Are You Wasting Your Hard Earned Money Chasing After These 13 Things That Don’t Really Exist?

Have you ever found yourself arguing about whether or not something (really) existed?

I don’t mean existential ideas like God or space or reality.

I’m talking about simple, basic things we encounter every day. Do they (really) exist, or has the steady stream of illusions veiled the truth from us?

GOOD NEWS: I’m here to set the record straight.

Below is a list of things that don’t exist, why they don’t exist, and what exists in their place. Read them at your own peril…

1. “A quick question” doesn’t exist. An example of a quick question is, “Are you gonna finish that rocky mountain oyster omelet?” Other than that, this phrase is a disguise used by people who want to pick you brain, suck your blood and steal your time. Charge them or walk away. What is this person REALLY asking you?

2. Accidents don’t exist. Everything that’s ever happened, everything that’s currently happening and everything that will happen, is exactly what’s supposed to happen. Even if it wasn’t part of your nice little plan. Accept what is and move on. Is this something that might happen whether you worry about it or not?

3. Behavior modification doesn’t exist. You can’t make anybody change. No matter how many books you read. No matter how hard you try, the other person has to WANT to change. And even then, you can only do so much. Whom are you trying to make just like you?

4. Business Ethics doesn’t exist. In John Maxwell’s There’s No Such Thing As Business Ethics, he explains that there’s only one rule when making decisions. The singular idea agreed upon by every major religion in the world. “Do unto others as you’d have them to do you.” I agree with John. Ethics of life and ethics of business are the same. How will you translate your personal values into your professional world?

5. Cinderella doesn’t exist. There’s no Prince Charming. There’s no Glass Slipper. Unjust oppression doesn’t always receive triumphant rewards. That’s not the way it works in real life. That’s why they call it a fairy tale. Are you willing to work harder than ever before and watch 90% of that work go unnoticed and underappreciated?

6. Competition doesn’t exist. It’s merely a projection of your scarcity mentality. The pie is enormous. You just need the right fork. Change your silverware or change your career. Are you making war on the competition or making love to the customer?

7. Flawless execution doesn’t exist. Flawless execution doesn’t exist. Exquisite, yes; flawless, no. And without approaching failure this way, you’ll get swept away in the undertow of personal drama. Which accomplishes nothing but granting your emotions an all-day pass for disturbing your ability to execute. Will you fail like you mean it?

8. Good or bad days exist. As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Everything is neutral until painted with the meaning you ascribe to it. Are you having a bad day or a bad attitude?

9. Gurus don’t exist. If you meet a guru who calls himself a guru, run back down the mountain. He’s not a guru. If you have to tell people you are, you probably aren’t. Who’s teaching you?

10. “It just happened” doesn’t exist. No, it didn’t. Nothing just happens. Things happen because a series of decisions were made by somebody, and that’s what caused things to happen. Do you take responsibility for the consequences of your choices?

11. Limits don’t exist. For example, when people complain that they’re “not creative.” I don’t buy that. Everyone is creative. The difference is, not everyone knows how to explode the barriers set in place by a lifetime of conditioning to express that creativity. Here’s the reality: As long as you don’t violate the scientific laws of thermodynamics, pretty much anything is possible. Probable, maybe not. But possible, absolutely. Are you bound and limited by the thoughts that other have formulated for you?

12. Luck doesn’t exist. Serendipity is, in fact, a strategy. It’s not an accident. It’s not luck. It’s working your ass off. It’s putting yourself in the way of success. It’s making the world say yes to you by engaging your Yes Muscle and becoming a more yessable person. It’s increasing the probability of success by making yourself more successable. It’s creating an ongoing, market-wide hunger for you. It’s victory through unwavering vigilance to your vision. It’s being at the right place at the right time by being in a lot of place. How could you become the luckiest person you know?

13. Mistakes don’t exist. In Steven Mitchell’s Second Book of the Tao, he explains, “There are no mistakes in the universe. What happened is what should have happened; there’s no other possibility. And anyone who understands that everything happens as exactly the right time will be untouched by sorrow and joy.” How would you career be different if you viewed nothing as a mistake?

FINAL NOTE: This is only half of the list. Stay tuned tomorrow for the continuation of things that don’t exist.

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Leave a comment on this blog with your list of things that don’t exist, why they don’t exist, and what exists in their place.

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

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Are You Making These Five Mistakes of Piss-Poor Execution?

My favorite scene in Steven King’s The Green Mile is when prisoner Eduard Delacroix and the Death Row guards rehearse their upcoming execution:

“Walking the Mile, walking the Green Mile … I’m getting to my knees … I’m praying, praying … Lord is my shepherd and so forth and so on … I’m sorry for all the bad stuff I’ve done and people I’ve tramped on and I hope they forgive me … and I’ll never do it again, that’s for sure …Walking the Mile … Walking the Green Mile … Still praying, still praying … Getting right with Jesus … Final requests … I want fried chicken with gravy on the taters, I want to take a dump in the warden’s hat … and I got to have Mae West sit on my lap because I’m one horny bastard! … Walking the Mile, Walking the Green Mile…

Classic.

