Everybody has a question,
but, they won't ask it.
They won't raise their hand.
They won't put themselves forward.
They won't ask their questions.
Why?
Mostly fear.
The fear of saying something smart or of saying something stupid.
But, by not asking your question, you're doing two things.
First, you're robbing yourself of the answer.
And, second, you're robbing everybody else of it too.
Because everybody else has the exact same question, but they won’t ask it either.
We look to the stars, natal charts and cocktail bars in search of answers, but perhaps it’s not answers we need_
_it’s questions.
Some questions are bad questions.
They are usually closed and/or insincere.
Some questions are good questions.
They are usually open and genuine.
But_
_some questions are incredible!
Like these ↓
The burning question
What does the world need that you are uniquely qualified to deliver?
Can you answer this?
If you can’t do not pass go, do not collect £200, don’t start.
A question to find your edge_
What is it that most people can’t, don’t or won’t do that you can, will or do?
Work that out and then do that.
Questions to ask your ideas_
And finally, will you be able to commit, do the work and ship it?
A tough question_
Even though you are so good at what you do, why isn’t anyone choosing you?
First, what is the core reason?
1. They don’t notice you.
2. They don’t remember you.
3. They don’t choose you.
Here are the basic reasons.
- They don’t know you exist
- They are not aware of the offering you have for them
- They don’t trust you
- They don’t believe the promise you’re making is going to come true
- They worry about what their peers will think
- They are afraid of change and worry that your promise might come true
- They’re not in the right emotional, physical or social state right now
- They have different goals than you think they do
- They have a different risk profile than you think they do
- They have a different problem than you think they do
- They tell themselves a different story about money than you think they do
- They’re not the decision maker, or at least they don’t think they are
- They can wait, and there doesn’t feel like any benefit for acting soon that’s sufficient to overcome their inertia
- They actually don’t have the resources, can’t find the resources, won’t pay the price to get the resources
The most seductive answer on this list is awareness.
If only people knew me, then they would buy from me.
And it works.
But only a little.
Increased awareness does get you some low-hanging fruit, but it runs out fast and gets expensive quick.
And, it ignores all the people who do know you, who are smartly choosing not to buy from you.
So, before you sink a ton of money and energy into advertising and marketing, dig a little deeper and figure out the problem you need to solve.
Your turn_
Take a close look at the list of reasons above.
Why don’t people choose you?
2 more questions_
One last question
I ask this of you, but you can ask it of others as well.
Is there one person you can connect me with who needs this right now?
I try to ask this question as much as possible.
It’s such a good question.
1. It’s simple.
2. It’s doable (1 is important here).
3. And it gives me a personal introduction to someone who needs my help.
That’s a great start.
I ask it of you.
Who will you ask it of?
Want to ask me a question?
✉ → iain@iain.work
_iain.
Stuff that didn’t make it_
