Are You a Consumer or a Creator?

There’s never been an easier time to consume.

We have more choices, more ways to obtain those choices and
more devices with which to enjoy those choices. Plus, throw in the power of
free, and those numbers multiply exponentially.

On the other hand, there’s never been a better time to
create.

We have few barriers to entry, fewer restrictions on what we
can publish and fewer limitations on how and where we can share it. We can give away every book we’ve ever written, for free, no strings. Plus, throw
in the power of permission, and those numbers shrink exponentially.

Lately, I’ve grown bored with consumption. I’ve read enough
books, seen enough shows and inhaled enough ideas to last me for a lifetime.

Which doesn’t mean I plan to stop, just switch gears.

Now, I’d rather write a book than read one. Now, I’d rather
publish a podcast than listen to public radio. Now, I’d rather have the mic in
my hand than a drink in my lap.

And I couldn’t be happier.

Life is short. Consumption can wait. For now, I’d rather go
out into world and seek adventure beyond my limited imagination.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What did you write today?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “17 Behaviors to Avoid for Effective Listening,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

How boring is your company’s online training?

For
dozens of free video learning modules on sales, frontline service,
entrepreneurship and marketing, spend a few minutes or a few hours
growing your brain and growing your wallet.

Tune in to www.nametagTV.com!

The Feedback Fetish

Feedback has become a fetish.

Businesses plead with customers to keep their seven-inch receipt,
go to their website, fill out a short survey and enter their name for the
chance to win free drinks, gift cards and other cash prizes, all for the low
price of their email addresses, which will most likely be spammed with future
offers of the same ilk and potentially vulnerable to online privacy violations
from hackers.

Meanwhile, customers don’t feel special, don’t feel heard
and don’t feel part of a community. They just feel like statistics. 

And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for building a listening platform. But surely there are other, better, cheaper ways to gauge customer sentiment
than wasting paper.

My friend Janelle is the social media director for a large
grocery chain. When her customers have feedback to share, they don’t use
surveys – they use cell phones. Whatever question, comment, complaint or
suggestion is on their mind, they publish it online. Instantly. For all the world
to see. And no trees have to die.

No wonder her company was ranked in Forbes magazine as one of the best in the nation.

The thing is, people have always had opinions, but now they’re
delivered to our face. Right now. From all around the world. For free. Forever.
Whether we like or not. And if you’re trying to decide which technology to
invest millions of dollars is, just so you can relentlessly tug customers on
the sleeves and trick them into liking you, think again.

Asking what survey to use is the wrong question.

The real question is, where are people are already giving their opinions
– whether you’re asking for them or not – and how can you convert that into a
smarter conversation?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you making feedback a fetish?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “194 Books in Scott’s Success Library,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Yes, I do more than just wear a nametag all day.

My enterprise is actually quite robust. I add value to my clients in several cool ways.

Explore the myriad ways you, your people and your organization can leverage my talents.

What’s Your Portable Sales Force?

The other day my client from Disney Destinations remarked, “I can’t believe there’s only one of you!”

Technically, he’s right. As a
freelancer, my enterprise solely consists of me, slogging it out, every day,
until the work is done. But that doesn’t mean the work goes unassisted. When
you hire yourself, you build a portable sales force. People and resources to
help to make it rain when you’re not around.

Here’s an overview of mine:

There’s my clients, whose condition I
try to improve every time we work together. That way, they won’t keep me a
secret. There’s my audience, whom I try to inspire every time they consume my
work. That way, they’ll come back again and again. There’s my suppliers, whom I
try to be easy to interact with every time we do a new project together. That
way, they won’t shy away from showcasing me in their portfolios. There’s my
content, which I publish every day with substantial volume, value, velocity and
vitality. That way, my daily gifts to the world contribute to an ongoing
body of work.

There’s my competitors, whom I try to
speak respectfully of every time we’re up against each other. That way, they
won’t mind referring me if they don’t fit the bill. There’s my colleagues, whom
I try to share resources with every time we’re brainstorming together. That
way, they won’t hesitate to extend same generosity when I ask for help. There’s
my editors, whom I try to make look like heroes every time they run my stuff.
That way, they wont forget about me for future issues. There’s my collaborators,
whom I try to be accountable to every time we work together. That way, they
won’t leave out my name when others are searching for partners.

