STARTING LINE Quick reminder that I've got a survey to learn more about how this newsletter can help me help you. The average time it has taken readers to complete it is under three minutes. I helped a client last week whose most significant customer is up for renewal. She wanted help with questionsshe and her team should ask themselves (and the customer) during the early stages of the renewal. Allow me to share a few of them, keeping in mind these do have other applications than contract...
3 days ago • 3 min read
STARTING LINE I'm going to eat my own dog food this week and ask you, in the immortal words of Jerry Maguire, to "help me help you." I'd appreciate it if you'd answer a few questions about this newsletter -- including the areas where you could use help asking better questions -- and about you, my subscribers. It shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes and it will benefit both of usl. Thanks! I'll keep the rest of this short. My suggestion for the week is to consider the last time you updated...
10 days ago • 3 min read
STARTING LINE My friend Jake replied to last week's issue, asking, "Trying to tie it all together. .. What is the brand promise of Frictionless? Is it POLISH, or is that a way to hone my Core Competencies? Is it that the indefatigable person is the one who probes constantly? 'Questions' are your duct tape and bailing wire. They hold everything together. Ask yourself if that jumps from your content. It was a good question. Here's how I answered, with a few additions: Brand Positioning for...
15 days ago • 3 min read
STARTING LINE My friend Jake replied to last week's issue, asking, "Trying to tie it all together. .. What is the brand promise of Frictionless? Is it POLISH, or is that a way to hone my Core Competencies? Is it that the indefatigable person is the one who probes constantly? 'Questions' are your duct tape and bailing wire. They hold everything together. Ask yourself if that jumps from your content. It was a good question. Here's how I answered, with a few additions: Brand Positioning for...
18 days ago • 3 min read
Welcome back to Frictionless, a weekly newsletter that helps readers Unleash the Power of Questions. STARTING LINE What does it take to turn yourself into a sought-after industry expert and drive visibility, trust, and revenues? It's certainly more than writing the occasional blog post, commenting on someone else's LinkedIn post with something like "Agreed" or "Congrats, or creating a LinkedIn Profile in the third person and showing readers job descriptions instead of impact. When was the...
22 days ago • 2 min read
Welcome back to Frictionless, a weekly newsletter that helps readers Unleash the Power of Questions. STARTING LINE What does it take to turn yourself into a sought-after industry expert and drive visibility, trust, and revenues? It's certainly more than writing the occasional blog post, commenting on someone else's LinkedIn post with something like "Agreed" or "Congrats, or creating a LinkedIn Profile in the third person and showing readers job descriptions instead of impact. When was the...
25 days ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, As we approach the end of 2023, I wanted to say thank you for giving this newsletter a chance. I've seen Open Rates north of 60%, strong Click Rates, and strong growth in subscribers. My gift is a new Resource that I hope you'll find helpful. If you prefer to print out on one sheet (front and back), you can delete or exclude the cover page with my contact information (I'll never know). Here's the link to my new Proofreading Tips tool. Nobody else will see it before 2024. I also...
9 months ago • 1 min read
STARTING LINE I am thinking a lot about 2024 and which of two professional paths I should take. In the past month, I've read three great books on positioning -- Muting the Microphone by Kate DiLeo and Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch (both by April Dunford). I've also been considering whether I should reduce the number of services I offer to give prospects greater clarity. As I considered different themes for this week's newsletter, "strategic planning" jumped out at me, given that we're...
10 months ago • 4 min read
STARTING LINE My friend Jim Carrington had a mantra at MBNA America: Try a lot of things and keep what works. Chris Brogan recently suggested how I could improve this newsletter (besides making it shorter): "Curate something VERY cohesive" rather than just compiling disparate stories under a general "questions" theme. So I'm testing a tweak to the format to focus each issue on one benefit of asking more questions. We'll start with CLARITY. Justin Welsh, who has built a successful business...
10 months ago • 5 min read