let them become your leading attributes.
THEN, keep doing more OF and getting better AT those things.
THEN, let them become your number one income generating activities.
THEN, delegate or outsource the rest.

You have better things to do.

12. You don’t have to please everybody who comes to your website. If you get an angry email from an 81 year-old WWII vet who’s having trouble reading the articles on your website, and that type of person is NOT your target customer, who the hell cares?

Let it go. Just please the people who PAY.

13. You don’t have to prove yourself every ten seconds. This was a BIG realization for someone like me, who tends to be the youngest person in the room.

Let your actions and credentials do that for you. Don’t be so intentional. Relax. People will (eventually) discover how smart and cool you really are. Unless you’re a putz.

14. You don’t have to use all your bullets. For example, you don’t have to ask people questions every ten seconds. They might get the feeling you’re interrogating them. Or that they did something wrong. Or that you’re too lazy to think of anything good to say.

See, effective questioning is about the questions, yes; but it’s also got a lot to do with timing.

Two perfectly pitched questions usually beats five rapid-fire questions.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What three things have you recently UN-learned?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post them here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Enjoy this post?

If so, perhaps I could help on a more personal, one-on-one basis.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

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