8 Marketing Lessons Learned from My Spam Folder

Email spam – while annoying, unethical, sexually graphic and a colossal time waster – IS quite entertaining.

It’s also a consummate example of smart marketing.

Recently, I spent some time perusing the 1,385 messages in my spam folder.

Not surprisingly, patterns began to arise.

So, I extracted a collection of subject lines and headers that either grabbed my attention, made me laugh, or caused my body to react in ANY kind of way. After all, emotion is the final arbiter of truth. And your body never lies to you.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE: As you read each of these subject lines, set aside your distaste for spam. Forget about the fact that you (probably) don’t need Viagra. And turn on your marketing brain to learn eight powerful lessons from the masters of capturing attention and piquing curiosity:

1. Answer me. As if someone’s been trying to reach you for weeks. As if there was an important customer waiting for you. As if you were too cool and too busy to respond to this measly person. This speaks to your human need to be liked and appreciated.

What’s more, if one of your core values is approachability (or, in my case, your entire life and business philosophy) the cognitive dissonance of NOT answering someone’s question or request is so strong, ignoring this email becomes an exercise in futility.

SPAM SECRET: People want people to like them. How could you create a deficit position within your customer?

2. Best doping for night monster. Opens with a declaration of superiority to capture attention. I call this repeated articulation of your –est. Next, let me say that I’ve never heard of the term “night monster” before. Well done. Gave me a good laugh. And that’s more than I can say about the other 1,384 messages.

SPAM SECRET: People take action upon hearing vivid language. Are your words boring?

3. Frisking bleating merriment. First, I just HAD to look up the word “bleat” in the dictionary. It means, “to complain annoyingly.” Secondly, merriment is not a word used often, which is exactly why I noticed it.

Lastly, this entire sentence, “Frisking bleating merriment,” is so odd, so clumsy and so dissonant that I can’t tell whether it’s gibberish or a famous line from one of Jack Kerouac’s books. Nice.

SPAM SECRET: People are moved by poetry. Are you allowing your inner poet to shine, or does your marketing spit jargon like a Dilbert comic?

4. Go to the disco and let your love stick glow! First of all, are there still discos? If so, I’m in. Always wanted to go to one of those. Secondly, the term “love stick” is a wonderfully creative alternative to penis. Well done. Third, this headline is a rhyme. And it’s been scientifically proven that rhyming increases the memorability and repeatability of pretty much anything.

The only concern I have about this headline is the “glow” part. I think if your love stick is glowing, you probably need to go the doctor, not the disco. At least that’s what my urologist told me.

SPAM SECRET: People love rhymes. Is your message musical enough?

5. Bill Gates got one. Behold the power of the almighty testimonial! And just not ANY testimonial, but Bill Gates. The wealthiest, most successful and widely known businessmen and philanthropist on the planet. Ever. Who wouldn’t want to have what he has?

SPAM SECRET: People take action upon social proof. Are you leveraging testimonials?

6. Check it out now before I start charging for this free info. First, this creates a sense of urgency. Secondly, the effectiveness is compounded by a sense of scarcity.

Third, exclusivity comes into play for those who act NOW. And finally, the word “free” is a surefire way to seal the deal. Brilliant. I might actually steal this one for my own business.

SPAM SECRET: People want what is hard to get and what nobody else has. Are you exclusive enough?

7. Don’t look inside. Right. And while you’re at it, don’t think of a Pink Elephant. Classic NLP. The reader is forced to make an association and think of the very concept that’s linguistically negated, in this case, opening the email.

See, your brain can’t tell the difference yet. “Look inside” is all that it heard. The word “don’t” hasn’t been processed yet. Sneaky but effective.

SPAM SECRET: People’s brains are predictable. Are you leveraging neurology?

8. Have you seen this yet? Good. This piques immediate curiosity. What’s more, you trigger people’s need to feel included.

With the use of the word “yet,” it’s as if everyone else in the world has already seen this amazing “thing,” and you’re the only one left out. And nobody likes to be left out.

SPAM SECRET: People seek inclusion. How are you tapping that nerve?

Now that you’ve been schooled in the ways of spam, here’s your final exercise.

1. Take five minutes to peruse your spam folder. You might want to do this at home so your boss doesn’t look over your shoulder and wonder why you’re reading emails about “meat rockets.”

2. Record your reactions. Any time a subject headline makes you smile, laugh, roll your eyes or become nauseated, write it down.