This is my portable
sales force. It’s engine of my enterprise, the secret of my success and the
reason I rarely make cold calls.

Thank god.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s your portable sales force?

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

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

My job is to help companies make their mission more than a statement, using limited edition social artifacts.

Want to download your free workbook for The Brandtag Strategic Planning Crusade?


Meet Scott’s client from Nestle Purina at www.brandtag.org!

Offline is the New Online

 [ Email me, buy prints, inspire the office! ] 

The purpose of online is to get offline.

Every time we email, tweet, retweet, direct message, instant
message, write somebody’s walls, upload pictures, publish videos, post reviews,
chime in on message boards, write blog posts, leave comments, press like
buttons and share links, our goal is to get one one step closer to interacting
with other human beings, face to face, in person.

The proof is everywhere.

In the political
realm, we’ve watched oppressive governments crumble, horrifying laws disappear
and war criminals meet their demise.

In the music
realm, we’ve watched performers leverage digital media to create live events
that bring joy to change the lives of fans forever.

In the movie
realm, we’ve watched online microfinancing enable the dreams of a generation of
hopeful filmmakers, whose ideas finally have a chance to make a difference.

In the business
realm, we’ve watched entrepreneurs use the power of mobile technology to hire
themselves, do work that matters and deliver value to their people.

All thanks to the bold people who used online to get
offline.

It’s not the future, it’s the present.

And if we never endeavor to communicate beyond digital, if we
never connect to each other by more than just pixels, we fail to experience the
truest, highest form of human interaction.

Online is the journey, offline is the destination.



LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What have you done offline today?



LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

If
this blog post resonated, perhaps you’d like a souvenir as a reminder.
To buy a print of my “nametaglines” photo for your office wall, send
an email to me, and you’ll have it in a week!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Scott has written and published over 1,000,000 words.

But did you know that you could commission Scott to write custom content for your publication, newsletter or blog?

View a sample of Scott’s commissioned work with American Express.

The Future of Human Marketing

There are a thousand ways to kill a startup.

Bad locations, unprofitable niches, sloppy execution,
unremarkable products, inflexible owners, poor hiring decisions, bad timing, broken
business models, the passion paradox, lack of financing, lack of market
traction, premature scaling, poor investor management, fights between founders,
uncontrollable growth, just to name a few.

No wonder half of them die before their fifth birthday.

But we can’t overlook the silent killer. The granddaddy of
them all. The one issue that, if addressed in the beginning stages of building,
might actually wipe out a lot of the other causes of death.

Knowing who you are.

When you know who you are, every moment isn’t a moral
challenge, it’s just a checklist. Decisions are easier, postures are sturdier, interactions
are warmer, relationships are healthier, risks are smarter, transitions are
smoother, failures are faster and commitments are stronger.

In short, your mission becomes more than a statement.

Two years ago, I started helping companies solve that
problem.

Through my strategic planning crusade – not just a process,
but a crusade – we take a company and figure out who they are, what they change
and why they matter. We uncover internal legends that reflect their brand’s
human purpose. And we hang limited edition art pieces as the social artifacts
from that process to remind people of that purpose, every day.

Now, the company brings their values to the forefront. Now,
their philosophy oozes with personality and emotion. Now, they can’t forget who
they are.

It’s not a nametag – it’s a brandtag.

It’s the future of human marketing, company culture and
brand interaction.

And considering the fact that fourteen hundred startups have
already launched since I started writing this blog post, I’m beginning to wonder
what would be different in the world if more companies knew who they were.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How will you make your mission more than a statement?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “38 Ways to Make Customers Gasp,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

HELLO, my name is Host!

Did
you know you could hire Scott as your emcee, mobile host, roving
reporter or on camera talent for your organization’s next event?

Watch sample footage of his hosting work here!

The Joy of Stuckness

For a long time, I insulated myself from stuckness.

I executed, day in and day out, without the slightest hint
of resistance, without the mere possibility of shooting blanks. I was on a
never ending creative tear, rarely coming up for air, rarely questioning whether
the volume of work was dangerously high.