But today we’re going to talk about a different kind of execution.

Entrepreneurial Execution.

No electricity required.

Wait. I take that back. Electricity is exactly what is required.

I’ve identified the five most prominent purveyors of piss-poor execution. As you explore this list, consider what’s standing in your way of turning thoughts into things and things into money.

1. Hesitation hinders execution. He who hesitates isn’t just lost – he’s COST. As in, opportunity cost. My suggestion is simple: Be more impatient. Now, this is a challenging paradigm shift for most of us because we’ve been conditioned to believe that patience is a virtue. Which it is. Just keep in mind: Impatience, when applied consciously, creatively and cautiously, isn’t just a virtue – it’s a victory.

Just go. Just DO stuff. Don’t wait for permission. Don’t wait until you’re ready. Don’t wait until you’re old or smart enough. Don’t wait until you know HOW. If you wait too long, when the time comes to move, there will be no momentum left to execute. Ultimately, being impatient is about the willingness to look bad on the road to immortality. The courage to plunge forward planless. And the vulnerability to be an imperfectionist. How much money are you losing by being too patient?

2. Ambiguity assassinates execution. While a high tolerance for ambiguity IS necessary for entrepreneurial success, SOME clarity is helpful. Especially when you begin soliciting support and communicating your ideas to others. They won’t be able to help making your dream a reality if your ideas are ill thought out and scatterbrained.

Aristotle once said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” So, my next suggestion is to become an expert at entertaining your ideas. I’ve published a handy guide on how to entertain ideas for your reference. Remember: Ideas are your major source of income. Become a MASTER of entertaining those ideas.

Finally, remember this: All talkie and no walkie makes Jack a broke boy. That’s the epitome of piss-poor execution: Flappin’ them gums. And too many entrepreneurs use their mouths to murder their ability to execute. Be sure you balance your entertaining time with your DOING time. What is your conduit for creative clarity?

3. Inertia injures execution. The first step is to figure out what areas of your life are suffering from inertia. A crystal-clear window into this reality is to grab your list of New Years Resolutions … from two years ago. Honestly assess which ones have come to fruition, and which ones have fallen by the wayside.

Then, alter your trajectory by planting the seeds of movement. Here’s the easiest way how: Wake up one hour earlier. That’s it. ONE hour. Single greatest piece of advice I ever got. And I promise, you’ll be amazed at how much momentum that one hour activates for the rest of the day.

Next, figure out how you can you arrange your day so you become unstoppable. Continually ask yourself questions like, “Is what I’m doing right now consistent with my #1 goal?” and “Is this a highly valuable activity?” Finally, keep the momentum going by constantly asking, “What one step can I take (right now) to start moving forward to the execution of this idea?” These steps are surefire strategies for resisting injury by inertia. How will inertia emancipate your ability to execute?

4. Flub fights execution. Flub is one of my favorite words. It means, “to perform poorly or blunder.” Now, as fun as flub is to say, it’s also the purveyor of piss-poor execution. Here’s why: People assume flawlessness is possible. It’s not. Flawless execution doesn’t exist. Exquisite, yes; flawless, no.

And the problem is, once people fail, they freeze. Once people see a ghost, they’re always afraid of the dark. Little do they know that execution is like a motion-activated floodlight – the more you move, the clearer you see. Remember: Mistakes can be tranquilizers. Don’t become a prisoner of yesterday’s errors. Do you listen to the way you talk to yourself when you make mistakes?

5. Time tramples execution. You didn’t execute because you didn’t have enough time, right? Wrong. You didn’t execute because you didn’t have the right relationship WITH time. Check this out. In Gay Hendricks’ book, The Big Leap, he shares a profound insight about developing a healthier relationship with time:

“Get yourself in harmony with the reality that YOU are the source of time. Put yourself on a diet of complete abstinence of complaining about time. This takes you out of the victim position. Then, when you stop complaining about time, you cease perpetrating the destructive myth that time is the persecutor and you are its victim.”

Hendricks’ philosophy changed my life. Forever. Based on the truth that expectation determines outcome, it challenged me to stop thinking time was “out there.” To take ownership and acknowledge that I was where time came from. His book also taught me this:

“Time will stop owning you if you claim time as yours and it will release its claim on you. Stop using time (or the lack thereof) as an excuse. Stop engaging in an ongoing wrestling match with time. And stop viewing time as some big, threatening pressure that is always about to overwhelm you. Once you understand that YOU are where time comes from, you have the power to make as much of it as you want.”

Time is your friend because you ARE time. How much time do you REALLY have, and how much will you execute because of that?

REMEMBER: Ideas are free; execution is priceless.

Whether you’re walking the Green Mile, or looking to make the green million, be on the lookout for these warning signs.

