Set aside sacrosanct time

Reacher frequently
talks about the military mind. How a soldier thinks when scouting out a satisfactory observation
point. And what he looks for is the following. 


Protection from the elements,
concealment of the observers and a reasonable likelihood of undisturbed
occupation for the full duration of the operation.
 

This, of course, is the
strong and direct and strategic language of war. However, when viewed at from a
broader perspective, we can apply the same principles to our daily tasks. We
can architect time and space so that distractions and interruptions can’t
derail our progress. 

A friend of mine runs a small
consulting firm that teaches non profits how to be more effective fundraisers.
But because she wears every hat in the company, she chooses to block out the
first six hours of her workweek, just for writing. 

In fact, on her calendar is
a huge red square which reminds coworkers that they’re not allowed to book a
meeting during that time. Ever. Because without that boundary, she would never
get her writing done. And without her writing, the firm would never be able to
sustain the level of thought leadership that she’s worked so hard to achieve. 

Protection from the elements, concealment of the observers and a reasonable
likelihood of undisturbed occupation for the full duration of the operation.
 

It
sounds intense and militant, but if you don’t set boundaries for yourself,
other people will set them for you. And then they will violate them. And it
will be your fault because you didn’t set the precedent. 

Set aside sacrosanct
time. Insulate yourself from anything extraneous that could compromise
continuity of the zone experience. It’s a small, simple and concrete way to
practice being kind to yourself. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How much time every week do you book for just yourself?



LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Be famous to the family

I was listening to an interview with a veteran professional wrestler, who summarized his industry in a fascinating way. Paul said, if you’re not into it, no explanation will do it justice, but if you are into it, no explanation is necessary. 

It’s a perfect example of a product that isn’t afraid to polarize. A product that’s not wasting time trying to cater to the people who don’t get the joke. 

Standup comedians talk about this all the time. After a certain number of years putting in the nights under the lights, they accept the fact that not everybody in the audience is going to laugh. It’s part of the job description. You can’t please all the people all the time. 

And so, instead of scanning the room for the one schmuck who isn’t having fun and working overtime to manipulate him into laughing, the comedian simply invites the audience to laugh at what he finds funny. And if forty percent of them miss the joke, too bad. If people paid twenty bucks to sit there with their arms crossed, waiting for the monkey to dance, that’s their problem. 

I’m reminded of something my grandfather used to say. If everybody loves your brand, you’re doing something wrong. That’s the goal. Not to become slightly famous to everybody, but to become profoundly connected to somebody. 

It’s one of the great realizations of building a brand. You don’t need that many people to believe in you. 

Be famous to the family. Everybody else can go to hell. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you known for something, or to someone?LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Caring is what makes the world work

Anytime we speak with a tech support, customer service, help desk, guest relations or some other frontline representative, we’re expecting that person to put the minimal amount of care and effort into our interaction. 

That’s what the modern business world has trained us to anticipate. It’s the new frontier of customer conduct. Even as the phone rings, we’re subconsciously preparing ourselves for another a long, contrived, rehearsed introduction designed to make us feel like valued customers. 

Take the airline industry, which has seen passenger complaints rise by nearly twenty percent in the past year alone. And of course, those are just the reported incidents. 

Meanwhile, every company knows that few things have a greater impact on brand equity, profitability and customer loyalty than the quality of service. Every company knows that the cheapest way to acquire a new customer is to do a great job. Which means, any company that makes a genuine effort to actually care, won’t be forgotten in a hurry. 

I recently bought a moisture wicking workout shirt from a highly specialized garment company. It ran a little small, so I went to their website to inquire about a product return. And to my delight, when I submitted my form, I instantly received an email that said the following. 

Just to make you a happy customer, we have credited your account for the product and you do not need to send it back to the warehouse, as it is going to cost you more to ship it back. You may keep, dispose or donate the product if you like. Thanks for giving our clothes a chance! Hope it works next time. 

I printed out that email and kept it on my bulletin board for years. I tell everybody about that story. What’s more, I keep that shirt in my drawer, with the tag still on it, as a reminder of what it feels like to be truly cared for as a customer. 

Lesson learned, try caring. Because once customers engage with you, they are yours to lose. Learn to feel honored to spend time with them, not see them as a bother or an inconvenient interruption to your day. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What is it about your customer interactions that’s bigger than the work itself?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Conveniently scrubbing and disinfecting the heart

There was a fascinating study on the drug acetaminophen, which is the primary ingredient in the over the counter pain relievers. 

