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?
Mind Blown 🤯
Something you may or may not realize about me is that I like to mix things up. In part because I like to keep things interesting, and in part because I'm a deeply curious person.
A couple of weeks ago, I started to ask a couple of new questions in my networking sessions.
Regularly changing things up from your standard what-do-you-do, how-do-you-do-that kind of questions, keeps things fresh and may also make your conversations more memorable for both you and your new connections.
It's also a much better (and more enjoyable) way to accomplish the task at hand.
Honestly, I learned this 'trick' years ago during my brief speed-dating era.
If this sounds a bit crazy, it shouldn't. Speed-dating and networking are two sides of the same coin.
In either case, you're trying to suss out whether your conversation partner is a good fit for your wants and needs while quickly establishing rapport.
I don't know about you, but I simply cannot have the same conversation 6, 7, 10 times in a single evening. My brain is not built to endure that kind of torture.
So, partly to amuse myself and partly because I realized I didn't really care what someone did for a living or what part of the greater New York area they called home, I began to ask a whole different set of questions.
I'd ask what the last great book they read was, or to tell me about the best travel experience they ever had. These types of questions told me more about a person I might want to see again than the rote Q&A of getting to know someone in 5 minutes ever could.
And, because these question were unexpected they forced us to deviate from the usual script, which was a lot more memorable, sometimes surprising, and probably more honest than other conversations going on in the room at the same time.
Even though I might not have made a love match, I often left with several books to add to my reading list and some helpful travel tips. Two things of value to me...so not a total loss by any means.
So, what are are my latest networking questions?
- What's your best tip or insight that other [experts like you] aren't telling people?
​ - What's something you tell people that blows their minds or completely changes how they think about [something you're an expert in]?
I love the answer I recently got from a seasoned copywriter.
She said, "Most people don't understand that the purpose of an FAQ is to overcome sales objections."
Honestly, this makes so much sense to me that I literally had a 'DOH' moment.
Of course that's what an FAQ is for.
While I might have known that on some level, the way she so clearly articulated it made it feel novel and provided this startling clarity.
Since our conversation, I've been checking out all my clients' FAQs and considering how we might tweak their content to better serve this critical sales objective.
A few weeks ago, I talked about how important it is to educate your audience on your value throughout your customer acquisition journey.
If you're struggling to figure out where to start with that, consider answering the above questions for yourself and working your answers into your upfront marketing and, of course, your networking.
And, if you need some help with any of the above, just schedule some time to talk with me.
​
Until next week,
​
PS - In case you missed it, last week I shared an important New Rule for businesses operating in the US, beginning in 2024.
Sharing is caring. Please pass this message on.
Your success is our strategy!
No longer want to receive my newsletter but don't want to miss my special offers and announcements? Click here.
​To completely unsubscribe from all future communications, please opt out below.
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, This fall my mom was diagnosed with mild-to-moderate dementia. While sad, it did not come as a surprise. It's one reason I sold her house and we moved in together late last summer. At first, I planned outings to the Y and other senior programs, scheduled visits from family and friends, coordinated physical therapy appointments, and designed little daily activities to keep her engaged and stimulated. This winter it's gotten harder and harder to get mom out of bed let alone dressed...
Honestly, I was going to writing about something else for my first missive of the new year, but I don’t want to add my voice to those trying to normalize what is not normal. I don’t know about you, but it’s very hard to shut out what’s going on and focus on my to-do list these days. Especially, when every item seems trite and pointless against the much larger issues hitting the news feeds multiple times a day. It’s more than a lot. It’s way too much. So today my message is simple: Take care...
Right now, there's a consumer 'blackout' movement afoot to, basically, stop buying stuff for the entirety of the Black Friday weekend from corporations. This isn't just happening in the USA, but also in Canada, as a way to protest the current economic climate and policies that are making the wealthy wealthier and squeezing every penny out of the rest of us. Don't forget, there's still active consumer protests against Target, Home Depot, and Amazon, among others, as well. In other words, it...