1. Solicit mental growth. Make this your new goal. Define it however you like. Just make sure whatever you do; you enlarge people’s thinking. Whom are you growing?

2. Be more challenging. Ask questions like: Is that always the case? So what? What stops you? What would happen if you didn’t? What’s your proof? Break people’s patterns. Make them stop, think and say, ‘Wow…’ How many questions did you ask yesterday?

3. Have a killer vocabulary. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to use fancy words. Just strong words. Powerful words. Well-timed words. Unexpected words. Perfect words. Does your language challenge people?

4. Send people off to the races. Don’t just give people ONE idea. Give them forty. Expand the possibilities. Give them so much good stuff that they take out a piece of paper and ask you to repeat things. Are you conversations so valuable that people ask you what your brain-picking fee is?

5. Set a reading plan. Buy all the books you’ve been telling yourself you were going to buy. Create a visible cue in your office that forces you to pass by your stack everyday. Set a goal to read at least two books a week. What did you read today?

6. Study creativity daily. However many books you read each week, make sure at least one of them is about creativity or thinking. This will keep your brain fresh, motivate your melon and keep the steady stream of ideas flowing. Start with authors like Edward DeBono, Roger Von Oech and Julia Cameron. How did you make your brain more valuable today?

7. Set a writing plan. I challenge you to spend fifteen minutes a day on your writing. Journaling, blogging, morning pages, whatever. Fifteen minutes a day is a mere 0.09% of your entire week. THAT’S LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF YOUR WAKING HOURS. If you can’t do that, perhaps you should stop reading my blog and go read Tim Ferris’s blog. What did you write today?

8. Wake people up. Sometimes people need a good punch in the face. Not literally, of course. (Unless you’re talking about Matt Lauer.) Instead, seek to open the eyes and expand the horizons of the people you serve. Be their alarm clock. How are people changed after having a conversation with you?

9. Offer intentionally contraries. Even if you agree with someone, play devil’s advocate. Ask opposite questions. Make them consider all sides of the issue. Do you throw enough curveballs?

10. Call to Action. At the end of every blog post, article, podcast, video, speech, teleseminar (or any other published work), always present a Call to Action. Make people think. Make people act. Make people email you with their answers to your tricky question. What response mechanism are you using?

‘A true Ninja uses his surroundings to survive.’

That’s basic Ninja code.

MY QUESTION IS: What are you using to help your business survive? What are you using to help your creativity survive? And what are you using to help your SELF survive?

I’m a Leverager. I like to use things. I like to kill two stones with one bird whenever possible. Today, I want to share a list of seventeen things that I’m currently using to help my business, my creativity and my SELF survive this horrible economy.

As you peruse this list, I challenge you to think about what tools YOU use, what tools you COULD be using, and what tools need a good sharpening in 2009.

1. Use baitless hooks. Edison did. Literally. No bait. He was so focused on the fishing process that he could care less if he reeled in a twenty pounder. This is the way creativity should be: Present. In the moment. Detached from outcomes. No expectations. After all, when you care the least, you do the best. When the stakes are lower, the results are higher.Are you too outcome-focused?

2. Use concrete illustrations. Not vague platitudes. Not old stories or sayings. And certainly not bullshite statistics you (1) just made up or (2) swiped from Wikipedia. You wanna persuade somebody? Try using experiences. Truths. Stuff that actually happened to you. Concreteness sells. How specific are YOUR examples?

3. Use cross-industrial processes. So what if you know nothing about their industry. Become an expert on certain processes and philosophies and practices that apply to anyone, anytime, anywhere. This doesn’t mean you need to be a jack-of-all-trades. But having a niche TOPIC vs. a nice MARKET will open up your client base to endless possibilities. What are you known for knowing?

4. Use every challenge. As an opportunity for growth. As a vehicle for realization. As a teachable encounter. As a mentoring moment. As a way to get to know yourself better. As a way to grow stronger, smarter, cooler, funnier and wiser. As a way to chip away at the stone inside of which lives a breathtaking sculpture that’s been there the whole time. What are you turning your problems into?

5. Use generative language. That means asking, not telling. That means throwing in a question here and there, and then shutting up. It’s all part of the ‘midwifing’ process of communication, in which you enable people to give birth to their own understanding. Does your language have more periods than question marks?

6. Use informational follow-up. ‘Have you gotten a chance to check out my proposal?’ ‘Has anything changed since we last spoke?’ ‘Did you have any more questions from our discussion?’ Blech. Terrible. No value. Next time try, ‘I used your company as an example in my blog post today! Check it out here…’ Are you following up with value or vomit?

7. Use inner chaos. Channel it. Alchemize it. Use your creativity and passion and love and enthusiasm to transform inner wackiness into outer awesomeness. Meditation works. Yoga works. Writing works. Knitting works. Playing music works. What works for YOU?

8. Use judgment-free language. Attachment to words reduces the reality of something. And, when you use words, you label. When you label, you judge. When you judge, you react. When you react, you’re unconscious. And being unconscious is unhealthy. Are you ‘should-ing’ all over people?

9. Use momentary accidents. What do chocolate chip cookies, Coca-Cola, herbal tea, waffle cones, maple syrup, penicillin, bars of soap, popsicles and paper towels have in common? All were famous inventions discovered by accident. Sweet. SO: Accident, schmaccident. It’s a lesson. An opportunity. A creative breakthrough waiting to happen. What is another use for this failure?

10. Use real language. ‘Real’ meaning, ‘fifth-graders could understand it.’ Sure, using big words and fancy verbiage might make you sound smart. But it also might make other people feel dumb. It also might complicate your message. And that’s no good. How many people have no idea what the hell you’re talking about?

11. Use rules mindfully. The Dali Lama once said, ‘Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.’ That’s good advice. Personally, I would also add in, ‘If you can’t Google the rule, it doesn’t exist.’ How many rules did you break yesterday?

12. Use silence strategically. Especially in sales conversations. He who speaks next, loses. He who blinks next, loses. State your fee confidently and shut up. A properly placed pause is one of the most powerful tools in interpersonal communication. Are you shutting up enough?

13. Use strength quietly. Like Tony Dungee from the Indianapolis Colts. Like Rosa Parks from the Civil Rights Movement. Both wrote books called, ‘Quiet Strength.’ Both know that a strong falcon hides its claws. Both know that powerful people don’t scream. Both know that the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room. Are you a falcon or a lion?