Psychologists found that it not only reduced the people’s physical pain, but also reduced their ability to feel positive emotions. Rather than just being a pain reliever, the doctor explained, acetaminophen could be see as an all purpose emotion reliever. Because people who took it didn’t feel the same highs or lows as did the people who took placebos. And most of them probably weren’t aware of how their emotions might have be impacted. 

Does this suggest taking pain relievers is a bad idea? Not at all. Tylenol is a beautiful thing. Sometimes you come home from work with a splitting headache and need to pop a few pills to make it through the day. It happens to everybody. 

And so, the real lesson has broader implications. This study is a reminder that if we attempt to live in a way where we limit our pain, we also limit our chances for joy. Both are essential components of the human experience. To have one without the other would rob ourselves of the necessary perspective and insight and growth that can only come from the absurd roller coaster that we call life. 

Rilke famously said, if my devils are to leave me, I am afraid my angels will take flight as well. 

Which doesn’t suggest he always abstained from pain relievers, but it does demonstrate his willingness to subject himself to both the joys and pains of daily existence.


Let our hearts not be conveniently scrubbed and disinfected from the ups and downs of being a human. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What meaningful baby might you be throwing out with the emotional bathwater?



LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

You’re not an artist, you’re a handyman

I recently heard an interview with the highest grossing comedian on the planet. Russell explained that he refused to work for clients who insisted that he edited and tailored and cleaned up his material for certain audiences. 

Because he’s not in the business of customization. And he will not be told how to do his work. In fact, he even has a mantra. 


I don’t really care what you think you like, this is what I do. 

Of course, he’s earned the right to have that mantra. Russell hustled for thirteen years before gaining any notoriety as a comedian. And now he fills stadiums in dozens of countries around the world. Because he found his true voice. 

Proving, that your greatest currency in this world is your originality. Your ability to deliver an unmistakable product that people can point to. Something that’s beyond spec. Something that’s so far forward, that it has a name unto itself. And so, here’s the big question:

If you outsourced your work to somebody else, and didn’t tell the client, would they be able to tell? 

If the answer is no, you’re generic. You’re somebody who does a job. A handyman who fixes whatever the client wants. But if the answer is yes, you’re a brand. An original. An artist whose signature at the bottom of the canvas is just as important as what’s painted on it. 

As my mentor once said, if your life is where you want it to be, you don’t have to listen to anybody. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What payment are you willing to pay to work your way up to unmistakable?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Everything you do is a story

Story is the fundamental instrument of thought. The global currency of human contact. It’s a survival mechanism. A vehicle that carries us on our search for reality and satisfies the human need for narrative. 

And so, you may as well create a better story to invite people into. You may as well establish a monopoly on a set of expectations that’s worth owning. Because as a business, everything you do it a story. 

Even your paperwork. It’s more than some trivial, administrative task that has to be done once a week. It’s critical to your brand. 

Take the client contract. This document speaks volumes about your work. If it’s too long and too detailed and has too many restrictions and clauses commensurate with the job you’re doing, clients might wonder about your trustworthiness. If it’s too casual and lacks thoughtfulness and doesn’t contain the necessary legal due diligence, clients might question your professionalism. Or, if there is no contact at all, clients might doubt your commitment to the project. 

Years ago I facilitated several sales workshops with a large recruiting corporation. When the program was finally complete, the client approached me with a concerned look in his eyes.


Our accounting department never actually received your contract, but I guess it’s too late now. Anyway, here’s your check. Don’t let that happen again.

I was mortified. I felt ten inches tall. Like a pathetic amateur who wasn’t taking his business seriously. 

A shameful reminder that we’re telling a story, whether we want to or not. The question is, what is the meaning the marketplace create for themselves in response to your story? 

In every area of your business, even your paperwork, help your market understand the story they should be telling themselves about the work you’re doing for them. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What did the world say about you before you walked in the room?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is Probably Making,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

When people tell your story back to you, listen loudly

Approximately one year into wearing a nametag every day, a beautiful women I’d never met before approached me at a bar at two in the morning. She was completed intoxicated. And yet, the first words out of her mouth were clear as a bell. 


Aren’t you the nametag guy? 

I didn’t know what to say. Nobody had ever called me that before. It was too early in the experiment. But in that moment, I decided to embrace the label, no pun intended. 

And so, I said four crucial words that would change my life forever. I guess I am. To which she replied, oh wow, I’ve heard all about you. 

Now, I didn’t realize it at the time, but that conversation was a crucial pivot point toward whom I was to become. It was the first time I took ownership over an identity that I didn’t realize I had created. 

