STARTING LINE

Good morning (assuming you opened this as soon as you saw it)...I'd like to ask a favor. When you've finished reading, I'd really appreciate it if you'd :

1. Forward this email to someone who might benefit from its emphasis on asking better questions. This newsletter is designed to help salespeople who just aren't figuring out what they need to close the deal, communications teams struggling to develop a more compelling corporate story, and corporate leaders who can't figure out why they're not seen as industry leaders.
2. Answer two questions: What's keeping you awake at night that asking better questions might resolve? And is there an area where you'd like to get better at asking questions (e.g., countering customer objections, understanding prospect pain points, bringing other business areas together)?

I'm asking because while more than 60% of you consistently open this newsletter each week, the number of link clicks could be higher. In the immortal words of Jerry Maguire, help me help you. And if there's a reason you're not clicking, I'd love to know why so I can fix it. And clicks on particular questions tell me what interests you.

You can respond by just hitting Reply. And thank you very much.

LET'S GET GOING

​Should I take a second look at my positioning? April Dunford says that while you shouldn’t wait for a disaster to strike to adjust, that’s a great time, too.

​How often should I publish? It’s clear where Sparkloop’s Amanda Natividad stands on the topic in this post called Let’s All Publish Less Often.

​How many prompts does it take to create an AI Marketing Persona? No, that’s not a screwing in a lightbulb joke. But the answer, according to Andy Crestodina, is eight, and he walks you through the process here.

​Does my corporate story or novel need a really villainous villain? Nathan Baugh offers some tips on crafting a compelling villain for your story.

​What’s it like to be…? Suppose you listen to podcasts on your daily walk or on the commute to work. In that case, you should be listening to Dan Heath (half of the brother team that brought us books like Made to Stick, The Power of Moments, and Shift), who spends around 30 minutes asking great questions of everyday people: Recent episodes focus on a camera operator, a long-haul truck driver, a summer camp director, an ice cream truck driver, a Secret Service agent, and a PR crisis manager.

​What’s the One Thing You Should Never Use in a Hotel Room? This one’s not a joke either. I guessed comforter, and I’ll be that was in second place.

A HELPFUL LINKEDIN POST

Yes, it can be exhausting these days to wade through the tall grass of people claiming you, too, can be as successful as they are if you follow their directions. But I really liked this post because I constantly wonder if I'm charging too much (or too little) for products like LinkedIn profiles. You can get to Terry's LI page and this post by clicking on the image

PROMPTS ARE QUESTIONS TOO

It's always a good idea to provide lots of context to your prompts and guidance on how you want the LLM to answer your questions (e.g., tone, words to avoid). Try this one at the beginning: When asked a question, follow these rules: Generate additional questions that would help more accurately answer the questions. Combine the answers to the individual questions to produce the final answer to the overall question.

Please consider forwarding this to a friend or co-worker and answering the questions at the beginning of this newsletter. I welcome your comments or suggestions for future issues. Drop me a note here. If you found this on LinkedIn or had it forwarded, you can subscribe by clicking the button below.

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