14. Use today’s opportunities. And if you seriously think there AREN’T any opportunities today, you haven’t been paying attention. They’re everywhere. Opportunity knocks all day, all the time, all over the neighborhood. Your challenge is to listen, answer, and then leverage them whenever they show up. How are you killing two stones with one bird?

15. Use visible reminders. Whiteboards. Post-It notes. Posters. Notes to yourself. Whatever works. Any new behavior you want to change, any new goal you seek to accomplish, make sure you can SEE the reminder. Daily. How are you punching yourself in the face?

16. Use your life. Usefulness IS worship. Don’t wait until you’re dead to leave a legacy; start today. Start now. Because if you LIVE your legacy every day, LEAVING a legacy will naturally happen. But only if you validate your existence on a daily basis. How are you using your life?

17. Use your words. To touch, to inspire, to challenge. To make people think, to make people pause, to make people wake up. Your language is one the most powerful tools in your leadership arsenal. Perfect it daily. What did you write today?

Out QUESTION your competitors.

1) Are you asking the same questions as your competition? This is suicide. If you TRULY want to stand out in someone’s mind, ask them a questions that makes them stop what they’re doing, lean back in their chair, pause for ten seconds and think. People will remember.

2) Are you willing to ask a question that will expose your ignorance? There’s nothing wrong with being ignorant. Only STAYING ignorant. Besides, this will give other people permission to feel dumb and vulnerable in front of you. This is good.

3) Do you have a list of questions you need to ask? I have about 5000 questions on my database. I always have a few ready to go for every situation. I suggest you print out 5-10 on a little card, laminate it and then keep it with you everywhere you go. Customers will notice.

4) How many questions did you ask yesterday? Not enough. You were too busy NOT listening. Ask; don’t tell.

5) How would you improve your question asking? There are at least 100 books written on the topic of questions. I’ve read them all. And my questions are better than anyone. Coincidence? Go to Borders.

6) What are the best possible questions you could ask this person? Don’t bombard people. A sequence of questions often produces defensiveness. Instead, focus on one or two questions to get started. Send the other person off to the races. Civilians shouldn’t interrogate.

7) What question(s) could you ask to develop the CPI? Common Point of Interest. Absolutely essential in conversation. Especially with someone you’ve just met. After all, conversation is about common ground. And people like those whom they ARE like. And we’re all alike in SOME way. Find the CPI.

8) What questions are your customers afraid to ask you? Divide a piece of paper in half. On the left hand side, write the questions. On the right hand side, write the answers. Make it into a PDF and post it on your website. Then make thousands of copies and give it to every prospect you meet. Oh, and don’t forget to put your contact information on the bottom ? Diffuse defensiveness early.

1. Do you know which of your marketing efforts have been effective in the past? Find out where the rock created the ripple, then go back and throw more rocks. Repeat past successes.

2. Do your beautiful, award-winning marketing materials actually influence customer decisions? No, they don’t. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about you, nobody cares about your company and nobody cares about your crappy brochure. They care about THEMSELVES and what you can do to make their lives better. Get over yourself.

3. Does your marketing move people’s eyebrows? If not, you’re in trouble. Because this involuntary indicator of interest, intrigue and curiosity is the best instant barometer of your marketing. EVER. Huh? Before Aha!

4. How are you enabling your customers to do your marketing for you? Build community. Cultivate fans, not customers. Build inherent remarkability into your products and services from the get go. You’ll never have to waste your money on another worthless Yellow Pages ad again. Fans equal money.

5. How are you getting permission from people to market to them? You ARE collecting email addresses, right? You ARE sending out a regular, value-driven newsletter, right? You ARE getting subscribers to your blog through RSS, right? Get permission early.

6. How are you marketing yourself daily? The more answers you can come up with to this question, the more money you will make. Period. Market yourself daily.

7. How much money do you spend on marketing? On one hand, you could say ‘nada,’ if your customers are doing your marketing for you. On the other hand, you could say ‘mucho dinero,’ if everything you do is a form of marketing. Imagination, not millions.

8. How much time do you spend on marketing each day? On one hand, you could say ‘nunca,’ if your customers are doing your marketing for you. On the other hand, you could say ‘todo,’ if everything you do is a form of marketing. Imagination, not millions.

9. How much stopping power does your marketing have? Nobody notices normal. Nobody buys boring. The effectiveness of a message isn’t necessarily dependent on its longevity, but rather its ability to evoke emotion in the moment. Make people stop.

10. Is your marketing making music or noise? It’s the difference between the homeless guy who sits on a street corner with a sign versus the homeless guy who stands in a subway station with a guitar. One gets money; the other gets ignored. Interesting. Sing; don’t yell.

11. Is your marketing so good that it doesn’t even look like marketing? Not because it’s slick, but because it’s authentic. It’s YOU. A logical extension of your passion and love and fire. Movements, not campaigns.

Out LEVERAGE your competitors.

1. How can I use this idea, principle or technique to achieve my goals or solve my problems? Taking one concept and transferring it into a totally different domain. This pattern of thinking will enable you to kill two stones with one bird. Spot leverage points.

2. How will this make a difference in the way we do business? Anytime you read a newspaper, magazine or trade publication, you need to be asking yourself this question. Odds are, your competitors aren’t. Make nothing something.

3. Now that I have this, what else does this make possible? Oh. My. Sweet. Jesus. This question will make you more money than Donald Trump. But only if you ask it daily. Ideas are waiting.

4. What are you going to do with this opportunity? Not think. Not say. What are you going to DO? Action is eloquence.

5. What is another use for this failure? That’s the cool thing about screwing up. You can find another way to leverage your bloopers. Lessons, not mistakes.

6. What personal skills have you not tapped into yet to build your business? I bet there are at least five of them. Find a way to incorporate them into various aspects of your daily work. Bring new value.

7. What personal skills have you not tapped into yet to help your customers? I bet there are least seven of them. Find a away to incorporate them into various aspects of your sales process. Bring newer value.

1. Are you cloning yourself through teaching others? If you want to be in the right place at the right time, start by being in a lot of places. Self-duplication wins.

