How to Out Heart the Competition

There’s no reason to be mean.

Slinging hate, slashing tires, undercutting pricing and poaching customers is not the smartest way approach your competition.

HERE’S MY SUGGESTION: Out heart the competition.

It’s easier.
It’s cheaper.
It’s more fun.

Here’s how to make it work for your organization: 1. Give your brand three dimensions. Cooking websites are getting smarter. They know that their users don’t just want recipes. They also want to learn what others thought about the recipe, what ingredients they added, what spices they used, what side they paired it with, what wine goes with it and what their families thought about it.

In short: They want to become better cooks, not just better at following directions. And if you want people to join you, know this: Information is price of admission. Giving people a bunch of facts isn’t enough.

To out heart the competition, you have to offer people context, perspective and community. Public radio is another brand that does this beautifully: They speak straight to the heart of the human experience. They explore new angles most stations miss. And they create a safe place to learn that broadens the listener’s cultural sensibilities. You can’t get that from top forty stations.

The point is: Customers want to listen to the whole song. And if all you’re giving them is a few random notes, they’re going to go somewhere else. How many dimensions does your brand deliver?

2. You can’t work incognito. If facts worked, the gym would be crowded. But it’s not. And here’s why: Numbers don’t inspire commitment – story does. And if you don’t dress your truth in it, you’ll never out heart the competition.

Here are the two questions that matter:

*Are you telling a better, funnier, more spreadable and more emotional story than the competition?
*As is that story embedded into every nook and cranny of your brand’s existence?

If not, your product is just a commodity. Another annoying interruption that’s going to be forgotten anyway. Look: You don’t need public speaking lessons – you need to cut your soul open. And you need to express yourself from that place relentlessly and expressively.

Even if it scares you. Even if it scares others. Because you intentionally set out to make the viewer blink, you incidentally end up making the viewer buy.

Remember: Don’t be afraid to chose a better story. Shout it from the rooftops or risk being ignored. Does your work evoke an active resonance or a dull thud?

3. Speak to the heart of human experience. Here’s why Starbucks rocks: They understand that “home” isn’t just the house you live in – it’s the space you return everyday. Sure, they don’t know what’s going on in your life when you walk in the door.

But their store still provides you with an act of escape in a moment of chaos. It’s a daily refuge for people. And that’s ten times more addictive than the caffeine.

Unfortunately, that’s where most companies lose: They fail to recognize and affirm our shared humanity. But if you want to out heart the competition, you have to master that deeper humanity within your work. And then you have to embed it into your job function on a daily basis. Consider these examples:

First, virus protection software. Their job is to preserve the inalienable right of digital freedom. Second, insurance companies. Their job is to help people live their lives free from fear every day. Third, trade associations: They job is to create a network of human healing. Has your brand anchored itself in the concrete foundation of compassion?

4. Anchor belonging. Every quarter, my mastermind group gathers for a full day strategy session. We give feedback to each other, laugh at each other, share with each other and confide in each other. It’s a beautiful thing. And any time new members join us, we always make sure they feel like they’re part of the group immediately.

In fact, I recently received an email from one woman who said, “This was the first group meeting I attended where nobody squeezed my shoulder.”

That’s a great reminder for anyone organization who has a membership base: People don’t want to have their head patted and told they’re going to make it someday. They just want to belong. They just want to have a home. They just want to feel like they’re part of the club.

Try this: Instead of waiting to warm up to people, skip the small talk. Stop inquiring about the goddamn traffic and just jump right in. And instead of asking people what their job title says – ask them what their emotional labor is dedicated to. They’ll forget all about the fact that they’re a first-timer. What do you see when you see people?

5. Squash complacency. Relationships work when you work at them. Period. Otherwise they degrade into predictable, boring and complacent stalemates. And that’s when people start to feel invisible. If you want to avoid getting lazy with your customers, ask one crucial question: How do you recognize longtime partners in a unique, memorable and spreadable way?

And I’m not talking about thoughtless, uninspiring holiday cards that get trashed instantly. Or impersonal, emotionless autoresponders reminding people how important their business is to you.

This is about creating an emotional connection that deepens over time. Gifting – not just giving – meaningful rewards that recognize outstanding contributions to your organization.