3. Extract the lessons. Look for commonalities among all the headlines. Democratize and genericize the centrals marketing themes. Then, write out a list of “spam secrets.”

4. Apply. Execute those strategies in your own marketing practices in an ethical, professional manner.

REMEMBER: This is the best doping for your night monster.

Hee hee. Night monster.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you as savvy as the spammers?

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For the list called, “6 Ways to Out Position the Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on branding success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

7 Ways to be Worthy of Your Customer’s Checkbook

I was eating sushi when it happened.

My friend Gil Wagner was expressing frustration about a colleague of his.

Finally, his rant came to an end with the following comment:

“I love her to death,” Gil said, “but I just can’t see anybody writing her a check.”

I almost choked on my Spicy Tuna Roll.

I can’t see anybody writing her a check.

Ouch. THAT’S not good for business.

HERE’S MY QUESTION: What if someone described YOU that way? Think that might have an impact on your sales?

Absolutely.

Now, that incident happened a few months ago. And since then, I’ve been thinking a lot about Gil’s comment, wondering what the characteristics are of businesspeople who ARE worthy of their customer’s checkbooks.

Today we’re going to explore seven practices to help you become more “checkbookable,” which is (yet another) word I made up this year:

1. Say yes to yourself. Before anyone writes you a check, two things have to happen. First, you have to sell yourself on yourself. Next, you have to sell THEM on yourself. As Jeffrey Gitomer reminds us in The Sales Bible, “The deeper your belief, the deeper your pockets.”

My suggestion: Every morning before work, have a daily appointment with yourself. Recite affirmations, re-read goals, meditate, whatever it takes to activate the appropriate mental state. I’ve been practicing this daily since 2002 and I credit it as the single most important thing I do, every day.

Here’s a helpful guide on how to do this. Try it for a week. I promise it makes it easy to create the right inner condition to say yes TO yourself, then act on the trust you feel FOR yourself. What do you say to yourself every day?

2. Become a peer of the buyer. First, by discovering the CPI, or Common Point of Interest. Second, by asking PFQ’s, or Passion Finding Questions. Third, ask yourself: What are you willing to LOSE on the first sale in order to guarantee a relationship? Time? Lunch? Money? Free samples? A few hundred bucks? It might be worth it if you become their friend. Are perceived as a friend by people who write checks?

3. Look for every possibly opportunity to reduce uncertainty. You’re starting with a negative balance with your customers. Most of your them have been screwed over, sold to, marketed to, argued against, targeted, annoyed, persuaded, dishonored, pitched, pressured, bothered, interrupted, threatened and manipulated by too many companies too many times. And their tired of it.

Trust and loyalty are at an all time low; fear and skepticism are at an all time high. What’s more, other professionals in your industry have set a precedent of mistrust. And the default posture of the average person is to NOT believe you. You need to disarm that preoccupation whenever possible. What strategy will you use?

4. Defend your value proposition. The more people know about you and what you do, the easier it is (and more likely it is) that they can and will defend you. This is known as the massive evidence concept. And like a good trial attorney, you need to introduce as much evidence of value as possible. Just remember: Don’t confuse the value you deliver with the delivery mechanism OF that value. Are you selling the right thing?

5. Charge fees commensurate with your contribution. “How are you improving the client’s condition?” That’s the mantra of legendary consultant, Alan Weiss. Your goal is to answer that question, state your fee confidently – then shut up. Own the thing you’re trying to tell people. Speak with uncompromising language. Be unapologetic. Don’t feel guilty for demanding compensation for your value.

And, remember that confidence opens checkbooks. Ask yourself, “I wonder how much I can help?” and stop thinking, “I hope I don’t blow this!” The stink of desperation will be unavoidable. Have you ever practiced quoting your fee to yourself in the mirror for twenty minutes straight?

6. Keep your posture. My friend and the owner of goBRANDgo, Derek Weber, tells his staff that a salesperson is similar to a free safety in football. “On defense, you need to have your weight centered and balanced. Up on the balls of your feet ready to react quickly in whatever direction you need to go. Similarly, when speaking to your prospect in a sales environment, if your weight is too far forward and you’re overly aggressive, you cause the prospect to feel pressured. This instantly puts them on the defensive, lowers comfort and tarnishes trust.”

Derek tells his salespeople that strong posture comes from confidence in your sales approach, which comes from practice and preparation. That means go into the call knowing what questions you need to ask in order to discover the information you will need to assess the prospect’s viability as a potential customer. And that helps you control the direction of the sales call without being pushy or domineering.