2. Are you growth minded? If you’re not, that’s cool. But I urge you to get the hell out of this business. Whatever business you’re in. Growth AIN’T optional.

3. At what point are you making a living vs. building your business? Crucial turning point for entrepreneurs. Lightens your wallet, but loads up your legacy. Equity, not money.

4. Does this client represent long-term business potential? If not, it may be time to pass him along to someone else. Think 14th sale.

5. How are you being stretched and forced to grow? If you can’t come up with at least twenty answers to this question, you need (1) A new job, (2) A new boss, or (3) A new coach. Streeeeeeeeeetching builds muscle.

6. How are you making sure that everything you do is leading to something else you do? That’s the crucial leverage question. Recognize movement value.

7. How are you typecasting yourself? If so, you might be stunting
your growth. Think Napoleon Dynamite.

8. How can you use this to add more value to yourself? Another great leverage question. Add value daily.

9. How do you self-renew? Part of growth is starting from scratch. The willingness to swallow your ego and become a beginning once again. Drawing boards ahead!

10. How often are you bringing in work that improves your skills and keeps you competitive? Challenge yourself. Stretch yourself. See what you’re made of. Emphasize grow-related experiments.

11. In what ways are you currently obsolete? Don’t be naïve. You KNOW there’s at least one. Upgrade something today.

12. What are the most important things for you to work on that will grow your business the fastest? Make a list of those things. Post that list in a visible location in your office. Then make sure anything you’re doing at any given time is congruent with that list. Easy peezy, japaneezy.

13. What are you doing in the next five years that’s going to set you up for the next ten years? Think smart. Think ahead. Think about your kids. Think about your kid’s kids. Think about your retirement. Start planning early.

14. What are you doing to prepare for the next phase? Wait. You’re telling me that there IS no next phase? Wow. Maybe you should stop reading. Think about it.

15. What kind of clients would you like to have in three years? Now you know what to look for when it crosses your path. Affirm to attract.

16. What kind of work would you like to be doing in three years? Knowing that, you can spend the next three years mastering the competencies that will enable you do that kind of work effortlessly. Anticipate the future.

17. What new markets should you be entering? Since you ARE reinventing yourself every 3-4 years, consider new types of customers that you never would have thought of. Let them choose.

18. What percentage of your revenues this year came from products and services you didn’t offer three years ago? Ha! Not much, right? Diversity is equity.

19. What’s next? Most important two-word question you could ever ask, ever-ever-EVER. What IS next?

20. What’s your sequel? Do you think Friday the 13th would have been any good if they stopped at ONE? Never go away.

21. When was the last time you brought new skills to your clients and prospects? They’re tired of the same old song and dance. Show ‘em something NEW for once! Newness is attractive.

22. When was the last time you created new value? If your answer is anything over ‘six months,’ please email me immediately. Write [email protected] today.

23. When was the last time your business embraced change and did something innovative? Ya big chicken. Grow a pair.

24. Will it make your company more competitive? If not, why even bother? Nice litmus test.

1. Anytime you share link love, email the person you mentioned in your blog and thank them. They’ll probably find your post through their Google Alerts eventually, but still, a personal note from the actual blogger is always appreciated. It’s also more likely to stimulate word of mouth AND cement a new relationship, as it is grounded in value, respect and connectedness.

2. Ask your readers QUESTIONS. Here’s why: Questions aren’t questions. They’re catapults. That’s the best part. Once they’ve been asked, it’s neurologically impossible for the human brain not to seek answers. And when you change your questions, you change your world. You also change your reader’s worlds. So: Ask dangerous questions. Ask disturbing questions. Ask dumb questions. Ask killer questions. Ask ouch questions. Ask penetrating questions. Ask upside-down questions. Ask soul-shaking questions. When you do this, when you enhance your Questioning Practice, you stretch your (and your reader’s) mind into unexpected, unencumbered territory, surpassing that threshold level of understanding that so desperately tries to hold you back. What questions are you asking that the other 300 million bloggers out there AREN’T asking?

3. Avoid adverbial garbage. –LY is the enemy.

4. Be a great date for your reader.

5. BE HONEST: Would YOU read your blog every day?

6. Brainstorm: What have you accomplished that people would not only respect, but also desire to learn and utilize to gain the same benefits for their company? Blog about that.

7. But, don’t ask too many questions. This is a seductive writing trap that’s easy to fall into. And the challenge is, without context, without meat and without solid content to support your questions, you look like an amateur writer who couldn’t think of anything good or original to say, so he just decided to ask a bunch of questions. For example, if you were writing a blog post about networking, you wouldn’t start off the lead paragraph by writing, ‘What’s your networking plan? How many people have you met recently?’ Instead, try this: ‘Anonymity is bankruptcy. Anonymity is the greatest barrier to business success. You need to be everywhere. In person. Online. EVERYWHRE. Remember: If you want to be in the right place at the right time then you need to be in a lot of places. How many places are YOU in? What’s your monthly plan for making people more aware of you?’ See the difference? That, my friends, is called ‘content’ ?

8. Close each post with a Call To Action or Response Mechanism. If you don’t know what that is, email me.

9. Compile a Post Cue or Editorial Calendar in your Content Management System. This prevents you from throwing together some half-assed post last minute. I suggest staying at least two weeks – approximately 10 posts – ahead. (Wait. You DO have a Content Management System, right? If not, email me immediately.)

10. Create a writing schedule. This practice will force you NOT to rely on inspiration.

11. Don’t ‘use humor.’ It won’t come out funny. Any over determined action produces its exact opposite, says The Tao De Ching. Just be funny. Allow your natural hilariousness to shine.

12. Don’t make your readers do your job for you.

13. Get Meebo. Coolest thing ever.

14. Give people ideas they can implement TODAY.

15. Give people the meat. If they wanted fluff, they would have taken their Build-A-Bear.

16. Higher quality content earns you the right to be a little more self-promotional.

17. Ideally, your blog and your website should be the same thing. If I had to do it over, I would have designed it that way. However, if that’s not a possibility, no worries. Here’s what you do. Make sure your blog has a few static pages built in about you, your products and services and your philosophy. If your blog host doesn’t allow that, just make your static pages actual blog posts with the comments turned off. Cool little trick. Go to www.hellomynameisblog.com and click on the ‘Meet Scott’ tab for a perfect example.