And I promise you won’t become a purveyor of piss-poor execution.

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Are you executing exquisitely?

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

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

6 Ways to be More Creative than Thomas Edison on Acid

1. Brainstorming is the great time-waster. You don’t need another meeting. You don’t need another conference call. And you don’t need to spend another afternoon talking the life out of your idea. You need to take massive action. Today.

Otherwise you’ll get hooked on the addictive power of brainstorming – when what you REALLY need is to smoke the sweet cheeba of execution. What consumes your time but isn’t making you any money?

2. Creativity the best therapy. Tell your shrink you won’t be coming in today. Next time you feel anxious, sick, frustrated (insert negative emotion here), don’t TAKE something, i.e., pills – go MAKE something. Anything. Doesn’t matter what. When you channel your energy into the creative process and enter into flow state, you’ll forget all about that pesky stomach cramp.

Try it. Every single day, spend at least fifteen minutes making something out of nothing. I absolutely guarantee you will feel better. And if you don’t, draw a picture of how stupid I am, then send it to me. What are you turning your problems into?

3. Creativity without innovation is useless. Sure, creativity is fun and cool and healthy for the soul, but there comes a point when you need to stop thinking and start executing. To make that crucial transition from brainstorming to brain monetizing.

Because there’s a HUGE distinction between creativity and innovation: One is a state of being – the other is a practice of doing. Both are essential, but neither can sustain you alone. Are you an “idea guy” or an “execution guy”?

4. Inspiration is the great illusion. If you sit around waiting for inspiration, the only thing that will ever come to you is lower back pain. That’s not the way creativity works. You can’t force inspiration.

You can only live your life in a conscious, creative and adventurous way – listen carefully to everything that happens to you through the filter of your Theory of the Universe – and then render what wants to be written in a disciplined, organized way.

You’ll soon discover that venturesomeness truly is the best idea-generator. And you’ll never have a creative block again. When was the last time you made the choice to be inspired?

5. Lack of discipline atrophies creativity. Inspiration is overrated. If you want to make Idea Lightning strike, you need to make yourself a more strikeable person. And the primary technique for doing so is to cultivate creative discipline. To make yourself sit down at the workbench at the same time, every day, ready to create.

As a writer, I call this being “due at the page.” That way, every morning at 5AM when I sit down to work, lightning strikes. Because everything yields to diligence. What awaits you in the refining fire of discipline?

6. Wisdom without distribution is wasteful. What you scatter is more important than what you gather. And hording wisdom without circulation is a dangerous act of selfishness. Now, that doesn’t mean you need to publish or share every single thought you’ve ever had.

But if you’re debating whether or not to tell the world, ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I distribute this idea?” Odds are, the answer won’t be as detrimental as you think. Are you being selfish with your wisdom?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are you listening to?

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

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

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

You Can Laugh at Your Writer’s Block Worries if You Follow this Plan

Here’s a question my readers, audience members and clients often ask me:

“How do you decide what you’re going to write about each day?”

You don’t.

Creativity doesn’t come FROM you – it comes THROUGH you.

The challenge when you sit down to write every morning isn’t DECIDING what you’re going to write, but rather, LISTENING for what wants to be written.

Naturally, this approach is tricky for a lot of writers. After all, it suggests surrender. And it requires you to relinquish creative control.

But that’s the best part about creativity:

It’s nothing more than active listening followed by active rendering.

Can’t decide what to write about today? Consider three practices to help you listen for what wants to be written:

1. Morning Pages. Along with physical exercise and daily appointments with yourself, Morning Pages are the single most important component to a profitable writing practice.

Here’s how they work: For the first thirty minutes of your day, just sit down and start writing. Whatever is swirling around in your brain, get it down. No structure. No stopping. No grammar. No spelling checks.

Just puke your truth all over the page. No matter how stupid, incoherent or terrible your words sound. Give yourself permission to write three pages of nonsensical garbage. Nobody will ever see it but you.

WHY IT WORKS: When you honor your first awakening thoughts, two things happen. First, you clear away all the crap floating around in your inner world. This is akin to spending an hour at the driving range before playing 18 holes. It’s all about getting the shanks out.

Secondly, you open the floodgates to whatever ideas and thoughts hold the most importance in your brain at that moment. By relaxing into the page, this form of meditative freewriting allows the self-organizing system of your brain to prioritize its best stuff.

2. Invocation. Creativity hinges on your ability to listen (then render) whatever your heart is currently whispering to you. So, approaching this process with a posture of humility and honor is the best way to open yourself to receiving inspiration.

The secret is to introduce a ritual of invocation. Calling on The Muse. The Great Spirit. God. The Collective Unconscious. Whatever. It doesn’t matter what you call it; it only matters THAT you call it. Personally, I found the invocations from Eric Maisel’s Ten Zen Seconds to be easy, relaxing and effective.

Of course, you’re free to customize this practice around your own preferences. For example, satanic rituals are perfectly acceptable, as long as you wipe the goat’s blood off your keyboard.