And it paid off. I impressed people, made good money and
built an artistic identity predicated on unmanageable productivity.

But eventually, I hit a point of diminishing returns. Even though
I was pumping out piles of work, much of which was great stuff, I was still skimming
off the top instead of mining from the bottom. It was execution without elevation.

I was terminally productive. Borderline inhuman. The work was
too easy and the art came too quickly, because I wasn’t operating close enough
to my edge. And the art wasn’t as strong as it could have been.

Until this past year, when I began experiencing more moments
of stuckness, more battles with resistance, than ever before. Almost on a
weekly basis, I found myself facing a blank page with nothing to say, and no
desire to say it. I found myself not wanting to get out of bed to go face the
world. And since my identity was so wrapped up in that never happening to me, the
stuckness shredded me to ribbons.

Anxiety attacks, rampant cynicism, thoughts about quitting,
even full on waves of depression, I hated it and I hated myself.

And it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Turns out, getting stuck is a beautiful, healthy and
necessary part of the creative process.

First, it’s an
indication of accuracy.
It means we’re on the right track. Resistance,
after all, is most ferocious when we’re doing work that’s most vital to our
soul’s evolution. If we never feel it, something’s wrong.

Second, it’s an
indication of progress.
When we treat our stuckness as a gateway to deeper,
bloodier layers of creative expression, the ones we never could have reached
when everything was gravy, our work becomes truer and better than ever before.

Third, it’s an
indication of humanity.
We can only scrub our lives clean of heartbreak for
so long. Eventually, we’ve got to do some time. Every princess gets locked in a
tower for a little while. And when it happens, gratitude is the only response.

Now that I know these things, I can’t wait to get stuck
again. It means I’m finally making progress.

And those moments of total numbness, when I seem to have
lost my excitement for the world, I remember that the heaviest burden is having
nothing to carry.

And I give thanks.

It’s about time nothing happened.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you afraid to get stuck?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “27 Ways to Out the Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Do you need an expert who tells you what to do, or a mentor who lets you tell yourself what to do?

“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.” —-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

A Portrait of Belonging

My whole life, I never fit in.

Never felt understood, never felt accepted, rarely had
strong a sense of place, always felt like an outsider and constantly felt like
creature from another planet.

So I tried everything.

I played sports I didn’t like, joined clubs I didn’t enjoy, wore
clothes that didn’t fit and made friends who didn’t reciprocate. I took classes
I didn’t understand, tried religions that didn’t work, consumed chemicals that
didn’t help and dated girls that didn’t match. I worked jobs that didn’t last, joined
associations that didn’t care, performed for audiences who didn’t listen and
did work that didn’t matter.

Nothing worked.

But then you showed up.

Someone who got me. Someone who could keep up with me. Someone
who shared my obsessions and accentuated my quirks. Someone who was weird
enough to make me feel normal. Someone who brought out the brightest version of
me and never looked away from the light.

You were the music I was waiting to hear. You were the life
I was waiting to live.

I never belonged anywhere until I met you.

And now, home is wherever I’m with you.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Where do you belong?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “14 Things You Don’t Have to Do Anymore,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

What happens when you wear a nametag all day, every day, for 4000+ days?

Every day is like living inside a cartoon!

Check out Scott’s comic strip, Adventures in Nametagging!

The Nametag Manifesto — Chapter 13: The End of Neglect

[ View the infographic! ]

“Everyone should wear nametags, all the time, everywhere, forever.”

That’s my thesis, philosophy, dangerous idea and theory of the universe.

My name is Scott, and I’ve been wearing a nametag for past four thousand days.

And
after traveling to hundreds of cities, a dozen countries, four
continents, meeting tens of thousands of people, constant
experimentation and observation, building a enterprise and writing a
dozen books in the process, I believe, with all my heart, that the
societal implications of wearing nametags could change everything.

This is my manifesto: 

13. The End of Neglect

If everybody wears
nametags, we practice deeper mindfulness.

We stay focused on the present moment. We find our center of
gravity quicker and easier. The bell of awareness always rings, and the nametag
helps us hear it. Instead of trudging along in a diminished state of awareness,
we keep our eyes open to the magic of life.