18. Identify your TRUE expertise and inventory your negotiable personal assets. Then blog about that.

19. Imagine someone was going to pay you $1000 an hour to rent your brain. What questions would they have to ask you to get their money’s worth? Blog about that.

20. It’s not just about the experiences you’ve had. It’s not just about the lessons learned FROM those experiences. It’s the direct and practical application OF those experiences to the daily lives of your readers, hopefully having something to do with making more money.

21. Just read Seth Godin’s blog and Brian Clark’s blog everyday. Do what they do.

22. Make a list of what do you do that people are eager to pay money for. Then blog about that.

23. Make it easy for people to share your blog using social bookmarking composite tags, i.e., ‘Share This.’

24. Make your own words up. Here’s a fun experiment: Go into the preferences section of Microsoft Word and click on ‘Custom Dictionary.’ Then, click on ‘Edit.’ It will formulate a list of every word you’ve right-clicked on and added to the dictionary while writing. You’ll be able to go back in time and see what terms you invented. Then, write out their definitions. Then blog about that.

25. Make your readers stop, nod, gasp and say, ‘Wow.’ A powerful example is a question like, ‘What are you doing that makes absolutely NO sense?’

26. My blog is beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. If it were physically possible to make sweet love to a blog, I would do it. (Hell, I would even cuddle afterwards.) Anyway, before I get too graphic, here’s my point: Hire a professional blog designer. Don’t download one of those crappy templates from Blogger.com. DEFINITELY don’t try to do it yourself. And certainly don’t commission your sixteen year-old to whip it up on Photoshop during study hall when he should be reviewing for his calculus final. Call Lucia Mancuso at The Blog Studio at 614/447-9811. Tell her The Nametag Guy sent you, and I guarantee your blog will become gorgeous. NOTE: I receive no affiliate commissions or referral fees for this recommendation. I just think The Blog Studio rocks. And my blog won an award for a ‘Top 100 Business Blog on the Web’ within three months of implementing their new design. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

27. Nobody cares what you’ve done. They only what you’ve learned. Is that what you’re blogging about?

28. Notice things and give them names.

29. Pick a lane; take a side.

30. Picture the people who would give their right arm to acquire the valuable expertise you now realize you possess. Then email them every once in a while to tell them you were thinking of them when you published a specific post.

31. Post every single day. If you’re on vacation or sick, have about a dozen posts ready to go in case of emergency. Most blog platforms have future-posting capabilities.

32. Purchase URL’s for specific blog posts. For example, I have a series of articles called, ‘Attributes of Approachable Leaders.’ So, I bought the domain www.approachableleaders.com and now redirect it to the post series. This makes it easier to share the entire sequence with my readers. Plus, this strategy enables me bookmark key topic ideas for future products and protects my copyright, as trademark is a function of usage. So for now, The Approachable Leader is just a series of blog posts. I’m sure it will become a book (er, ‘blook’) eventually. Either way, it’s still MINE. Remember: He who owns the domain owns the idea.

33. Recall what it is everybody is always asking you about. Then blog about that.

34. Remember the headline of this very article? Re-read it. As yourself what drew you to it. Then replicate that persuasiveness in your own posts.

35. REMEMBER: Nobody cares about you. And I don’t mean that literally. What I mean is, people don’t care how good you are; they care how good you’re going to help them become. People don’t care what you do for a living; they care what you’re passionate about. People don’t care if you’re having a bad day; they care how you’re going to help them have a better day. And lastly, people don’t care about your company, they care about the problems your company can solve. Got it?

36. Select either a Niche Topic or Niche Market. Generalism will only succeed if you are (1) really, really good, (2) really, really smart, or (3) have a really, really huge following.

37. Share link love in every post. But don’t overdo it. A confused mind never buys.

38. Sit down and physically write out your answer(s) the question: ‘If everybody did exactly what you said, what would the world look like?’ Once you’ve got 5-7 answers, consider that to be a framework of your personal philosophy. Then, every day when you post, all you have to ask the follow up question: ‘Is what I’m doing right now giving my readers the tools they need to BUILD that world?’ If it’s not, trash it. Simple as that.

39. Some blogs don’t allow comments from readers unless they’re registered users. I think this is a stupid strategy. So you get a few spam comments. Who cares?

40. Some blogs require readers to subscribe before they’re able to read full posts. I think this is a dumb, fan-alienating strategy. If you’re good, they’ll be back. If you’re really good, they’ll be back with their friends. If you’re really, REALLY good, they’ll be back with their friends and their wallets.

41. Stop quoting Einstein, Rumi, Jesus and Seneca. Quote YOU. If you want to position yourself as a Thought Leader, you need to quote yourself, or else nobody else will. For an example of how powerful self-quoting can be, check out the coolest quotation site in the history of mankind: www.stuffscottsaid.com.

42. Sure, nobody cares about your dog, but they MIGHT care about the 47 lessons your dog taught you about customer service. Remember: Meat. Content. Guts. Lists. Lessons.

43. Sure, nobody cares about your dog, but they MIGHT care about the blog your dog writes every day. Make it funny and cool and use great pictures. Create a personality and writing voice for your pet. Wiggle over to www.paisleyblog.com for an example.

44. Teach people the secret to something.

45. The attention span of a human being is about six seconds. If you do the math, that comes out to reading four lines of written text. So, unless you want to bore your readers and risk them tuning you out like a Tony Little infomercial, remember two words: LINE BREAKS.

46. The more personal you are in your writing, the more people will relate to it.

47. The more you give away for free, the wealthier you will be. Many bloggers disagree with this. Me? I think it’s a Golden Rule. And while I DO believe you should offer exclusive content that people need to pay for (with their money or their email address) here are ten reasons to give away more stuff for free on your blog:

o Content that you write doesn’t do any good sitting in a folder on your computer.

o You can let the world be your editor. By sharing your writing (for free) with lots of people, you will get unexpected, unsolicited feedback on how to improve it.

o The more content you have out there for free, the more fans you will create.

o The Internet was founded upon the idea of free. It’s the democratization of information. And some things (like information, articles, content,) are so readily available, that if you DON’T have at least SOME stuff for free, people are going to find them elsewhere.

o If you dropped a piano and a plum off of the Empire State Building, which one would hurt more if it hit you? Exactly. The piano. Because More Mass = More Power.

o Who’s more of an expert: someone who wrote 12 articles or someone who write 1,200 articles?

o ‘The act of giving away our knowledge makes it again fresh in our mind,’ says my hero, Julia Cameron.

o Free boosts your Google juice.

o Free increases the odds of someone NEW reading your stuff, thus earning their loyalty.

o Free increases the odds of someone OLD reading your stuff, thus increasing their loyalty.