WHY IT WORKS: No matter what you believe – or don’t believe – creativity is spiritual. Period. Not religious, but spiritual. I triple dog dare you to prove me otherwise. So, to listen for what wants to be written, all it takes is a little trust.

Trust that your inner resources will provide for you. Trust that you are richly supported. Trust that when you expect nothing, failure is impossible. And trust that whatever truth needs to be expressed at this very moment will eventually stand up and say, “Here I am! Write me!”

3. Listen to your body. The stupidest mistake a writer can make is to sit down at his desk and stare at a blank page until something comes. I guarantee this will (a) scare your brain, (b) stress out your body and (c) piss off your Muse. Look: You’re making it too hard on yourself. Don’t attempt to start from scratch.

Instead, spend a few minutes in your Content Management System searching through your collection of module ideas, words, phrases and sentences. See what jumps out at you. Listen to your body, not your brain. Listen for reactions, not opinions.

For example, if a particular sentence causes you to react physiologically in any way – a ping in your stomach, a chuckle under your breath, a gasp of amazement – write about that. Heed your physiology. Whatever manifests in your body is probably what wants to be written.

WHY IT WORKS: The idea of “staring at a blank page,” as romantic and classical as it sounds, is not a smart move. By doing so, you significantly decrease the probability of discovering what wants to be written.

On the other hand, when you flood your brain with hundreds of (seemingly unrelated) ideas – even the ones with remote relevance – you allow the unconscious integration process to cognitively distribute those ideas in ways a blank page never could.

You enhance your ability to be inspired and find the one sentence that absolutely defines the moment. And that’s when you think, “Ooh! That’s the one. That’s what I should write about today…”

REMEMBER: Creativity comes through you, not from you.

You can’t decide what to write.

You can only listen for what wants to be written.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are you listening to?

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

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

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

Do You Fulfill This Six-Part Definition of a Thought Leader?

“A trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas.”

That’s the definition of a Thought Leader.

Let’s unpack the six elements of that definition:

TRUSTED
Which means you become a Thought Leader because the marketplace recognizes you as such – not because you just decide to be one. Remember: Trust requires evidence. What are you known for knowing?

SOURCE
Which means you have to be The Origin, not The Echo. The Initiator, not The Imitator. What long-term dialogue are you leading in your marketplace?

MOVES
Which means your job is to inspire, influence, challenge and disturb. How are you spurring people to purposeful action?

PEOPLE
Which means you are responsible to the individuals that comprise your constituency, regardless of who, where and how many there are. How are you building a following?

INNOVATIVE
Which means you deliver actionable lessons that passed through the test of your personal experience; not regurgitated wisdom or plagiarized insight. Are you speaking with Meaningful Concrete Immediacy?

IDEAS
Which means your mission isn’t just idea generation – but idea proliferation and idea execution. What did you create, manage or deploy today?

“A trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas.”

I hope that describes you.

Because you have the choice to be in the Thought Leadership business.

Or, you have the choice to BE ignored and, therefore, BE broke.

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Do you fulfill this six-part definition of a thought leader?

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

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

You Don’t Need to be Tom Peters to be a Thought Leader

Are you a trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas?

If so, then you’re a Thought Leader.

You don’t need a PhD.
You don’t need to be Tom Peters.
You don’t need to manage some huge consulting company.

You just need to think.

AND: You need to capture, organize, deploy and build a following around your thinking.

Consider this collection of tools for increasing your perception as a Thought Leader:

1. Create a Visibility Plan. When attention is currency, anonymity is bankruptcy. As the book On Being a Thought Leader explained, “It’s impossible to change minds or challenge hearts unless you own SOME of the spotlight.”

Remember: Nobody will be inspired BY you until they’ve heard OF you. Stop winking in the dark and start commandeering attention. Because the more attention you attract the more people your thoughts can touch. How much more visible are you than you were a year ago?

2. Create enduring content. Anchor your expertise in that which is timeless. Democratize and genericize your thoughts so they outlast you. Always be on the lookout for ways to increase the shelf life of your material. Ask questions like, “In five years, will this idea still be irrelevant?” “Is this a fad, a trend or an evergreen?” and “What is a bigger, more stable theory of the universe that I can attach this idea to?”

Remember: If you’re not current, you’re not credible. Always run your expertise through the wringer of WHEN. How stable is your philosophy?

3. Dedicate yourself to building a HOT body. It’s not about writing one book. Or one article. Or one blog post. You’re a thinker. And as such, your goal is to constantly add to and strengthen your body of work. Don’t be a One Hit Wonder, One Trick Pony or One Anything Anything.

As Julia Cameron said in The Artist’s Way, “Each day’s work is part of a larger body of work, and that body of work is the work of a lifetime. Unless we are able to take this long view, we will be derailed by rejection.” Edison registered 1,800 patents. The Grateful Dead played 2,318 shows. Stephen King published 480 books. How hot is YOUR body of work?

