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?
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• 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.

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Until next week,

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PS - In case you missed it, last week I shared an important New Rule for businesses operating in the US, beginning in 2024.

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