48. There are 175,000 new blogs created every single day. Mine was awarded a ‘Top 100 Business Blog on the Web.’ Guess I’m doing something right. Maybe you should stop by more often! Go to www.hellomynameisblog.com, see what I do, then adopt the architectural, design and writing strategies to your own blog.

49. Think about what are you so good at that you make look easy. Then blog about that. (Ideally in video form.)

50. Traffic is a worthless statistic. What matters is how many readers become fans. What matters is the number of subscribers you have. What matters is how many readers click on the ‘Send to a Friend’ button after each post. What matters is how often your posts get tweeted, dugg, stumbled upon and linked in other people’s blogs. What matters is how much Google loves your blog. What matters is how many emails you get each day from people who read your stuff that want to (1) say thanks, (2) learn more about you, (3) HIRE you, or (4) take you out to lunch.

51. Tweet every one of your blog posts. But don’t say, ‘My blog post today is about making more money…’ Instead write, ‘Here’s a powerful blog post about doubling your income…’ Got it?

52. Understand The Caveman Effect.

53. Use headlines with numbers. Based on my post and article statistics, they get the most hits.

54. Use lots of lists. There IS a science behind why lists work. I’ve done the research for you here.

55. Use pictures. Personal pictures. Funny pictures from Google Images. Clean, sharp and powerful pictures from Istockphoto. Clip art is the enemy.
56. Use real-world, relatable examples. That means NO Oprah, NO Tiger and NO Trump. Use your Dad, a local businessperson or your second grade teacher growing up.

57. Use series posts or multiple part posts. This keeps people coming back and enables greater depth to be achieved in various topic areas.

58. Use wallet-grabbing headlines that have something to do with making more money. I hate to say it, but that’s really all people seem to care about. They want money. That’s about it. If you look at the benefit or result of anything anyone writes about or sells, it all usually boils down to money. So, make your headlines hit ‘em in the back pocket.

59. Video, video, video.

60. What blogs do you read religiously? Make a list of the reasons why. Then evaluate your current blog and ask yourself if you’re practicing those same reasons.

61. Whatever your blog URL is, I guarantee you it sucks. Nobody is going or (1) remember, or (2) tell their friends, ‘Dude, you should check out www.hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com!’ Too long. Too many letters. Too much to remember. Nobody cares. So, be smart. Register a domain name that’s quicker, easier and rolls of the tongue nicely, while maintaining consistency with your brand. For example, my blog redirect domain is www.hellomynameisblog.com. Much better, huh? How many readers are you losing because your blog domain name is 127 characters long?

62. When you write, just leave out the parts people skip.

63. Write for your ideal reader.

64. Write like you talk, unless you talk like a moron.

65. Write short, list-based posts; then ask people to rewrite the exact same list based on their own experience. Great way to solicit lost of comments, plus it’s a fantastic content generator. Example here.
66. Write shorter paragraphs.

67. Write shorter sentences.

68. Write what wants to be written. Honor thy tingles.

69. Yes, I said this earlier, but it bears repeating: Design is EVERYTHING. To quote Seth Godin, author of the #1 marketing blog in the world, ‘An organism needs to invest energy in being beautiful … Ordinary products are almost never beautiful … Even the most hard-hearted people are suckers for beauty. We treat people and products differently when we think they’re beautiful. The reason people and organizations have invested so much in beauty over the years is that beauty pays off.’ Is your blog beautiful?

70. Yes, stories are powerful. Yes, stories are better than statistics or quotes. Yes, stories are what readers remember and repeat. Yes, stories are what audiences connect with most. Yes, stories are the best way to communicate a message. But you can’t just tell the story. You’ve got to stick the landing. So, when your story is over, don’t just move on to the next story. Figure out the fifteen lessons, the Universal Human Emotion/Experience and the Take Home Value. Otherwise it’s just a story. Here’s a perfect example.

71. You have two kinds of expertise. First, there’s your Content Expertise: It’s topical. It’s a field of study. It comes from your head. It comes from what you KNOW. And, you deepen your Content Expertise through learning, reading, writing and teaching. Second, there’s your Core Expertise: It’s a practice. It’s a way of being. It comes from your heart and soul. It comes from who you ARE. And, you deepen your Core Expertise through being, living and practicing. So, I share that duality with you because your blog needs to write from BOTH categories. Content AND Core. For example, my Content Expertise is ‘Approachability,’ whereas my Core Expertise is ‘Stick Yourself Out There.’ Got it?

72. Your posts are too long. Make it a series, chunk it down or find some other way to deliver it. Nobody has time to read more than about 1000 words. If that.

1. Anytime you share link love, email the person you mentioned in your blog and thank them. They’ll probably find your post through their Google Alerts eventually, but still, a personal note from the actual blogger is always appreciated. It’s also more likely to stimulate word of mouth AND cement a new relationship, as it is grounded in value, respect and connectedness.

2. Ask your readers QUESTIONS. Here’s why: Questions aren’t questions. They’re catapults. That’s the best part. Once they’ve been asked, it’s neurologically impossible for the human brain not to seek answers. And when you change your questions, you change your world. You also change your reader’s worlds. So: Ask dangerous questions. Ask disturbing questions. Ask dumb questions. Ask killer questions. Ask ouch questions. Ask penetrating questions. Ask upside-down questions. Ask soul-shaking questions. When you do this, when you enhance your Questioning Practice, you stretch your (and your reader’s) mind into unexpected, unencumbered territory, surpassing that threshold level of understanding that so desperately tries to hold you back. What questions are you asking that the other 300 million bloggers out there AREN’T asking?

3. Avoid adverbial garbage. –LY is the enemy.

4. Be a great date for your reader.

5. BE HONEST: Would YOU read your blog every day?

6. Brainstorm: What have you accomplished that people would not only respect, but also desire to learn and utilize to gain the same benefits for their company? Blog about that.