That’s why my company makes brandtags. These customized limited edition art pieces, or “identity collages,” completely erase the memory of any other gift your clients have ever received.

With a brandtag, you make people feel essential. With a brandtag, you make gratitude palpable and recurrent. And with a brandtag, you prove that recognition isn’t some corporate initiative – it’s a constitutional ingredient.

Remember: Ingratitude is the gateway drug to complacency. And complacency the merit badge you get for winning a marathon in your comfort zone. How do you thank people?

REMEMBER: People buy from people, not from faceless conformist hierarchies.

Follow the path of heart.
Wear it on your sleeve.

And let it bleed for the people who matter most.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Will you out heart the competition?

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

“I usually refuse to pay for mentoring. But after Scott’s first brain rental session, the fact that I had paid something to be working with him left my mind – as far as I was concerned, the value of that (and subsequent) exchange of wisdom and knowledge, far outweighed any payment.”

–Gilly Johnson The Australian Mentoring Center

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Geographic Impotence, or, How Having No Sense of Direction Can Change Everything

Consider four clichés:

If you don’t know where you’re going, you may never get there.
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never know when you’ve finally arrived.

I respectfully disagree.

In my experience:

If you don’t know where you’re going, nobody can stop you.
If you don’t know where you’re going, there’s no destination to scare you.
If you don’t know where you’re going, you may end up somewhere better.
If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s easy to hear unintentional music.
If you don’t know where you’re going, you can pivot and change mid-course.
If you don’t know where you’re going, the wheels of serendipity can set in motion.

My name is Scott, and I am geographically impotent.

Which isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes you have to lose your way to find your home. But personally, I can’t imagine living in a world where you can’t get lost.

Today we’re going to talk about the value of having no sense of direction.

Feel free to let your brain wander:1. Intelligence is the great impediment. Admittedly, I didn’t put lot of thought into my first book. There was no strategy, no through line, no promise to the reader, no take home value for the buyer and no unique selling proposition for the target market.

I just wrote it because I wanted to write it. I wrote it because I had a story worth telling. And I wrote it because if I didn’t, my heart would never forgive me. So I just shipped the damn thing.

And when the book came out, it’s not like I wised up and got my act together. There was still marketing strategy. No social media push. And no finely orchestrated plan that was in perfect alignment with my personal vision statement and life purpose.

I just handed out copies to every single person I knew, along with two free nametags in the back of each book. That’s it. And because I wasn’t trying to make money – I was trying to make a point – the book ended up making history. All because the intention was pure, the process was organic and the art was completely selfish. Sweet.

Remember: When you know too much, you execute too little. How could you become dumber today?

2. Goals are for soccer players. The problem with goals is that you’re never really happy when you accomplish them. You just keep setting more goals. And you end up living in a perpetual state of dissatisfied expectation. Nothing but an infinite regression of marginally worthwhile accomplishments.

This is not healthy.

First of all, there’s more to life than accomplishing your goals. Being trumps doing any day of the week. And just because you’re not “getting things done” doesn’t mean you’re going to disappear. Secondly, life changes. Quickly. And often times, what you thought you wanted later proves to be irrelevant, redundant or erroneous.

Instead of deadlocking your life to an arbitrary list of pointless attachments, focus on your intention. Decide how you want to invest your life. And let go of your outdated plan that has no relationship with reality. You might also try making a list of one hundred reasons why you do what you.

After all, life’s greatest transformations occur in the moments when we’ve lost our way, but preserved our why.

Remember: Success is not a spreadsheet. And what can’t be measured, matters. Are you a victim of the victories that don’t count?

3. Beware of making gods out of your plans. I don’t plan – I just sort of do stuff that feels consistent with who I am, and go from there. Truth is: Planning is procrastination in disguise. But people do it because it preserves their sense of control. It reinforces the illusion that they know what they’re doing. Which they don’t.

That’s why I’m completely against any permutation of the phrase, “Ready, aim, fire!” Because you’re never ready, aiming is overrated and fire burns people.

An alternate formula you might consider is, “Try, listen, leverage.”

First, you just try stuff. You just do stuff. Don’t plan anything. Don’t overthink it. Just start. Second, listen. To the people who matter. And not for opinions, but for reactions.

Then, be sure to treat everything you hear with deep democracy. Finally, leverage. Kill two stones with one bird. And constantly ask yourself, “Now that I have this, what else does this make possible?”