That’s how real, organic branding works. That’s how products and services and companies become assets that get bragged about and asked for by name. Because somebody just started doing something. Or being someone. And after a certain period of consistent execution, they looked back at this asset that they didn’t have at the outset, but later found out that they had created, listen loudly to the market feedback about it, and owned it. They consciously transitioned from an emergent strategy to a deliberate one. 

I never set out to become the nametag guy, but once people started remembering me for that, I knew I had found something special. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What is the narrative people have when they encounter you?LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is Probably Making,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

How you react to reckonings will propel you

Debono’s research on lateral thinking found that in
hotel fires, more people were killed as a result of panic reactions than by the
fire itself. 

It’s a frightening picture. But it’s also a reminder that we our
own biggest threat. That in the midst of a crisis, when the world is burning
around us, the thing that is most likely to destroy us is our own inability to
react intelligently. 

Thankfully, few of us ever find ourselves in the middle of
a hotel fire. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to improve our response
flexibility, meaning, the ability to pause before we act. 

My yoga instructor
constantly reminds the students to do this when the room gets especially hot.
Before you reach for water, before you flop down on your mat, before you walk
out of the room, try breathing through it. Don’t buy the story the mind is
selling. Just breathe. 


Dum spero speri. Where there’s breath, there’s hope. 

Nine times out of ten, it works. Despite
room temperature or muscle soreness or physical exhaustion, a calm, ten second
breath is surprisingly effective. 

And so, if it’s true that the mind is merely
the reaction style of an organism to its environment, find your own version of
breathing through it. Learn to resist a panic reaction to the surrounding fire.

Because in between stimulus and response, there is a space for an intelligent
choice. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s your healthiest response to crisis?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is Probably Making,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Deliver something worth paying attention to

I was listening to an interview with a world renowned radio
broadcaster, who attributed his success to doing things just differently enough
to short circuit the system. 

That phrase really spoke to me. Because although
he was speaking colloquially, it’s a really interesting concept to explore
scientifically. 

In engineering, for example, a short circuit comes from an electrical
current that bypasses the main line, travels along the unintended path,
encounters very low resistance, results in a flow of excess energy, and within a
few milliseconds, it becomes thousands of times larger than the normal
operating current, often causing a fire or an explosion. 

What an exquisite
analogy for business. Each one of us should strive to position ourselves in a
way that short circuits the system. 

Let’s consider the language of basic
electronics as a strategy guide. 

First, bypass the main line. Seek out virgin
territory. Stand at the foot of the unblazed trail. Second, travel along the
unintended path. Listen for unexpected opportunities. Don’t be religious about
how you make your money. Third, encounter low resistance. Enjoy the freedom and
space afforded to you. Go where there is no competition. Fourth, flow of excess
energy. Leverage the momentum of your new environment. Take advantage of low
labor intensity. Lastly, explosion. Use the event as a platform for growth.
Build your brand into directions you never would have thought possible. 

Do
things just differently enough to short circuit the system.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How are you delivering something worth paying attention to?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is Probably Making,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Discover the river that hasn’t been fished

Matter behaviors differently when it’s being watched. It’s been clinically proven. Quantum physicists call this phenomenon the observer effect, which states that the very act of observation causes changes on the matter being observed. Fascinating. 

But sometimes, when it comes to innovation, the inverse is true. The path of opportunity only exists when nobody else is looking. As if the rest of the world’s lack of attention and awareness illuminates something special that only you can see.

One tactic is to focus on something that nobody else has bothered to think about. Seeking out the unusual and unnoticed, finding virgin territories and unoccupied channels and unincorporated land, so as to eliminate the possibility of competition. 

Oakland’s managers famously executed this strategy with by discovering a sanctuary of defective, unwanted, overlooked and undervalued baseball players. Instead of ignoring the players that most teams didn’t like, they turned unwanted athletes into meaningful assets. 

Of course, you don’t have to be a baseball club to leverage this strategy. Any business or artist or employee can discover the river that hasn’t been fished. It’s simply a matter of vision. Allowing yourself to reuse or resurrect or reposition something that other people or companies or brands threw away or gave up on. 

Hell, my entire career came from garbage can full of used, ripped up, worn out nametags. But that’s only because I didn’t see trash, I saw treasure. The opportunity revealed itself to me when nobody else was looking. 

And now, sixteen years later, they can’t turn their eyes away. Because when you specialize to a ridiculous degree, you have more data than anyone else. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How will you constantly push on the scale of opportunity?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is Probably Making,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter. 

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Sign up for daily updates
Connect

Subscribe

Daily updates straight to your inbox.

Copyright ©2020 HELLO, my name is Blog!