7. But, don’t ask too many questions. This is a seductive writing trap that’s easy to fall into. And the challenge is, without context, without meat and without solid content to support your questions, you look like an amateur writer who couldn’t think of anything good or original to say, so he just decided to ask a bunch of questions. For example, if you were writing a blog post about networking, you wouldn’t start off the lead paragraph by writing, ‘What’s your networking plan? How many people have you met recently?’ Instead, try this: ‘Anonymity is bankruptcy. Anonymity is the greatest barrier to business success. You need to be everywhere. In person. Online. EVERYWHRE. Remember: If you want to be in the right place at the right time then you need to be in a lot of places. How many places are YOU in? What’s your monthly plan for making people more aware of you?’ See the difference? That, my friends, is called ‘content’ ?

8. Close each post with a Call To Action or Response Mechanism. If you don’t know what that is, email me.

9. Compile a Post Cue or Editorial Calendar in your Content Management System. This prevents you from throwing together some half-assed post last minute. I suggest staying at least two weeks – approximately 10 posts – ahead. (Wait. You DO have a Content Management System, right? If not, email me immediately.)

10. Create a writing schedule. This practice will force you NOT to rely on inspiration.

11. Don’t ‘use humor.’ It won’t come out funny. Any over determined action produces its exact opposite, says The Tao De Ching. Just be funny. Allow your natural hilariousness to shine.

12. Don’t make your readers do your job for you.

13. Get Meebo. Coolest thing ever.

14. Give people ideas they can implement TODAY.

15. Give people the meat. If they wanted fluff, they would have taken their Build-A-Bear.

16. Higher quality content earns you the right to be a little more self-promotional.

17. Ideally, your blog and your website should be the same thing. If I had to do it over, I would have designed it that way. However, if that’s not a possibility, no worries. Here’s what you do. Make sure your blog has a few static pages built in about you, your products and services and your philosophy. If your blog host doesn’t allow that, just make your static pages actual blog posts with the comments turned off. Cool little trick. Go to www.hellomynameisblog.com and click on the ‘Meet Scott’ tab for a perfect example.

18. Identify your TRUE expertise and inventory your negotiable personal assets. Then blog about that.

19. Imagine someone was going to pay you $1000 an hour to rent your brain. What questions would they have to ask you to get their money’s worth? Blog about that.

20. It’s not just about the experiences you’ve had. It’s not just about the lessons learned FROM those experiences. It’s the direct and practical application OF those experiences to the daily lives of your readers, hopefully having something to do with making more money.

21. Just read Seth Godin’s blog and Brian Clark’s blog everyday. Do what they do.

22. Make a list of what do you do that people are eager to pay money for. Then blog about that.

23. Make it easy for people to share your blog using social bookmarking composite tags, i.e., ‘Share This.’

24. Make your own words up. Here’s a fun experiment: Go into the preferences section of Microsoft Word and click on ‘Custom Dictionary.’ Then, click on ‘Edit.’ It will formulate a list of every word you’ve right-clicked on and added to the dictionary while writing. You’ll be able to go back in time and see what terms you invented. Then, write out their definitions. Then blog about that.

25. Make your readers stop, nod, gasp and say, ‘Wow.’ A powerful example is a question like, ‘What are you doing that makes absolutely NO sense?’

26. My blog is beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. If it were physically possible to make sweet love to a blog, I would do it. (Hell, I would even cuddle afterwards.) Anyway, before I get too graphic, here’s my point: Hire a professional blog designer. Don’t download one of those crappy templates from Blogger.com. DEFINITELY don’t try to do it yourself. And certainly don’t commission your sixteen year-old to whip it up on Photoshop during study hall when he should be reviewing for his calculus final. Call Lucia Mancuso at The Blog Studio at 614/447-9811. Tell her The Nametag Guy sent you, and I guarantee your blog will become gorgeous. NOTE: I receive no affiliate commissions or referral fees for this recommendation. I just think The Blog Studio rocks. And my blog won an award for a ‘Top 100 Business Blog on the Web’ within three months of implementing their new design. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

27. Nobody cares what you’ve done. They only what you’ve learned. Is that what you’re blogging about?

28. Notice things and give them names.

29. Pick a lane; take a side.

30. Picture the people who would give their right arm to acquire the valuable expertise you now realize you possess. Then email them every once in a while to tell them you were thinking of them when you published a specific post.

31. Post every single day. If you’re on vacation or sick, have about a dozen posts ready to go in case of emergency. Most blog platforms have future-posting capabilities.

32. Purchase URL’s for specific blog posts. For example, I have a series of articles called, ‘Attributes of Approachable Leaders.’ So, I bought the domain www.approachableleaders.com and now redirect it to the post series. This makes it easier to share the entire sequence with my readers. Plus, this strategy enables me bookmark key topic ideas for future products and protects my copyright, as trademark is a function of usage. So for now, The Approachable Leader is just a series of blog posts. I’m sure it will become a book (er, ‘blook’) eventually. Either way, it’s still MINE. Remember: He who owns the domain owns the idea.

33. Recall what it is everybody is always asking you about. Then blog about that.

34. Remember the headline of this very article? Re-read it. As yourself what drew you to it. Then replicate that persuasiveness in your own posts.

35. REMEMBER: Nobody cares about you. And I don’t mean that literally. What I mean is, people don’t care how good you are; they care how good you’re going to help them become. People don’t care what you do for a living; they care what you’re passionate about. People don’t care if you’re having a bad day; they care how you’re going to help them have a better day. And lastly, people don’t care about your company, they care about the problems your company can solve. Got it?

36. Select either a Niche Topic or Niche Market. Generalism will only succeed if you are (1) really, really good, (2) really, really smart, or (3) have a really, really huge following.

37. Share link love in every post. But don’t overdo it. A confused mind never buys.

38. Sit down and physically write out your answer(s) the question: ‘If everybody did exactly what you said, what would the world look like?’ Once you’ve got 5-7 answers, consider that to be a framework of your personal philosophy. Then, every day when you post, all you have to ask the follow up question: ‘Is what I’m doing right now giving my readers the tools they need to BUILD that world?’ If it’s not, trash it. Simple as that.