The point is: Failure doesn’t come from poor planning, but from the timidity to proceed. Don’t be stopped by not knowing how.

Instead of holding a meeting to get ready to prepare the execution of your plan for formulating your strategy to begin the initial stages of brainstorming your pre-launch, just go. Are you prematurely committing yourself to an endeavor that might later prove to be unprofitable?

4. Don’t think big – think now. The problem with the big picture is that it fills up your entire wall. And that prevents you from hanging the art that matters most. When the reality is: Just when you get there, there disappears. Just when you think you have life figured out, it changes on you like a traffic light.

And just when you think redheads are your type, your online dating profile matches you with a dishwater blonde that steals your heart like a thief in the night.

That’s been the biggest learning for me: That your currency will change. That you will outgrow things. And that you will have to leave some people behind. That’s why I’m all about getting lost. And that’s why people who try to choreograph everything piss me off.

I’m sorry, but life isn’t that predictable.

The world pivots quickly. And if you don’t meet the now need, you’re going to make the mistake of living your life and not being present for it. As Adam Duritz reminds us, “You have to be in your life or it will pass you by.”

Look: Just embrace the moment. It pays better. Are you willing to leave room for the unexpected, or are you still seduced by the sexiness of what’s next?

REMEMBER: There’s no shame is having no sense of direction.

Try getting lost. Step into the beauty of useful serendipity.

You may end up somewhere that changes everything.

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What will your addiction to terminal certainty cost you?

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

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What It Feels Like to be Heartstrong

I was born on Valentine’s Day.

Which, to some people, isn’t a big deal. It’s just another day.

But throughout my life, I’ve always felt there was some sort of cosmic significance to that particular date. Like it had something to do with who I was, at my core.

I never really gave it much thought.

Until recently.

I realized that, based on my disposition – based on my personal constitution as a human being – I couldn’t have been born on a more perfect day.

My name is Scott, and I am heartstrong.

THE COOL PART IS: You don’t have to share the same birthday to embody the same philosophy.

Anyone can be heartstrong.

Here’s what it feels like:Heartstrong people defy gravity.
Are you willing to overcome the forces trying to weigh you down?

Heartstrong people break the mold.
Are you willing to question the constitution of the walls that enclose you?

Heartstrong people know their truth.
Are you willing to remember who you are?

Heartstrong people follow their heart.
Are you willing to tear yourself away from the safe harbor of certainty?

Heartstrong people go their own way.
Do you have the courage to follow your inner guide even if you look like an idiot and risk alienating those who don’t understand?

Heartstrong people do their own thing.
Are you willing to step out and expose your dream to the light?

Heartstrong people televise their values.
Are you willing to stay loyal to yourself?

Heartstrong people do their own thinking.
Are you willing to turn off the television and formulate your own opinion of the world?

Heartstrong people slay their inner editor.
Are you willing to live without interference to the expression of your individuality?

Heartstrong people set healthy boundaries.
Are you willing to put yourself at the top of your own list?

Heartstrong people give their river a voice.
Are you willing to bring all of yourself to everything you do?

Heartstrong people play by their own rules.
Are you wiling to become the exception to as many rules as possible?

Heartstrong people commit to what matters.
Are you willing to communicate to the world that you’re fully committed?

Heartstrong people don’t wait for permission.
Are you asking who’s going to let you or wondering who’s going to stop you?

Heartstrong people take the road less traveled.
Are you willing to work without a map?

Heartstrong people advocate against normality.
Are you willing to wage a war against mediocrity?

Heartstrong people walk where there is no path.
Are you willing to leave a bloody trail?

Heartstrong people are their own authority figure.
Are you willing to eschew the judgments of others and do what makes you happy?

Heartstrong people crush the confines of convention.
Are you willing to become the person you were before the world made you into what it wanted you to be?

Heartstrong people inject soul into whatever they do.
Are you willing to bring your humanity to the moment?

Heartstrong people voluntarily opt out of the mainstream.
Are you waiting around to be picked or picking yourself?

THE GOOD NEWS IS: Being heartstrong is an inspiring, attractive and memorable way to live your life.

Even if you’re not born on Valentine’s Day.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you spending your time measuring or mattering?