We have to. People are using our names everywhere. Nobody
can look at their phone for more than a few minutes before being joyfully
greeted by a friend nearby.

The nametag is an alarm clock without a snooze button. While
wearing it, we’re more likely to pay attention to our surroundings, which
prevents us from making minor errors that have major consequences. Instead of
frail, empty interactions when we’re hungry, hurried and frustrated, now we’re
more conscious of our behavior around others.

If everybody wears
nametags, no more absentmindedness, anticipation or scatter-braining. 

You can read The Nametag Manifesto, in full, for free, right now, here. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What’s your manifesto?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “7 Ways to Out Leverage Your Competition,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

My job is to help companies make their mission more than a statement, using limited edition social artifacts.

Want to download your free workbook for The Brandtag Strategic Planning Crusade?


Meet Scott’s client from Nestle Purina at www.brandtag.org!

The Artist’s Dilemma

Yeah, but shouldn’t I be out there generating business?

That’s the artist’s dilemma. That it order to monetize our creativity, sustain
our career and support our lifestyle, we have to put down the pen, put on the
commerce hat and start pounding the pavement, spending most of our days trying
to get noticed, get liked, get retweeted, get interviewed, get booked, get
hired, get reviewed, get paid and get rich.

Which wouldn’t be such a problem, except for the fact that
most artists don’t care about the business of art. We just want to
express ourselves and share our work with the world.

Charles Schultz, the greatest cartoonist who ever lived, has
been my hero since I was a kid. In a number of different interviews over the
years, his self-proclaimed secret to business success – not cartooning success,
but business success – was simply drawing one good comic strip, everyday.

Everything else flowed from there. The movies, the
merchandising and the money were all direct dividends from that baseline
commitment to showing up at the desk and doing real work, every single day.
Getting his units up, executing more actual product and shipping more lasting
value, in the unique way that only Schultz could deliver.

We can’t ignore our enterprise, hiding behind a desk,
hoping our art will magically monetize. We still have to get paid. Artists who
don’t sell, suffer.

But if we’re concerned that we should be out there
generating business, always remember that doing the work is generating
business.

When in doubt, create.

That way, every cent starts as a sentence.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What have you created today?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “157 Pieces of Contrarian Wisdom,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Do you need an expert who tells you what to do, or a mentor who lets you tell yourself what to do?

“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on
who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want
to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the
bottom of my heart.” —-Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters

Rent Scott’s Brain today for 2 hours, 30 days or 3 months!

The Freedom Trap

Entrepreneurs relish the romantic notion of having no boundaries,
no obligations, no expectations, no responsibilities, no schedule to keep, no
time constraints, no place to be, no one to answer to and no one breathing down
their neck.

That’s why we hired ourselves in the first place. So we could
do whatever we want.

The flip side is, too much freedom is a dangerous thing.

First, it means too many choices, so indecision paralyzes us. And we end up producing less because we’re pulled in too many directions.

Second, it means too much flexibility, so it’s easier to
procrastinate and harder to motivate. And we get bored because work expands to
fill the time given to complete it.

Third, it means too much time, so we feel unfulfilled. And depression
kicks in because having nothing to constantly work on destroys our mood.

Fourth, it means too much reflection, so we default to
negative thinking. And the tendency to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves
is hard to ignore.

Fifth,
it means too much space, so we lack direction and purpose in our work. And we
end upsitting in a coffee shop in the middle of the day
wondering what we should do next.

Sixth, it means too much complacency, so we don’t stay
hungry. And our work ethic declines because there’s nobody to notice if we
don’t execute.

Seventh, it means too much time in our own heads, so we lose
perspective. And we end up standing on a whale, fishing for minnows, because
we’re too close to ourselves.

Alan Fletcher once said the first move in any creative
process is to introduce constraints.

Maybe we don’t need as much freedom as we thought.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How can you get more done in more time?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “27 Ways to Overcommunicate Anything,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Scott has written and published over 1,000,000 words.

But did you know that you could commission Scott to write custom content for your publication, newsletter or blog?

View a sample of Scott’s commissioned work with American Express.

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