39. Some blogs don’t allow comments from readers unless they’re registered users. I think this is a stupid strategy. So you get a few spam comments. Who cares?

40. Some blogs require readers to subscribe before they’re able to read full posts. I think this is a dumb, fan-alienating strategy. If you’re good, they’ll be back. If you’re really good, they’ll be back with their friends. If you’re really, REALLY good, they’ll be back with their friends and their wallets.

41. Stop quoting Einstein, Rumi, Jesus and Seneca. Quote YOU. If you want to position yourself as a Thought Leader, you need to quote yourself, or else nobody else will. For an example of how powerful self-quoting can be, check out the coolest quotation site in the history of mankind: www.stuffscottsaid.com.

42. Sure, nobody cares about your dog, but they MIGHT care about the 47 lessons your dog taught you about customer service. Remember: Meat. Content. Guts. Lists. Lessons.

43. Sure, nobody cares about your dog, but they MIGHT care about the blog your dog writes every day. Make it funny and cool and use great pictures. Create a personality and writing voice for your pet. Wiggle over to www.paisleyblog.com for an example.

44. Teach people the secret to something.

45. The attention span of a human being is about six seconds. If you do the math, that comes out to reading four lines of written text. So, unless you want to bore your readers and risk them tuning you out like a Tony Little infomercial, remember two words: LINE BREAKS.

46. The more personal you are in your writing, the more people will relate to it.

47. The more you give away for free, the wealthier you will be. Many bloggers disagree with this. Me? I think it’s a Golden Rule. And while I DO believe you should offer exclusive content that people need to pay for (with their money or their email address) here are ten reasons to give away more stuff for free on your blog:

o Content that you write doesn’t do any good sitting in a folder on your computer.

o You can let the world be your editor. By sharing your writing (for free) with lots of people, you will get unexpected, unsolicited feedback on how to improve it.

o The more content you have out there for free, the more fans you will create.

o The Internet was founded upon the idea of free. It’s the democratization of information. And some things (like information, articles, content,) are so readily available, that if you DON’T have at least SOME stuff for free, people are going to find them elsewhere.

o If you dropped a piano and a plum off of the Empire State Building, which one would hurt more if it hit you? Exactly. The piano. Because More Mass = More Power.

o Who’s more of an expert: someone who wrote 12 articles or someone who write 1,200 articles?

o ‘The act of giving away our knowledge makes it again fresh in our mind,’ says my hero, Julia Cameron.

o Free boosts your Google juice.

o Free increases the odds of someone NEW reading your stuff, thus earning their loyalty.

o Free increases the odds of someone OLD reading your stuff, thus increasing their loyalty.

48. There are 175,000 new blogs created every single day. Mine was awarded a ‘Top 100 Business Blog on the Web.’ Guess I’m doing something right. Maybe you should stop by more often! Go to www.hellomynameisblog.com, see what I do, then adopt the architectural, design and writing strategies to your own blog.

49. Think about what are you so good at that you make look easy. Then blog about that. (Ideally in video form.)

50. Traffic is a worthless statistic. What matters is how many readers become fans. What matters is the number of subscribers you have. What matters is how many readers click on the ‘Send to a Friend’ button after each post. What matters is how often your posts get tweeted, dugg, stumbled upon and linked in other people’s blogs. What matters is how much Google loves your blog. What matters is how many emails you get each day from people who read your stuff that want to (1) say thanks, (2) learn more about you, (3) HIRE you, or (4) take you out to lunch.

51. Tweet every one of your blog posts. But don’t say, ‘My blog post today is about making more money…’ Instead write, ‘Here’s a powerful blog post about doubling your income…’ Got it?

52. Understand The Caveman Effect.

53. Use headlines with numbers. Based on my post and article statistics, they get the most hits.

54. Use lots of lists. There IS a science behind why lists work. I’ve done the research for you here.

55. Use pictures. Personal pictures. Funny pictures from Google Images. Clean, sharp and powerful pictures from Istockphoto. Clip art is the enemy.
56. Use real-world, relatable examples. That means NO Oprah, NO Tiger and NO Trump. Use your Dad, a local businessperson or your second grade teacher growing up.

57. Use series posts or multiple part posts. This keeps people coming back and enables greater depth to be achieved in various topic areas.

58. Use wallet-grabbing headlines that have something to do with making more money. I hate to say it, but that’s really all people seem to care about. They want money. That’s about it. If you look at the benefit or result of anything anyone writes about or sells, it all usually boils down to money. So, make your headlines hit ‘em in the back pocket.

59. Video, video, video.

60. What blogs do you read religiously? Make a list of the reasons why. Then evaluate your current blog and ask yourself if you’re practicing those same reasons.

61. Whatever your blog URL is, I guarantee you it sucks. Nobody is going or (1) remember, or (2) tell their friends, ‘Dude, you should check out www.hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com!’ Too long. Too many letters. Too much to remember. Nobody cares. So, be smart. Register a domain name that’s quicker, easier and rolls of the tongue nicely, while maintaining consistency with your brand. For example, my blog redirect domain is www.hellomynameisblog.com. Much better, huh? How many readers are you losing because your blog domain name is 127 characters long?

62. When you write, just leave out the parts people skip.

63. Write for your ideal reader.

64. Write like you talk, unless you talk like a moron.

65. Write short, list-based posts; then ask people to rewrite the exact same list based on their own experience. Great way to solicit lost of comments, plus it’s a fantastic content generator. Example here.
66. Write shorter paragraphs.

67. Write shorter sentences.

68. Write what wants to be written. Honor thy tingles.

69. Yes, I said this earlier, but it bears repeating: Design is EVERYTHING. To quote Seth Godin, author of the #1 marketing blog in the world, ‘An organism needs to invest energy in being beautiful … Ordinary products are almost never beautiful … Even the most hard-hearted people are suckers for beauty. We treat people and products differently when we think they’re beautiful. The reason people and organizations have invested so much in beauty over the years is that beauty pays off.’ Is your blog beautiful?

70. Yes, stories are powerful. Yes, stories are better than statistics or quotes. Yes, stories are what readers remember and repeat. Yes, stories are what audiences connect with most. Yes, stories are the best way to communicate a message. But you can’t just tell the story. You’ve got to stick the landing. So, when your story is over, don’t just move on to the next story. Figure out the fifteen lessons, the Universal Human Emotion/Experience and the Take Home Value. Otherwise it’s just a story. Here’s a perfect example.