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

–Gilly Johnson The Australian Mentoring Center

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How to Turn Your Brand into a Badge

After wearing a nametag twenty-four seven for a decade, my badge became a brand.

Cool.

The only problem is, you don’t wear a nametag. And you don’t have ten years.

Fortunately, if your story can play an enduring role in people’s lives, it’s no longer a brand – it’s a badge.

And if you want the people who matter most to wear it proud, wear it loud and wear it forever, consider these suggestions:1. Let people into the moment. Advertising is the tax you pay for being average. The only unit of marketing that matters is human engagement. Ever. Everything else is bothering people into buying you by killing trees. And engagement isn’t just a transaction, either – it’s an ongoing process.

Consider these key elements:

First, open a direct channel to your customers. That gives them an opportunity to engage. How many different ways can people contact you?

Second, build a platform for their voices to be heard. That taps into their creative flair. How are you making it easy for people to express themselves?

Third, leave your door unlocked in perpetuity. That gives people permission to reengage over and over again. What’s your policy for treating repeat business?

The point is, engaging in an ongoing daily conversation isn’t just an opportunity – it’s a responsibility. And if your brand doesn’t induce participation, your bank account will endure devaluation. How do you invite people to participate in your brand?

2. Fulfill the need of materialization. Human beings possess an inherent desire to materialize their love and admiration for people and things that are essential to their lives. That’s why they get tattoos of their spouse’s names, stand in line to get celebrity autographs, frame pictures of their pets and embed badges of their favorite companies on their website.

This proves one thing: Joinability is a function of ownability. Which brings up a key question: How can your brand create tangible, ownable assets that you people will regularly and enthusiastically show to their friends?

For example, Maker’s Mark distributes Ambassador Cards to their most dedicated patrons. Nike stores laminate digital headshots and print them on lanyard badges. And both of these engagement tools work because they don’t interrupt and disturb customers; rather, they weave their brand communication into people’s existing social fabric.

Remember: You can’t ignore something if you feel like you’re a part of the action. Make people virtual participants in the scene and your film will rock. Are you helping people with what they’re already doing or artificially squeezing yourself into their already overcrowded lives?

3. Design is your friend. Instead of spewing endless commodities that get trashed after one functional use, joinable brands turn their engagement tools into cool, keepable design items. They create marketing that people seek out and are thankful for.

Take my client, Dennis. He works for the Division of Waste Management in Hamilton, Ontario. And as a way to educate, engage and entertain the residents, his team put together a pocket-sized book of cartoons on recycling and composting. It’s lovable, it’s helpful and it’s a value-driven promotional tool to build awareness around his organization’s brand. Not to mention, the book makes waste management cool.

All because Dennis knew: Design isn’t just about aesthetics – it’s about utility. And customers always engage when you give them something useful. On the other hand, the moment you stop adding value to people’s lives is the moment your brand starts losing momentum.

Look: People don’t need another free pen. They need something beautiful they can play with, show off to their friends and keep in the office for the next five years. How quickly is your marketing stored in people’s circular file cabinets?

4. Build emotional resonance. We all build brands for the same reason: To close the gap between how the world is, and how we wish it was. The trick is, it’s not enough to contend for people’s attention – you also have to compete for their emotions. And if you fail to dig deep down into the human psyche to retrieve them, your brand will be ignored.

Take a tip from Tom Himp, founder of Naked Communications. In his book, Next, he revealed the commonalities of the world’s most successful marketing movements. Here’s my personal favorite:

“Pull the heartstrings of the lowest common emotional denominator. Speak to something innate in people and broaden their awareness of a situation they assumed they were immune from.”

I immediately think of Al Gore. After losing the presidential election, he traveled the world for three years showing people that climate change was real and relevant. Not only did he win a Nobel Prize, but his presentation also launched a global movement that combined charity, multimedia and advocacy via his online social community.

All because the emotional resonance of his brand reverberated through people’s hearts. How would your brand change if you stopped making commercials and started fighting a crusade?

REMEMBER: Your story needs to play a long-term role in people’s lives.

That means people need to wear it proudly.
That means people need to brag about it loudly.

Because when they do, it’s no longer a brand – it’s a badge.

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What is your branding becoming?