“Keep yourself centered, your weight balanced, and up on the balls of your feet ready to ask,” Weber said. “It makes the difference between making the sale and being run over for a game-losing touchdown.” What type of posture do you maintain in your sales calls?

7. Leave people with a positive emotional impression. Finally, let’s revisit Gil’s example from earlier. He also told me, “By chosen profession, Marcie is a coach. But upon first impression, Marcie is timid. Mild-mannered. Even tongue-tied. In other words, her outward self seems much more suited to following than leading. That’s why I can’t see anyone writing her a check. How do you hire a coach who visibly seems more comfortable following than leading?”

Therefore, the challenge is simple: Make sure the message you’re preaching the dominant reality of your life. Other the disharmony between your onstage performance and backstage reality will be too loud. How do you leave people?

REMEMBER: If you want to become worthy of your customer’s checkbook, you’ve got to make yourself checkbookable.

Execute these seven practices, and soon you’ll start receiving more checks than Jerry Lewis on Telethon Weekend.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How checkbookable are you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “6 Ways to Out Position the Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on branding success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

How to Make Your Firm’s Services More Requested than Freebird at Florida State Frat Party

“Freeeeeeebirrrrrrrd!!!!!”

There’s always ONE guy in the audience who HAS to yell it.

Every time. Every concert. No matter where you go.

Ah, Freebird. Without a doubt, the most requested song in music history.

Interestingly, in 2005, WSJ ran an article that (finally) revealed the origin of this phenomenon:

“Freebird is hardly obscure – it’s a radio staple consistently voted one of rock’s greatest songs. One version of the tune – and an important piece of the explanation – anchors Skynyrd’s 1976 live album One More From the Road. On the record, singer Ronnie Van Zant, who was killed along with two other band mates in a 1977 plane crash, asks the crowd, ‘What song is it you want to hear?’ That unleashes a deafening call for Freebird, and Skynyrd obliges with a fourteen-minute rendition.”

SO HERE’S THE BIG QUESTION: How often are YOU requested? In the great concert of business, how often are customers holding up their Zippos and yelling out for YOU?

ANSWER: Not enough.

Today we’re going examine a collection of practices – each with its own “reqeustion” – on becoming a more requestable entity.

1. A forced brand is a forgotten brand. Requestability begins with branding. And by branding I don’t mean pumping some twenty-five cent shtick out of think air after three hours of brainstorming with your two teenage daughters.

Rather, truly taking the time to organically pinpoint (a) what you are, (b) how you roll and (c) what the purposeful identification of your unique value is. Then and ONLY then, your mission is to emblazon that brand on the minds of the customer. That’s what really matters: Not marketshare, but mindshare. Because customers can’t request what they don’t remember.

REQUESTION: When was the last time you updated your brand identity?

2. Be someone who offers a dependable perspective. Predictability is the great persuader. It’s also the true trust agent. And trust is the sole source of your level of influence. To enhance the predictability of your perspective, here is an exercise you might try. It revolves around the most important question I ask my clients (and myself):

If everybody did exactly what you said, what would the world look like?

I challenge you to ask, contemplate, clarify, write out and eventually print out your answers to this question. Look at them every day. Consider them as a framework. A governing document for daily decision-making. I guarantee your perspective will become more dependable.

REQUESTION: If everybody did exactly what you said, what would the world look like?

3. Everything you do should lead to something else you do. Cross-promotion is a surefire practice for becoming more requestable, as long is you do it right. Here’s how.

a. Be subtle. Be cool and be casual. And when you promote one of your other services, share as if you were just telling a story. The best marketers are the ones customers don’t realize are marketing.

b. Be specific. Requestability is a function of credibility, which is a function of specificity. When you cross-promote other products you offer, cite their full titles and descriptions. Whet the appetite of hungry customers.

c. Be significant. When you mention other work that you’ve done, remember the two magic words: For instance. “I work with a variety of non-profits on strategic planning. For instance, last week I hosted a two-day with the American Casket Association. I knocked ‘em dead!

Be very careful with cross-promotion. Too much of it turns customers off quickly. It’s only effective insofar as you don’t morph every conversation into a sneaky little sales presentation.

REQUESTION: What else does this person need to know about you?

4. Play to the heart, not the mind. Don’t make people think – make them FEEL. People don’t want to think – it too much work. People are tired of thinking. They think all day. Instead, position your value in a way that elicits emotion. Disturb customers into action.

