Ellie Mirman's Startup Marketing Blog

Hungry? How About Some Cheesy Inspirational Quotes?

Posted by Ellie Mirman

Dec 31, 2008

When I find something cool, I tend to get very excited about it, obsess about it for a little while, and then move on to the next big thing. Hopefully I can use my blog to capture those moments of excitement for me, and you, and the whole wide Internet.

My latest source of excitement is "the nametag guy" - a guy named Scott who wears a nametag 24/7 in an effort "to make people friendlier." He's an author and speaker (quite a young one, I might add) on the topic of approachability - both for personal and business use. He's got a blog and podcast and all that good stuff... but enough of my free promotion. Now onto the good stuff - the content.

66 Priceless Pieces of Business AdviceI admit I can be a bit of a cheesball and so of course I latched on to his free ebook "66 Priceless Pieces of Business Advice I Couldn't Live Without". There are maybe a few things I'd suggest to Scott to better present his content for better distribution and better user experience, but hey, that's not what this post is about (we can do that stuff later). For now, I thought I'd share a few of the cheesy inspirational quotes that I particularly liked.


Be confident enough to be humble.

I love this one becuase one of the qualities I admire most in people is humility. And some of the most humble people I know are those that I find the most amazing in terms of their knowledge or kindness or any other brag-able quality. Humble people always manage to blow me away.

Anonymity is the greatest barrier to business success.

I relate this one to my growth and success in my role in my job. If you want to make it anywhere, you need to do something. And that means you need to have the courage and confidence to get out there, slap your name on and take responsiblity for your actions, whether they have positive or negative results. It may be a risk, but the higher the risk, the greater the payoff right? Take that chance, learn from your mistakes, and make a name for yourself.

Be unique, not different.

Though I haven't read the follow-up article all on this topic, I already see the difference between the two. Not only is this a great sentiment, but the tone of the sound bite itself speaks to the overall tone of Scott's speeches and purpose - it's a positive, optimistic tone. "Be unique" is a positive sentiment, creating yourself as a unique person, whereas "be different" merely defines you in relation to everyone else. It's the negative space instead of the positive space.

Act like you already are the person you want to become.

The new (broader) version of "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"? I like this one also for the dependent step of figuring out who is the person you want to become. Related quote: "Figure out exactly who you are, and then go be that person every day."

Love your zone of discomfort.

Love it. The quote I mean. You don't get anywhere being "comfortable."

If you aren't being criticized, you aren't doing much.

HubSpot TV co-host Karen Rubin and I were chatting about how she's now getting a few critics as the show gets bigger and bigger... a sign that the show is really starting to get big. It's true. If you're going to do anything significant, you're going to get critics.

Learning is not waiting to talk.

True and self-explanatory.

The best swimmers are always in the pool.

Recently I was advising someone who wants to learn and write about social media. First step: get involved. Now. This quote speaks to two elements: the best swimmers are those that are really engaged in the activity and also are so engaged likely because they have a passion for swimming.

And a great personal branding quote to end on:

It's not who you know, it's who knows you.

You can check out all 66 cheesy inspirational quotes here (and feel free to share).

Topics: work life, happiness, branding

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