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

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

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How to Secure a Spot in Someone’s Heart, Part 1

Being remembered has less to do with you, and more to do with how people experience themselves in relation to you.

Because in my experience:

It’s not who you know.
It’s whose life is better because they know you.

It’s not being the life of the party.
It’s bringing other people to life at the party.

It’s not making people fall in love with you.
It’s helping people fall in love with themselves.

That’s how you achieve heartshare, not just mindshare.

THE QUESTION IS: How do you want to leave people?

If you want to secure a spot in someone’s heart, consider these ideas: 1. Leave people shoved. Petition them to take the plunge. Challenge them to play for keeps. And show them what they can’t see for themselves. Did you disrupt their inertia?

2. Leave people speechful. If people are speechless, you’re doing something wrong. Interacting with you should invite people to talk more. Did you excavate their brilliance?

3. Leave people disturbed. Picasso said, “You have to wake people up. To revolutionize their way of identifying things. You’ve got to create images they won’t accept.” Did you evoke emotion?

4. Leave people faithful. Your story should lay naked your belief. Then make them believe. Then make them proud to take the first step. Did you let people pick up where you left off?

5. Leave people essential. Making them feel valued, important and special isn’t enough. They need to know their work matters. That they’d be missed when they’re gone. Did you show them you’d crumble without them?

6. Leave people honored. Respond positively to their unique experience of the world. Look them in the eye and tell them how great their ideas are, no matter how big or small. Did you respond to them with fundamental affirmation?

7. Leave people impressed. Not with you, but with themselves. All you have to do is put their brilliance on display; then give them a front row seat. Did you become a stand for their greatness?

8. Leave people reevaluating. If you can reset the compass in people’s brain so they can better feel what’s important in life, they’ll never forget you. Did you invite them to confront what matters?

9. Leave people alive. Helping someone live life is the ultimate human connection. And if you can help them embed their passion into the pavement of the conversation, they’ll never forget you. Are you asking people about the weather or their passion?

10. Leave people liberated. Create a safe place where individual creativity can shine. Petition people to inject their personality into everything they do. And make no restrictions on self-expression. Who are you asking to edit themselves?

11. Leave people seen. You look with your eyes, but seeing is something you do with the heart. Try this: Instead of handling them, treat them. And instead of manipulating them, harmonize with them. Did you make anyone feel invisible this week?

12. Leave people breathless. Bother to show up when you’re scared. Tell the truth when there’s no reason to be honest. And dare to care when it’s inconvenient. In your rarity, you will become remarkable. Did you make them gasp?

13. Leave people validated. Not everybody needs information. Sometimes they just need affirmation of what they were already thinking, and verification that they weren’t completely crazy. How do you make people feel not alone?

14. Leave people heard. Put up a verbal mirror so others might experience themselves as you do. Show them their words have weight by taking notes on the conversation, then emailing them a copy five minutes later. Did you reflect their reality back to them?

15. Leave people able. People love to hear how great they are; but they long to hear how great you’ve become because of who they are. Tell them often. Do you make people conscious of their own capabilities?

16. Leave people connected. Position yourself as a catalyst for connection. Because sometimes the best way to secure a spot in someone’s heart is to secure them a spot in someone else’s. Are you a master of the email introduction?

REMEMBER: Memorability pivots on the fulcrum point of better.

Refuse to leave people where they are.

Focus on how they experience themselves in relation to you.

And you’ll secure a spot in their hearts forever.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Whose life is better because you’re a part of it?

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

–Gilly Johnson The Australian Mentoring Center

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

The Young Leader’s to Guide to Getting Heard

You can’t mute your way to success.

If you want get ahead, you’ve got to get heard.

THE QUESTION IS: How do you have a voice when you’ve barely had any experience?

Well, you could always lie. Or be the ass-kissing, apple-polishing, precocious youngster everybody in the office secretly loathes.

But if you want to become well known (and known well) in your company, you might try a few of these suggestions for getting heard:1. Be strategically dumb. They’ll never admit it, but all organizations need energetic, curious people who can come in and ask dumb questions they stopped asking long ago. People who can courageously step back from the corporate canvas and say, “Wait a minute. Does anyone else smell that?”

That’s how you rock the boat without sinking the ship. And if you want to create stunned silence at your next meeting, try a few of these: “Why are we doing this again?” “According to whom?” and “What evidence do we have to support that?”