71. You have two kinds of expertise. First, there’s your Content Expertise: It’s topical. It’s a field of study. It comes from your head. It comes from what you KNOW. And, you deepen your Content Expertise through learning, reading, writing and teaching. Second, there’s your Core Expertise: It’s a practice. It’s a way of being. It comes from your heart and soul. It comes from who you ARE. And, you deepen your Core Expertise through being, living and practicing. So, I share that duality with you because your blog needs to write from BOTH categories. Content AND Core. For example, my Content Expertise is ‘Approachability,’ whereas my Core Expertise is ‘Stick Yourself Out There.’ Got it?

72. Your posts are too long. Make it a series, chunk it down or find some other way to deliver it. Nobody has time to read more than about 1000 words. If that.

1. Are you fitting the customer’s unique needs or trying to prescribe them a packaged answer? Don’t immediately reach for ready-make replies. Customize every conversation.

2. How often do you respond to mundane questions with memorable answers? The best way to attract someone’s attention is to break their patterns. People notice. Besides, you’ve got nothing to lose, right? Make mundane memorable.

3. When was the last time you talked to a Customer Service Rep and got mechanically scripted answers that did not apply to your questions? It probably made you feel unimportant, right? Right. Don’t do that to your customers. Roboticism doesn’t work.

4. What questions must you have answered by the time the meeting is over? Great to ask customers up front as a measure of accountability. Questions are bridges.

5. Have you answered the questions they are likely to ask? Brainstorm a list of Top Ten Questions My Customers are Most Likely to Ask. Then write three potential answers for each one. Storehouse your thoughts.

6. What will you say if the customer asks a question you can’t answer? Be willing to say you don’t know. That you’ll find out. That you’ll think about it and get back to them within 24 hours. Sure beats faking it to preserve your ego. Practice positive ignorance.

1. How do you learn something from each person you meet? Everybody is smarter than you. Learn from strangers.

2. Have you learned to thrive in many environments? Your desk. Your car. Your office. Airplanes. Taxis. Hotels. Learn anytime, anyplace.

3. Are you (honestly) ready to learn? If not, if you’re the kind of person who thinks they have all the answers, your competitors will stomp all over you. Learning takes courage.

4. What’s your daily plan for lifelong learning? Wait. You mean you don’t have one? Yikes. Chronically enhance learning.

5. What am I learning from this suffering? With every catastrophe comes a bundle of lessons. Listen to them. Especially if you’re stuck in the hospital for six days with a tube in your chest and nothing to do other than contemplate the stupid decisions you’ve made in your life. Suffering enables growth.

6. What have you recently UN-learned? Learning is admitting you’ve been wrong this whole time. That you’ve changed your mind on an issue you once so fervently supported. Admit to ignorance.

7. What’s your next learning phase? You should have one of these approximately every six months. Maybe it’s a new skill. Or philosophy. Or daily practice. Whatever. Harvest the learning.

8. Who is the biggest naysayer and what can I learn from that point of view? Embrace these jerks. Appreciate their negative point of views. Thank them. Losers are teachers.

9. How can you double the learning in this experience? Reflect on it. Write about it. Share it with a friend. Teach it to a class. Give a speech on it. Ensure effective learning.

10. What are the obstacles I create that hinder a full engagement with my learning? Find ’em, crush ’em and move on. Obstacles are temporary.

11. How can I use this situation as an opportunity to learn something about myself, and change for the better? ANSWER: Many ways. Be smart. Leverage everything.

12. How can you make sure you remember what you have learned? Write it. Teach it. Speak it. LIVE it. BE it. Preserve your learning.

13. In what areas do you want to receive more learning? Make a list and incorporate that into your new learning plan. Start it today.

14. What did you learn today that someone else could use tomorrow? That someone should be your customer. Immediate application. That’s the key. Integrate previous learnings.

15. How do you learn about your customers? Ever thought about BEING one of your customer’s customers? Wow. What a concept. Live your learning.

1. Are other companies stealing your service philosophy? Why not? Isn’t it cool enough? People steal the Ritz-Carlton’s Service Philosophy DAILY. That says something.

2. Are you a master of the welcome? The first words out of your mouth. In person. On the phone. Via email. Friendly always wins.

3. Are you clueless about how customers feel when they walk in your doors? Maybe try BEING one of your own customers for once. See what it’s like to be on the other side. Or, when all else fails, just ask them. Wear their shoes.

4. Are your customers satisfied, loyal or insistent? The difference is: satisfied customers tell no people, loyal customers tell (some) people and insistent customers not only TELL people; but they return WITH those people.

5. Do you make it easy for customers to complain? You need to find out where you suck. Hearing how great you are inflates your ego, but hearing where you suck fills your wallet. Complaints are gifts.

6. How do you want your customers to describe their experience with you? Good? Great? Awesome? Unforgettable? Wow. That would be nice. On the other hand, some customers aren’t telling anyone about you at ALL. That’s not good.

7. Is it important to the customer, or does it just make you feel better? Ahem, policy. Ahem, rules. Ahem, mission statement. Ahem, company history. It’s about THEM.

8. Is what you’re doing today going to bring this customer back tomorrow? Measure ever service action, every touch point and every brand moment against this philosophy and you’ll be a rockstar. Think repeat customers.

9. Is your company’s service environment forgettable? Most of them are. Because they’re normal. Or boring. Too bad nobody notices normal. And nobody buys boring. Be more unforgettable.

10. What are you doing to earn your customers’ loyalty? Key word here: EARN. Because when they walk in the door, you’ve already got a negative balance with them. Based on the culture, based on their stereotypes, you’ve got to work extra hard. Bolster customer confidence.

11. What interaction with your business would your customers value enough to create exceptional loyalty? Maybe it’s your return policy. Or your follow up phone calls. Or your tune-up service. Some interaction that makes the mundane memorable. Satisfied isn’t retention.

12. Why are your clients actively telling their friends about you? Find out. Ask them point blank. And if they tell you why, great. Find out where the rock created the ripple and then throw more rocks. And, if they tell you why NOT, even better. Find out what WOULD cause the rock to create the ripple and then throw more rocks. WOM makes money.