4. Develop an ongoing relationship with your market. Combine outreach with attraction. Make it easy for readers, subscribers and audience members to engage with you, every day. Ask for their feedback. Take heed. Take notes. They will tell you how to serve them better. They will also tell you how to sell to them better. What’s your listening platform?

5. Everything you already know about “leadership” still applies. You’re still attracting followers. You’re still a perpetrator of inspiration. You’re still superior article. And you’re still a composite of all you’ve experienced. The only difference is, the medium through which these attributes are experienced by your constituency is your brainstuff. Your thoughts. Your words. Your philosophies. Your writings. Your presentations.

You don’t need a title, a corporation or a gavel to be a leader. There is no leadership. Leadership, shmeadership. There is only being and expressing yourself truthfully and passionately. Does that describe you?

6. Have a paper memory. Your brain is a moron. And if you don’t write it down, it never happened. So, the secret is simple: Take a serious inventory of your thoughts. Chronicle your thinking. Make sure everything you know is written down somewhere. Develop a unique process for entertaining ideas. What’s your Content Management System?

7. Make your ideas more accessible. Accessibility doesn’t just apply to interpersonal communication. Ideas can be accessible too. Here are four examples along with a helpful article on each one:

a. Don’t just tell a story. Stick the landing.
b. Don’t just write a blog. Be a great date for your reader.
c. Don’t just deliver a presentation. Engage every audience instantly.
d. Don’t just give an interview. Craft a listenable, unforgettable telepresence.

Remember: Accessible means easy. Open. Relaxed. Attainable. Understandable. Relatable. Is that an accurate description of your ideas?

8. Mold a beautiful thought atmosphere for yourself. This space looks different for everyone. For example, my thought atmosphere includes hot tea, a rising sun, sticky notes, dry erase boards, flip charts, note cards on the floor, instant access to my content management system and hours of relaxing music by All India Radio, Marc Cohn and The Buddha Lounge. What does yours look like?

9. Smart is overrated – be an intellectual. My mentor, Bill Jenkins, is one of the great intellectuals I know. He explained the difference between the two as follows: “Smart people study content for the purposes of memorization. Intellectuals entertain ideas for the purpose of democratization.”

Look: The world has too many smart people and not enough intellectuals. So, stop accumulating knowledge and start becoming an explorer of ideas who can extract universal truths from his experiences and apply them to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Are you an intellectual or just really smart?

10. Syndicate your expertise. Deploy, deploy, deploy! Go public with your words, ideas, philosophies, expertise and School of Thought. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever. And considering the sheer volume of diverse social media tools available, there is NO excuse for not getting your ideas out there and creating more opportunities for people to say YES to your expertise.

Remember: Be out IN the marketplace with your ideas or be out OF the marketplace completely. What’s your system for shipping your idea off to battle?

REMEMBER: You don’t have to be Tom Peters to be a Thought Leader.

Think. Capture. Organize. Deploy. Listen. Repeat.

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How strong is your Thought Leadership Platform?

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

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

11 Questions to Determine if Your Passion Will become Profitable

“Passionate” doesn’t (necessarily) mean “profitable.”

Passion isn’t a panacea.

This is a common entrepreneurial mistake.

People think that just because they’ve pinpointed their passion – POOF! – They can now magically make a business out of it.

Wrong.

Entrepreneurship isn’t a Beatles song. Passion (or love, for that matter) isn’t all you need.

Passion only becomes profitable when it’s: (1) Enhanced by competence, (2) Entwined with purpose, and (3) Embraced by market demand.

Without achieving harmony between those three elements, your passion will remain a gorgeous (but dangerous) fire that ends up burning you AND everyone you touch.

Not to mention, you also end up annoying the bejesus out of people with your misguided inconsequentiality.

That’s a misfire you and your business can’t afford to make.

In order to prevent that from happening, I invite you to (honestly) ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you passionately incompetent?
• Are you confusing passion with talent and ability?
• How much do you know about running a business?
• Is your passion cool, but irrelevant to the marketplace?
• Is your passion inherently interesting, but difficult to sell?
• Is your passion intrinsically appealing, but something you suck at?
• Will the thrill of your passion dissipate once it becomes a daily task?
• Are you wasting your passion on people who don’t appreciate or deserve it?
• Are there at least ten other people out there who are successfully making money from a passion similar to yours?
• Do you really know how to run a bakery, or do you just like to cook because people always tell you they enjoy your cupcakes?
• If you DID end up making a business out of your passion, how long before you start to feel robbed of your true talent because you’re wasting most of your time and energy on menial, soul-sucking activities that have nothing to do with your passion?

Not to be Debby Downer or anything.

But somebody’s got to say it.

REMEMBER: Passion without competence is nothing but misguided energy; passion without purpose is nothing but chaotic fire; and passion without a viable market is nothing but a hobby.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Will your passion become profit?