That’s precisely the advantage of being young: Because people don’t expect much out of you, you can usually get away with asking dumb questions. What do you have to lose? They think you’re dumb anyway. May as well prove them right so they can prove themselves wrong.

After all, if you can make but a few people pause, you win. And so do they. Sometimes it takes a person who knows nothing to change everything. How are you marketing your stupidity?

2. Convince people you can contribute right away. When dealing with skeptical coworkers who doubt your ability, you have to dress your truth in story. That’s the smartest way to make a point and the quickest way to have your voice heard, without involving automatic weapons. As Annette Simmons wrote in The Story Factor, “Storytelling is a pull strategy. It doesn’t tell people who you are, it demonstrates it.”

Your challenge is to tell a story that offers evidence of what people doubt. A story that makes people proud to take the first step with you. For example, if your narrative illustrates specific ways you’ve helped other companies move through problems in the past, people will be more likely to listen to your suggestions.

My suggestion: Keep a victory log. Compile a list of the strongest contributions you’ve made to other organizations in the past. Next, document the urgent, pervasive, relevant and expensive problems you solved. Lastly, practice telling these stories in a compelling, emotional way that demonstrates your ability to contribute. They won’t be able to resist you.

Remember: The earlier you add value, the longer you stick around. What stories are you known for?

3. Instead of ignoring the elephant, try riding it. Hair dye and plastic surgery notwithstanding, age isn’t something you can hide. Face it: You’re young and everybody knows it. The good new is, you can beat people to the punch by speaking directly to the age issue before it gets raised. That way you eclipse misgivings before they escalate into barriers.

For example, when I first started my career as a speaker, I would open my presentations with a quotation from the wise philosopher, Indiana Jones: “It’s not the years – it’s the mileage.”

After a nice chuckle, I’d proceed to share images of my own professional mile markers: Books I published, clients I worked for and results I enabled. And sure enough, people uncrossed their arms and paid attention. And that’s the secret: Before you convince people of your value, you have to understand and neutralize their resistance to that value.

Otherwise your listenability will plummet. How will you disarm the immediate preoccupation of people twice your age?

4. Accumulate acts of value. First, turn yourself into a futurist. Stay abreast of what’s on the horizon. Then, share those trends in a cool way with the people who matter. And be sure to attach why you think it’s meaningful for their world. By doing so regularly, without the expectation of reciprocity, people will view you as a resource – not a rascal.

Second, seek out opportunities to speak publicly about what you love. Both inside and outside the company. By allowing passion to fuel your voice and practicality to fuel your content, your message will become impossible to ignore.

Third, convert your online platform to an ongoing source of education. Instead of blogging and tweeting about your breakfast, ask disturbing questions that catapult people’s thinking. Share lessons learned from mistakes made. By practicing freedom of thought – not just freedom of speech – you position yourself as someone who cares for people and shares with people.

Ultimately, these consistent acts of delivering value will add up. And you’ll create enough good in the marketplace where people will begin got seek you out. Remember: Value is the engine of voice. Are you delivering random acts of kindness or regular acts of value?

REMEMBER: It’s not enough to be listened to.

If you want to get ahead, you’ve got to get heard.

Deploy your voice today.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you being listened to or being heard?

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

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

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

The Steve Nash Guide to Not Knowing

I was watching basketball at the time.

When the game was over, the announcer stepped onto the floor to interview my favorite player, Steve Nash.

“It’s fascinating to watch you play. You’re quick, you’re scrappy and you’re smart. And I never know where you’re going to take the ball: Straight to the basket? Across the paint? Out to the three-point circle? I mean, how do you know where you’re going to go?”

“I don’t,” Nash replied.

The announcer froze.

“Yeah, but you’re one of the best point guards in the league. Millions of fans adore you. And your numbers are off the charts. What do you mean you don’t know?”

And with a sweaty, confident smile, Steve said something I’ll never forget:

If you don’t know where you’re going, nobody can stop you.

That’s the art of not knowing.

And it’s not only valuable for basketball players, it’s also profitable for businesspeople.

THE QUESTION IS: Are you smart enough to be dumb when it matters?