Remember: Emotion is the final arbiter of the effectiveness of your message. Learn to make people feel, and the requests will come pouring in.

REQUESTION: What part of the customer’s body are you playing to?

5. Discount yourself as a threat. In the book How to Hide a Dagger Behind a Smile, author Kaihan Krippendor suggested, “Because someone seems non-threatening, others offer no resistance.” Your goal is to lower threat level by demonstrating a timeline of credibility. Here are a few ways to do so:

a. Media Room: Dedicate an entire page to chronicling every interaction you’ve had with the media – in print, online and on air. Include links to articles, videos or blog posts quoting and featuring you. (Good example aqui.)

b. Client List: Dedicate another page to listing past clients you’ve worked with over the years. Go back as far as you can. Demonstrate longevity and diversity of reach with cross-industrial references.

c. Testimonial Collection: Video is ideal. If not, written references are the next best. Just make sure to choose testimonials featuring clients who are a good advertisement for your business. And if possible, select testimonials that share common customer preoccupations – then how you overcame those concerns. For example, “When I first met Scott, I wasn’t sure if some thirty year-old writer could actually help a corporate executive like me make a name for himself. I was dead wrong. Scott’s ability to ask the right questions changed my life because…”

REQUESTION: How are you reducing the threat level from red to green?

6. Find out what’s missing for people. Help customers articulate what’s mysteriously absent from their strategy. For instance, when I work with coaching and consulting clients, I almost always suggest that they draw out their current issue. On paper, on a flip chart, on the dry erase, whatever.

And clients are constantly amazed what they learn when they capture their thoughts visually. Ultimately: Thinking on paper produces clarity. The cool part is, the power of comparative analysis overrides (most of) the lies people telling themselves.

REQUESTION: How are you helping people define the white space around their ideas?

7. Project peaceful confidence. Would you request someone who ceaselessly asked for a request every time you crossed paths? Of course not. Customers rarely request people whose stench of neediness requires nose plugs. As I learned from the great Lao-Tzu:

“When you show your strength, you appear weak. When you conceal your power, the more effectively it can be used. When you make your advantage less obvious, the more effective you power becomes.”

Remember: The truest part of you doesn’t need to speak. Customers will hear it either way, and if the music speaks to them, they will request more of it.

REQUESTION: What drenches you in confidence?

8. Maintain prime presence. Finally, requestability is a function of visibility. Which becomes especially challenging when EVERYONE is vying for the same spot on your customer’s set list. The secret is twofold. First, visibility is the price of admission. The ante. The baseline.

And it’s only the first step to achieving prime presence. Second, it’s how you show up. It’s not just that you’re visible, but how you customers experience you – PLUS how they experience themselves in relation to you – when you DO show up. In short: Bring unique value or consider yourself winking in the dark. Remember: Anonymity is bankruptcy.

REQUESTION: Do you have a marketing plan or a visibility plan?

REMEMBER: In the great concert of business, your mission is rock with value SO hard that customers start yelling out requests for YOU.

Consider these requestions. Execute these practices. And your firm’s services will become more requestable.

“Freeeeeeebirrrrrrrd!!!!!”

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Who’s requesting you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “6 Ways to Out Position the Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on branding success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

9 Ways to become a Company Your Competitors Want to Strangle with an Orange Extension Cord

1. Abundance of competition indicates unoriginality. If you’re truly unique, the only one who does what you do – the WAY that you do it – then no second-rate, chump-ass imitation should be able to hurt you. Screw the competition. Just because they’re there doesn’t mean you can’t beat them. What do you do that brings people back for more of YOU?

2. Ambition without focus is stalemate. If you’re constantly firing in all directions, you’re never going to hit anything squarely. It’s only when you hunker down into the leaves and concentrate 100% of your energies on one particular target that you become a bountiful hunter.

And not just in the wilderness, but in business too. I meet too many entrepreneurs who impatiently jump from idea to idea, project to project; never picking a lane, never make any progress. Because their ambition is spread too thin. What they don’t realize is that focus is the mobilizing force. What consumes your time but isn’t making you any money?

3. Complacency is the great growth-destroyer. “But I don’t have time to grow right now.” Every time I hear somebody say this, my heart breaks just a little more. I know the economy sucks. I know business is slow. I know times are tough. But there’s never an excuse for not growing. Every day you need to get stronger in SOME way. Size is irrelevant. I’d rather grow microscopically than not at all. Where do you need to get out of your own way?