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For the list called, “86 Passion-Finding Questions to Invite Someone to Talk about What They Love,” 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]

Download a free copy of The Nametag Guy’s (unofficial) 9th book!

HELLO, my name is Scott’s…
“Live your name.”

5 Ways to Make Your Business a Friend of Simplicity

Chopin once remarked, “Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.”

Bravo!

What about you? Is your business a friend of simplicity?

If it’s not, you’re losing money. Every day. And here’s why:

Simplicity is currency. Especially since we live in hyperspeed, A.D.D., instant gratification culture.

Simplicity is approachability. Because: Complexity = Conflict = Avoidance.

Simplicity is eloquence. Because it’s more listenable, more readable and more digestible.

Simplicity is elegance. Think Oscar Night. Think Joan Rivers: “Who are you wearing?” Which fashions usually win?

Simplicity is sophistication. That was Da Vinici’s philosophy. That simple was nothing but complex in disguise.

BUT, HERE’S THE CHALLENGE: Simplicity is hard. It requires more energy, more brainpower and more courage that complexity.

Seth Godin talked about this idea during a recent interview. He said, “Simplicity has an enemy: Fear. Fear demands places to hide, and simplicity can’t offer that.”

He’s right. Fear comes in the form of that little red shoulder devil, constantly whispering in your ear that complexity is the answer.

But it’s not. Simple is.

So, I invite you to explore these five practices for making your business a better friend of simplicity:

1. STOP being fancy. Trying to appeal to everyone inevitably fails. Simplicity, on the other hand, is a fashion that never goes out of style. Fight for every inch of it.

2. STOP creating riddles that take too long for impatient customers to solve. As your company implements its simplicity strategy, ask yourself five questions:

a. Is this idea simple enough that a kindergartner could understand it?
b. Can this idea be explained in less than ten seconds using less than ten words?
c. How easy will it be for people to repeat this?
d. How much more could you distill the essence of this concept?
e. What three things could be done immediately to make this simpler?

3. STOP rejecting simple. Simplicity isn’t crushing the complicated – it’s eliminating the extraneous. So, start eliminating the unnecessary so the necessary can speak. People will listen.

4. STOP making things bigger than they need to be. Be courageous enough to go with something simple and focused. Your message will have the best chance of getting through (and sticking TO) people.

5. STOP complicating your message. It’s like admitting to your customers that you haven’t reflected upon or extended concern for them. Simplicity, on the other hand, helps customers feel in control.

Ultimately, simplicity IS a valid business strategy.

JUST REMEMBER: The world is loud. People are busy. And they don’t care about you.

Disengage the essential, or live with being ignored.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Is your business a friend of simplicity?

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

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

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

9 Secrets REAL Thought Leaders Know

My official definition of a Thought Leader is as follows:

“A trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas.”

Does that describe you?

If it does, cool. You probably know a lot of this stuff already.

If it doesn’t, that’s cool too. You’re about to learn what REAL Thought Leaders know.

1. Be a world-class noticer. When you notice more, you learn more. And when you learn more, you earn more. The cool part is, every single day; your environment gives you small nudges. And you have a choice to either to let them pass you by, or leverage them into new dimensions for your Theory of the Universe.

Check out my system for doing this called Freeze, Reflect and Identify. And remember: Opportunity never stops knocking – only YOU stop listening. What are you noticing?

2. Be prepared to express yourself. Not prove yourself, but EXPRESS yourself. That means not trying to look good for others. That means not playing to the crowd. Instead, start BEING. More specifically, start being … on paper. Start being … on stage. Start being … online.

To build the strongest possible Thought Leadership position, people need to experience YOU—BEING—YOU … in as many different media and dimensions as possible. Remember: Proving = Doing. Expressing = Being. Bring all of who you are to the statement you make about the world. Are you filling up your time with mindless efforts to prove yourself?

3. Become the world’s expert at learning from your experiences. You are a sum of all that you’ve experienced. Now it’s time to become a master at the individual integers that comprise that sum. FACT: You don’t fully own your experiences until you’ve thought about, written about and talked about the lessons you learned from those experiences.

Your challenge is to create your unique system for entertaining ideas. That way you profit from EVERY experience, so your followers can do the same. How are you letting your experiences change you?

4. Bring a new view into existence. Not even world-class eloquence can rescue a shallow, unsupported, unactionable point of view. Instead, establish a new approach. Pioneer in obscure areas. Maintain contrarian positions to as many subjects as you can. How original, fertile and unexpected is your Theory of the Universe?

5. Differentiate yourself by defining a process your competitors haven’t. This is how you develop a competitive mental angle. By NOT following predictable lines of inquiry. By defining problems differently than anyone else. That way, you differentiate through your diagnosis.

Now, I’m not suggesting you ONLY keep a hammer in your toolbox and start seeing everything as a nail. Rather, I challenge you to clarify, trademark and become known for your unique approach to solving problems. What equation do you use that nobody else knows?