Today we’re going to explore a collection of ideas to help you convert strategic ignorance into a competitive advantage.1. Reason is highly overrated. When I started wearing a nametag every day, there was no strategy. There was no agenda. It was just something I did. And what always amazed me was how how hard it was for certain people to wrap their heads around that. They simply couldn’t accept the fact that I was doing something just the sake of doing it.

In fact, some of them got outright angry, insisting that there must be a deeper motivation behind my actions. Nope. I just feel like wearing a nametag. What do you want from me?

Years later, I read Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He named this type experience autotelic, or engaging in an activity or a creative work that has an end or purpose in itself. The other option is exotelic, which means doing things not because you enjoy them, but rather to accomplish a later goal.

Which category describes your actions?

The point is: Life’s too short to surround yourself with people who a demand a reason for everything. Instead, stay in touch with your childlike sensibility. Never discard your playful spirit. And remember that sometimes, digging a hole is just digging a hole. You don’t need to find the treasure when digging is the treasure.

After all: Sometimes the best reason is the one you don’t have. Are you motivated by the quality of the experience you feel or the quantity of the results you achieve?

2. Position yourself as the curious one. Not knowing has nothing to do with stupidity. It has everything to do with being aggressively skeptical and keeping a posture of incurable curiosity.

That way, you can recognize the broken patterns most people miss. That way, you’re the person who comes in, raises his hand and asks the dumb questions everybody else stopped asking long ago because they already know everything.

Which they don’t. They just haven’t kicked their addiction to terminal certainty yet, and they need a fix.

That’s what I tell the clients who rent my brain: That I’m an outsider. A new pair of eyes. And the reason they’re paying me is because I know nothing. Yes, it sounds like a counterintuitive position to take as a consultant.

But in my experience, when you become known as a breath of fresh air, those who matter will come in droves to inhale. And they’ll pay big money to sustain that high. Look: People are tired of listening to the same messages from the same people. Try walking in with some perspective. You’ll walk out with a check.

Remember: Sometimes it takes a person who knows nothing to change everything. How are you marketing your stupidity?

3. Not knowing is the great gateway. In the humbling book Being Wrong, author Kathryn Schulz takes the reader on an adventure through the margin of error. Here’s my favorite passage:

“We all outgrow some of our beliefs. So instead of parading your own brilliance, try rebuilding your understanding. Otherwise certainty becomes an obstacle to the path toward truth.”

That’s the cool part about not knowing: It engages a higher part of yourself. That’s what keeps you mentally flexible. That’s what allows you to trust the process. And that’s what affords you the psychological freedom to pivot into new directions. Only from that space of openness, vulnerability and surrender can you make discoveries that change everything.

The only problem is: Not knowing will drive your ego crazy. Even if you know you’re wrong — your head will make sure your heart never gets that memo.

But that’s an inner battle you have to fight. And it will annoy you to no end. My suggestion: For one week, stop being right. No arguing, no asserting your opinion and no spinning everything people say into another statement you disagree with. You’ll be amazed how differently you treat people when you’re not trying so hard to prove them wrong. What insecurity is being disguised by your relentless need to be right?

4. Ignorance isn’t just bliss — it’s boldness. I started my company the day I graduated from college. I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t smart enough and I had no experience. But I took the plunge anyway. Because I knew that if I waited until I knew what I was doing, I never would have done anything.

That’s the advantage of not knowing: It gets you going. And as long as you have the right mindset, jumping doesn’t have to be a reckless endeavor. Risky, but not reckless.

Here’s the distinction: Risky is embracing uncertainty; reckless is rejecting ambiguity. Risky is growing increasingly mindful of how your pebbles ripple, reckless is remaining utterly unconcerned about the consequences of action.

All I’m saying is: The less you know, the less you fear. And it’s a lot easier to break the limit when you don’t know the limit exists. At least that’s what the officer told me. If you didn’t know the ropes, would that give you permission to to fly?

REMEMBER: Any idiot can be right.

Only a real genius can embrace wrong.

Pull a Steve Nash. Give not knowing a try.

Because life is boring when you know all the answers.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you still addicted to terminal certainty?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “22 Unexpected Ways to Help People,” 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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What Branding Isn’t, What Branding Is, and How to Make Sure People Join Yours

Here’s what branding isn’t:

It’s not having a cool logo. It’s not dressing for success. It’s not self-serving competitiveness. It’s not converting yourself into a corporate clone. It’s not telling everyone you meet how awesome you are.