4. Demonstration of competency proves inconsequential. When you eat out at a restaurant, you assume the chef is a good cook. Why? Because baseline ability is the price of admission. The ante. The buy-in. And this type of customer expectation pervades every industry.

Now, it didn’t used to. First, good was good enough. Then great was good enough. Now, great isn’t that great anymore. People demand WOW. Lesson learned: If you’re anything below a B+, you’re finished. What do you offer besides quality?

5. Diversity of offerings buoys recessions. During the economic collapse of 2008-2009, the smartest move I made as entrepreneur was to diversify my offerings. That way, when the proverbial shit hit the economic fan, my business was ready to absorb the blow. The secret is to out-grow, out-evolve and out-expand your competitors. Here’s a rapid-fire list for doing so:

(a) Clone yourself through teaching others. Self-duplication wins.

(b) Make sure everything you do leads to something else you do. Recognize the movement value of your ideas.

(c) Only work with clients that represent long-term potential. Think 14th sale. Cul-de-sac clients are dangerous.

(d) Identify the most important things for you to work on that will grow your business the fastest. Make a list of those things. Post the list in a visible location in your office. Then make sure anything you’re doing at any given time is congruent with that list.

Remember: Diversity isn’t just equity – it’s a life raft. What percentage of your revenues this year came from products and services you didn’t offer three years ago?

6. Fear of evolution typecasts brands. Evolve slowly and constantly. Evolve regularly and effortlessly. Sure, your genetic reflex to avoid change will try to kick in. But don’t let it. As Charles Darwin suggestion, “Take advantage of slight successive variations and advance by the shortest and slowest steps.”

Remember: Flux IS equilibrium. Occasional moments of stability are nice, but brands that keep moving keep winning. Go stretch yourself. Move mental furniture. Make growth and change a normal part of who you are. What decade is your brand still trapped in?

7. Gradual is the great moneymaker. What’s your hurry anyway? Try getting rich slow. There’s a secret most self-help books won’t tell you: Get rich slow. After all, things that grow fast are easily destroyed. Might as well take a foundational approach.

As my mentor William Jenkins once told me, “It takes longer to do things the right way. And people do them improperly to do them quickly. But what’s the benefit of building a house in six months (that should take a year) if you’re just going to tear it down anyway?” Remember: If you’re willing to practice prodigious patience, you’ll get yours. And it will be worth the wait. How patient are you willing to be?

8. Maintenance of momentum monetizes message. Just do something. Anything. Action stimulates forward momentum. Even when progress is minimal. Even when you have no idea what the hell you’re doing. Just keep moving. Think of entrepreneurship as crossing a minefield: The most dangerous choice is to just freeze. The safest thing you could do is keep moving. How are you keeping your momentum going?

9. Permission is the great delayer. The reason your dreams haven’t materialized is because you’re waiting for permission. From your friends. From your family. From your spouse. From the world. Here’s a hint: You don’t need it. Requirement of permission suffocates ambition. Just go.

Who cares if you’re not ready enough or smart enough? Who cares if you don’t have enough money, experience or credentials? Just go. You don’t need somebody twice your age who knows NOTHING about who you really are to validate your existence and stamp your creative passport. Give yourself permission to not need permission and get to work. Do you ask who’s going to LET you or who’s going to STOP you?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do your competitors hate you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “24 Ways to Out Grow the Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on branding success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

Don’t Start a Business Until You Read These Nine Facts

1. Abandonment is the backbone of entrepreneurship. By definition, an entrepreneur is someone who undertakes and manages risk. Someone vulnerable. Someone courageous enough to stick herself out there.

And so, what she abandons are outmoded traditions. Popular delusions. Stale thinking. What she abandons is any shell that would otherwise choke the budding dream inside of her. Are YOU willing to plunge forward planless into the vortex of action?

2. Dissatisfaction is the ember of initiative. Only pissed off people change the world. Not because they’re negative – but because they notice a blazing fire deep in the recesses of their hearts that will not extinguish until SOMETHING changes. And that doesn’t mean they exhaust their entire energy supply sitting at home yelling at the television. Just because you’re pissed off doesn’t mean you’re productive.

But, take George Carlin – now THERE’S a guy who was pissed off. The difference is, Carlin’s dissatisfaction with the world was the motivation he needed to write twenty pages a day for fifty years. Most people don’t know that about Carlin – he was a creative machine.

