I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Holy Hack, Batman
Has anyone ever asked you, "So, what's your superpower?"
Ugh.
Someone asked me that last week, and I realized how much I really hate that question.
Firstly, it implies that there's only one thing we each excel at, which, no, I don't buy that.
Even comic book superheroes have multiple powers.
Superman is bulletproof, has x-ray and heat vision, and can fly.
Secondly, as a way to get to know someone, it's pretty lame and lazy. I can't remember any time when someone has told me their superpower, and I've thought, wow, that's so cool.
And, I'm fairly certain the same is true when I've shared a superpower of mine, one of which is that I make complex ideas and concepts easy to understand and apply.
(Groan. Yawn. Next.)
But, when I was asked that question last week, I did something a little different.
I let a recent testimonial do the talking for me.
I said something like, "I recently gave a presentation at New York Public Library's Business Center on pricing, and this is the feedback I received: 'Thank you for sharing so much knowledge with our audience in a way that's easy to understand and act upon. You are a rock star and a really gifted presenter!'"
The woman I was speaking to, a seasoned business coach and consultant and someone I admire, lit up. I mean, actually lit up. It really surprised me.
And then she said, "Wow. I'd love to connect you to some folks that create events for entrepreneurs. Is that something you'd be interested in?"
Uh, heck yeah!
I know I've talked about the power of storytelling and the power of feedback before, but this just blew me away.
Honestly, I'm still thinking about it and trying to figure out how I can apply this tactic in response to other tried and true networking questions.
And, if you use this approach in your upcoming meet and greets, I hope you'll share the results with me because we're all learning and growing and improving, and I'm curious to know if it's one of those little hacks that's endlessly useful and impactful.
P.S. In case you missed it, last week was all about Trash Talk.
Sharing is caring. Please pass this message on.
Your success is our strategy!
Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Hi Reader, Last week we had the first tornado warning in Manhattan and the second in New York City that I can recall. There was horrible air quality from the Canadian wildfires as well as torrential rains with their accompanying flood warnings the week before. Right now, Spain and France are suffering devastating wildfires and heat waves. I've written before about disaster preparedness, but I really want to drive home the need to think about and plan for the potential impact of natural or...
I promised I'd share some AI wins after bashing on it for the last couple of months, so here goes. An old client of mine runs a wine shop in Brooklyn. She's got some help but she's largely a one-woman show. She's been using Monday's AI features to help her analyze and manage her inventory and understand seasonal sales trends to purchase more smartly. She had to level up her investment and hire someone to help her set up the AI agents she needs but feels it's been money well-spent. Another one...
There are lots of thoughts spinning around in my brain at any given moment. Maybe you can relate. We're kind of living in whirlwind times where information is coming at us incessantly; it's like being caught up in a tornado. There's just no way to catch your breath and really marinate on anything for too long. So here are a few things I'm trying to give a little bit more thought and attention to these days: What impact will Pope Leo's AI encyclical have on governments, tech leaders, and...