6. Formulas are the enemy. They’re non-updatable, unshakable and inelastic. They’re inflexible, choreographed, canned, insincere, inauthentic and preplanned. They’re often resisted, debated and creates defensiveness. And their rigid, rote learning limits people’s possibilities and stifles their creativity.

PRACTICES, on the other hand, work. They come in the form of simple, doable and human actions. They insinuate instead of impose. They’re adaptable and apply to various situations and people in their own unique way. They’re also easily digested, self-evident, non-threatening and encourage people’s creativity. Which of the two are YOU teaching?

7. Have a paper memory. Your brain is a moron. And if you don’t write it down, it never happened. So, the secret is simple: Take a serious inventory of your thoughts. Chronicle your thinking. Make sure everything you know is written down somewhere. Because, as George Carlin once said, “What good is a good idea if you can’t find it?” What’s your Content Management System?

8. Perfect your philosophy. As a Thought Leader, you don’t need some cutesy shtick – you need a philosophy. Poverty of philosophy prevents profitability. What’s more, confusion over where a leader stands causes stress in his followers. So, here’s the ONE question to ask yourself:

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

This distills the essence of your approach and becomes the architecture to help people see your philosophy more clearly. What’s more, once you’ve uncovered the 5-7 bullet point answers to that question, you now have a framework to guide your Thought Leadership practice. All you have to do is keep yourself accountable every day by asking this follow-up question: Is the message I’m delivering right now giving people the tools to build that world?

9. Practice questioning answers instead of answering questions. Answers are overrated. Answers are what “experts” provide. You’re a Thought Leader, and as such, your job is to have more questions and fewer answers. Here’s why: Questions are bridges. Catapults. Fuel.

Question earn respect, invite dialogue, reveal character, earn respect and transform organizations. Any moron can spew out an answer. Only a REAL Thought Leader can bust out a question that disturbs people into action. Which do you provide?

REMEMBER: Be out IN the marketplace with your ideas or be out OF the marketplace completely.

That’s what REAL Thought Leaders know.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How are you establishing a sustainable Thought Leadership Position?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the (full) checklist called, “45 Recession-Friendly Strategies for Entreprenerial Evolution,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

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

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!


7 Steps to Becoming More Bookable TODAY

“I need more bookings!”

Raise your hand if you’ve ever said that before.

My hand is up. Is yours?

Of course it is. Especially in 2009. Every salesperson, entrepreneur, small business owner or entertainer expresses that frustration at some point.

Unfortunately, many of us are too quick to blame this problem on some external force beyond our sphere of control. For example:

Bookings are down because the economy sucks.
Bookings are down because the industry is changing.
Bookings are down because budgets are cut and nobody’s hiring.
Bookings are down because everyone in the world is stupid except me.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever said one of THOSE before.

My hand is up again.

Well, here’s the good news (which, simultaneously, is also the bad news):

Part of the reason you’re not booked SOLID right now is because you’re not a bookable person.

Today I’m going to share seven steps to increasing your bookability:

1. Focus – don’t spray. Small Business Marketing Specialist, David Newman, regularly publishes and speaks about bookability. In fact, attending a seminar of his in 2009 sparked this very post. So, I asked him a few questions about the topic.

“First, it’s about specificity,” Newman said. “Someone is bookable if they solve specific problems for a specific audience around a specific issue.” Newman also explained, “Articulation and distinction is the secret. Someone is bookable if they’ve distilled down their marketing message with sharpness and clarity. It’s all about how they talk about (articulation) what they do differently (distinction) to improve the lives of the people who buy from them.”

MAKE BOOK: Have you stuck a stake in the ground and told the world about it in a meaningfully, concrete and immediate way?

2. Be easier and faster. In June 2008, a press release called “Improved Bookability,” was published by the international travel website, Eurostar. Their new initiative offered interactive seat requests, which gave customers the ability to request seats in real time and receive an instant acknowledgement and seat map from the website. Cool!

Lessons learned: Simplify your interface. Streamline the booking process. Provide reliable expectations. Offer peace of mind with automated confirmation, up-to date information and firm reservations.

MAKE BOOK: Are you bookable enough to publish a press release about it?

3. Your fanbase may help OR hinder. In December 2008, The Huffington Post ran a fascinating article called, “Bush’s Memoir: Publishers say no thanks.” On the comments section, a reader suggested, “Bull-horn carrying protesters will follow Bush around as he makes the conservative lecture circuit. This makes him an un-bookable speaker.” Wow.

Bookability isn’t so much about the company you keep; but rather the company you attract. This reminds me of the scene in Happy Gilmour when PGA executive, Doug Thompson decides to keep Adam Sandler on the tour – extreme antics notwithstanding. “That Happy Gilmore is a real crack-up! He’s bringing in some big crowds and we’re attracting new, youthful sponsors. It’s great for the game of golf!”

So, becoming more bookable isn’t a function of beating people with nine irons, wrestling alligators and doing the bull dance across the tee box. Rather, it’s about considering what types of people are the natural byproducts of your presence.