That’s how he ended upon The Tonight Show over a hundred and thirty times. That’s how he released twenty-three comedy albums, three best-selling books and fourteen HBO specials. Because he was pissed off. That was the ember of his initiative. And it changed our world forever. What injustice did you set out to fight when you first started your business

3. Execution is the architect of eminence. You know my mantra: “Ideas are free – only execution is priceless.” Consider these suggestions for doing so:

Think on paper immediately. Be impatient. Hack the rules. Don’t be stopped by not knowing how. And, fail like you mean it. Remember: Execution is eloquence. And there are two kinds of people in the world: Those who use their mouths and those who use their feet. Are you a talker or a doer?

4. Imitation is the vestibule of failure. There are no cover bands in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The same goes for business: The more imitatable you are, the less valuable you are. That’s why imitators never make history – only originators do.

Your challenge is to honestly ask yourself if the personal brand you’re building is (truly) an amplification of your uniqueness … or just an echo of somebody else’s marketing. If you don’t display your own creative originality, your brand will become (yet another) interchangeable mediocrity, fading into the multitude of sameness. A needle in a stack of needles. Are you The Echo or The Origin?

5. Impatience is the greenlight of greatness. Just go. Enough limitation-driven self-talk. Enough lame excuses for why you’re not ready. When it comes to entrepreneurship, I’ve got news for you: You’re never ready. And you never will be. So, learn to relax into that realization first.

Next, give yourself permission to plunge into the abyss of ambiguity. Then, during freefall, trust that you contain a multitude of inner resources that will richly support you. What level of greatness are you unable to reach because you’re too patient?

6. Later is the whopper of procrastination. Later never comes. Ever. Your ego just convinces you that it does. That way you don’t have to take any personal responsibility, nor feel guilty for procrastinating.

My suggestion is simple: Write the word “later” on a sticky note. Then draw a big X through it. Look at it every day. That should help eliminate that word from your vocabulary. How much money is procrastination costing you?

7. Maybe is the discharge of amateurism. Maybe I’ll do this. Maybe I’ll say this. Maybe I’ll write this. Maybe I’ll become this. Bullshit. Maybes are lies. If you keep saying “maybe,” then you “may be” a putz. Come on. It’s time to go pro. To go full time. To go all out.

Try this: Make a list of ten actions you can take THIS WEEK toward your ideal future. Next, email that list to three people you trust who will keep you accountable. Tell them to call you on Sunday night. Then, if you haven’t achieved at least five items on your list, agree that you’ll buy each of them lunch. “Maybe” that will make a difference ☺. What are you insufficiently committed to?

8. Duality is the heartbeat of mastery. In Bikram Yoga, students experience the simultaneous practice of complete relaxation and absolute exertion. It sounds counterintuitive, but you CAN execute both at the same time. As long as you know how to listen to your body.

For example, standing bow posture practices an intense stretch of both arms in opposite directions. But it also requires that you relax into your low back while doing so. That’s duality. Without it, the posture is wrong. And the cool part is: Your business (and your life) manifests this same practice of duality in a number of ways.

Another example: Entrepreneurship requires bottomless amounts of patience: With yourself, with others, with your idea and with the world. The patience to take the longcut and work your face off. At the same time, entrepreneurship also requires massive levels of impatience: Restless expectation. Not accepting delay or opposition. Raring to go. A constant desire for change and excitement. The impatience to “just go,” even when you have no idea what the hell you’re doing.

Ultimately, your challenge is to pinpoint, honor and leverage whatever duality exists in your universe. Like your own personal yin-yang. And to simultaneously attend to the opposite parts of the larger whole, knowing that both are required to achieve mastery. What dualities do you need to honor in your life and business?

9. Revenue is the aftershock of usefulness. If you want to make money, make something that people need. If you want to make money, make something that replaces something. If you want to make money, make something that doesn’t require explaining. If you want to make money, make something that helps people say goodbye to something they hate.

If you want to make money, make something that makes people stop, sit up, notice, and yell into the kitchen, “Hey honey, look at this!” If you want to make money, make something that solves people’s expensive, urgent, pervasive and relevant problems. If you want to make money, make something that saves people time and frustration. If you want to make money, make something that is appealing to more than just yourself and your two roommates.

If you want to make money, make something worth making a series of YouTube videos about that people will (actually) watch instead of rolling their eyes and deleting from their inbox when their mom sends it to them. If you want to make money, make something that people never realized they wanted – but after trying it – can’t possibly imagine surviving without. How useful are you?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What will it take to get your business off the ground?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “12 Ways to Out Service the Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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

Who’s quoting YOU?

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