It’s not endless self-promotion at the expense of others. It’s not getting ahead of people and moving up the ladder. It’s not memorizing some hollow, hackneyed mission statement. It’s not puking your unique selling proposition all over everyone you meet.
It’s not integrating a sequence of promises that align with organizational initiatives.

Here’s what branding is:

How people experience you, and how people experience themselves in relation to you.

THE COOL PART IS: If your can nail those both, people won’t just buy your brand – they’ll join it.

Here’s how to make it happen:1. Don’t force your brand into a box. Here’s the problem with our hyperspeed, instant gratification culture: People who fail to summarize their brand’s uniqueness in three seconds are shunned.

Sadly, there’s all this social pressure to know how to articulate your value in a concise, intriguing and relevant manner. As if people who didn’t were the scum of the marketplace.

Excuse me, but branding isn’t that simple.

First of all, the term “branding” is finished. This is about identity. This is about bringing your humanity to the moment. Branding is for cattle. Secondly, while positioning statements are fun to come up with – and make you feel good about your value when they’re staring back at you from your shiny new website – branding isn’t some empty slogan you knock out on a Tuesday afternoon with your mastermind group.

Branding takes time. Years. And yours will evolve, just like your life evolves. Hell, mine took five years to crystallize, only to be upgraded two years later.

The point is: If you can summarize the entire scope of value that you, as a human being, deliver – in five words – then you’re doing your customers a massive disservice. Walt Whitman was right: You are large. You contain multitudes. And if you want people to join you, you have to peel the branding onion slowly. Otherwise, limiting your brand to some arbitrary, one-sentence overarching statement will limit its ability to grow into something better.

Remember: A forced brand is a forgotten one. Have you ever read Apple’s positioning statement?

2. Understand the evolving business landscape. Now, customers have the power. Now, customers make the choices. Now, customers drive the engine of interaction. And now, customers decide how much attention to give you. But if you cling to traditional ways of communicating, your brand will remain an unnoticeable blip on the radar.

One example of this principle in action is my daily fill in the blank exercise on Facebook. After running this mini experiment hundreds of times with thousands of people, I’ve discovered that it engages on several levels:

It’s fun. It’s funny. It’s organic. It taps into people’s creative flair. It meets people where they are. It flips the spotlight. It opens a direct channel. It provides free research. It doesn’t require much thought. It introduces an element of intrigue. It never has a right or wrong answer. It spices up people’s daily journey. And it gives people space to express themselves on my platform.

Look: Customers don’t want to constrict themselves into a predetermined mold; they want to create their own personal media landscape. Let them. Turn down your control freak knob and leave it up to them to close the loop. After all, people buy what they have a role in creating. They’re motivated by their own achievements, not your company’s accomplishments.

The point is, surrendering ownership doesn’t impede profit – it invites commitment. How vulnerable are you willing to make yourself?

3. Appeal to the human appetite for playful experiences. The best part about wearing a nametag every day is how much fun I get to have with people. From jokes about my memory problems to pokes about my identity crisis, the gags haven’t stopped in eleven years. And what I’ve learned from this trend is simple: Play draws people your brand’s orbit.

First, by spicing up people’s daily journey. Because when you bring your humanity to the moment, you make the moment a more pleasant passing of time. Second, play helps customers create their own game experience. That’s what allows them feel adventurous and exploratory.

And third, play creates an encounter in which anxiety is temporarily bracketed. In that safe space, people believe there is no reason not to take risks. Who wouldn’t want to join a brand like that? No wonder the Apple store is always crowded. It’s not a computer shop – it’s a jungle gym. I wonder how you could turn more of your brand moments into playful moment.

After all, branding isn’t just how people experience you; it’s how people experience themselves in relation to you. How are you letting your customers out for recess?

REMEMBER: Good brands are bought – great brands are joined.

Think about how people experience you.
Think about how people experience themselves in relation to you.

And nobody will even care what your logo looks like.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Is your brand buyable but not joinable?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “26 Ways to Out Brand the 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]

Who’s telling their friends about YOU?

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NametagTV: Sales Questions That Matter 3

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LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How many questions have you invented?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For a list called, “27 Reasons People Aren’t Listening to You” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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

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