MAKE BOOK: Once you get booked, whom will YOU attract?

4. Beware of the unbookable bug. When asked to riff about the dangers of being unbookable, the aforementioned David Newman shared three excellent reminders. “First, don’t make clients deal with your ego. They’ve got enough on their plates as it is.

Second, if you’re not serious about what you’re doing now – STOP – and go do something about it. Get serious, get help, or get out. As Yoda says, ‘Do or do not. There is no try.’

And finally, remember that lack of integrity travels fast. You’ll be out of friends so fast your head will spin. And no friends = No business = Game over.”

MAKE BOOK: Are you in danger of being unbookable?

5. Share your schedule online. Posting your client calendar, tour schedule or media appearances on your website WILL get you more bookings quickly. For five reasons:

First, it proves that you’re busy by offering tangible evidence of success. Social proof is a powerful force.

Second, it invites existing and potential clients/fans to come out and see you. That way they can plan their schedules around you.

Third, it demonstrates your reach. So, when someone comes to your website and sees all the different cities, organizations and media outlets you’re working with, they’ll be thinking two things: (1) This guy MUST be good, and (2) Well, if he’s good enough for THAT company, he’s good enough for MY company too!

Fourth, posting your schedule online motivates you to fill it up. When I first posted my speaking calendar in 2004, I only had ten bookings for the entire year. And because I didn’t want people to think I sucked, that became a great kick in the pants to fill the schedule up.

Fifth, when you post your schedule online, customers start to target YOU. That’s when it starts to get cool. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on the phone with a prospect who said, “Well Scott, I checked the schedule on your website and it looks like you have March 19th available to work with us. Is that OK with you?”

To which I always reply, “Um … Sure! … I guess I could fit you into my schedule…” (Even though I’m actually thinking to myself, “YES! Of course I’m available! Oh please book me! Pretty please with sugar on top!”)

MAKE BOOK: Are you the arrow or the bulls-eye?

6. Be one step ahead. On www.CatererSearch.com, I read an article titled, “Information centers get ‘bookability’ to win back customers.” The piece reported that six of England’s Tourist Information Centers (TICs) were to be converted into Holiday Shops that offered a full booking service.

“Many information centers already offer comprehensive information on the availability of holidays and accommodation, so it’s the logical next step for them to provide a booking service as well,” said ETB head of marketing, Andrew Maxted. Your challenge is to think about what the obvious next step to your main product is – then decide if it’s worthwhile to start offering that as well.

Think FedEx Kinko’s. They sold printing for decades. Then, in 2004, they expanded their offering by providing their customers with the most obvious, logical follow-up service: Mailing the stuff they printed to someone across the country. Hallelujah!

MAKE BOOK: Are you one step ahead of the people booking you?

7. What would Oprah do? Susan Harrow is a media coach, writer and consultant with a unique specialty: Getting booked on Oprah. She’s produced dozens of resources, tools and manuals explaining her system for attracting media attention. Interestingly, when I googled the phrase “getting booked,” her famous article “How to Get Booked on Oprah” came up hundreds of times. So, let’s examine each of her points. And I’ve added a challenge question to each one so you to plug yourself into Susan’s equation, just in case getting booked on Oprah isn’t your main goal:

a. Tape and watch Oprah for two weeks. Are you familiar with the content, format, rhythm and pace of the person/organization booking you?

b. Get to know Oprah’s preferences. What biographical information do you need to know to press (or avoid) hot buttons of the person/organization booking you?

c. Pitch a hot topic. Does booking you solve a problem that is relevant, pervasive, serious and controversial?

d. Put together a winning press kit. How could you punch people in the face with your viability?

e. Create six dynamic sound bites. Can you spontaneously spit out the most important ideas, concepts, and points you want to make as they relate to the idea you’re pitching?

f. Be more blurbable. Will the people booking you be able to remember and repeat your ten-second pitch to the person who missed the pitch meeting?

g. Get booked on local shows first. How much time have you spent fine-tuning your sound bites so they’re delivered in a relaxed, competent way?

h. Build credentials through public speaking and teaching. How can you sharpen and quantify your expertise in a concrete way that resonates deeply with the person booking you?

i. Wow the producers with brevity. Have you rehearsed enough so that when you open your mouth and start auditioning, your selling points come off as succinct, natural and inviting?

Ultimately, whether you’re trying to get booked FOR an interview, BY a hot prospect or WITH a new organization, Susan’s nine essentials will help you become more bookable in any capacity.

MAKE BOOK: Did you pass the Oprah test?

REMEMBER: External forces notwithstanding, you can’t “make” people book you.

All you can do is increase the probability of getting booked by making yourself a more bookable person.

Now if you’ll excuse me, Oprah’s producer is on the other line and I need to go change my underwear.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How bookable are you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “34 Cultural Trends that (should) Change Your Business,” 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]

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!


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