This issue of Frictionless is about 1,600 words -- a six-minute read designed to help sales executives, marketers, and content creators Unleash the Power of Questions. Identify and resolve customer pain points so you can develop effective sales strategies and write stronger case studies, RFP responses, op-eds, speeches, and website content. And if you don't have the bandwidth, I can help. Original thoughts, plus I subscribe to 80+ newsletters and Google Alerts, so you don’t have to.

Quick Note: I will be sending out a short survey over the next week to get your feedback on this newsletter, but I'd also love to set up 15-minute calls with some of you to better understand your needs. If you're interested, click here to set up a time that's convenient for you.

STARTING LINE

As the editor of a pretty good business paper that was struggling financially in the early part of the pandemic, I did not endear myself to the publisher with my view of sponsored content. Also known as "pay-to-play," sponsored content is basically letting advertisers write a column that promotes their business (or themselves) and puts them in front of a paywall while real articles written by actual journalists and columns screened by actual editors are hidden behind the paywall.

For editors, it gets worse if your publisher forces your overworked reporters (or you) to write the articles for the advertiser. Trust me, most reporters and editors are not fans of this practice, and as a consultant, I ask prospective clients who want me to write sponsored content whether we're going to take it seriously. Some do, but I have passed on the project on more than one occasion.

For example, Forbes sells memberships in its Forbes Councils, which the magazine's website concedes are invitation-only and "provides exclusive opportunities to publish on Forbes.com, setting you apart as a bold voice in your industry. You have the power to craft the narrative around yourself and your company." And yes, being on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list is part of the sponsored-content category.

​This scathing article in the Columbia Journalism Review shows this decision has many minefields.

If money is going to change hands, those articles are paid media (an ad), not earned (material written about you or your business that you haven't paid for or created yourself). While many readers may not be able to tell the difference, it's still an ad. Before spending the money, ask yourself these questions:

• Will this article build trust and drive leads/engagement with your target audience, or does it feel irritatingly self-promotional?
• How aligned is the audience of the publication?
• Would you be better off fine-tuning your company narrative and pitching your story to reporters at the "right" publication?
• Will you be risking future coverage at the publication?
• Does your article/content feel like thought leadership, or does it feel like an ad (there is a difference)?

What do you think? Have you used sponsored content and did it meet your expectations? Just hit Reply on this newsletter.

HOW TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF

GREAT QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF

GREAT ADVICE: NICHES (CAN) GET STITCHES

ANOTHER QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF

KYLE MORCK ANSWERS FOUR QUESTIONS

Boise, Idaho-based Kyle Morck publishes unReactive - a bi-weekly newsletter focused on helping marketers build a strategic mindset. He is also the VP of Strategy at Reynolds+Myers, where he helps clients throw convention out the window and find new ways to navigate the world of B2B marketing. Kyle started in marketing through the Arts world. He worked with internationally renowned nonprofit dance companies in both an executive and artistic capacity, with work featured in publications including the New York Times, The Washington Post, Dance Magazine, and Slate. As a filmmaker, Kyle has directed one feature-length film, a handful of narrative short films, and more than 50 short dance films.

1. What’s your go-to question or strategy to uncover a customer pain point or get them to open up? What’s an existential threat you’re facing? Getting grounded with a worst-case scenario helps open your mind to different possibilities.
2. What’s the question you wish more people would ask themselves? Is this actually worth doing? So much of our day-to-day life is taken up by activities that we believe we should do, but we rarely question the reason it ended up on our to-do list in the first place. Having the courage to decide not to do things you’re “supposed” to do is what makes it possible to do your best work.
3. What was the last book that blew you away, and why? Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. I’m a recovering productivity nerd, and this book (which is essentially an anti-time management book) has fundamentally changed my relationship with time. The way Burkeman is able to break the concept of time management down into what actually gives life meaning makes this book very worth reading.
4. Do you have a “favorite” failure and what did you learn from it? I once ran a nonprofit arts organization where I made a lot of dance films. My collaborators and I challenged ourselves to release a new short film on YouTube every week for as long as we could keep it going. We called it Interesting Failures. The project was about getting really comfortable with failure and getting work out into the world without perfectionism, and it was effective at that.

SHOULD YOU CLOSE A SPEECH WITH Q&A?

​Nathan Barry, the founder and CEO of ConvertKit, reinforced some advice from David Nihill's article, 1 Trick to Finish Your Next Talk in Style, about not ending a speech with Q&A:

"Let’s say you do want to take some questions. Great! A good way to control the ending is to prepare three main takeaways to deliver at the very end and have them ready to go. Announce you’ll be taking some questions and will then leave them with a final thought. That way, they know questions won’t be the final thing, and if you do get an awkward question, it won't be the last thing that rings in everybody’s ears.

After answering questions, bring things to a close by leaving them with your three main takeaways. This will also result in ending things with solid applause instead of whatever lackluster clapping might’ve followed an “okay, any more questions…? No? Okay, thanks for having me.”

Control your ending. Never end on Q&A.

SHORT HELPFUL VIDEO

In less than two minutes, Tamsen Webster talks about framing your idea as the answer to an urgent question your audience is currently asking. There's a video, a blog post, and a transcript all in the same file,

STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

1. ​Wondering how to grow your business in two easy steps? Look at your data and talk to your customers, says Justin Welsh. ​He goes into more detail in this LinkedIn post.​
2. ​Robert Rose believes content as a strategic function may be the most important thing for today’s businesses to get right. Content creation should be shared by sales, marketing, customer service, and sales and managed by C-level positions. ​I made the argument on ​his LinkedIn post ​that thought-leadership research needs to be considered in the strategy.
3. ​Frame your problem so the solution becomes obvious​. Brian O’Connor offers four proven frameworks to solve any growth problem. He suggests a bunch of questions that will help you frame your problem so the solution becomes obvious.
4. ​​Unity (Why We Buy)​. I was wearing my Josh Allen jersey in D.C. recently, and five people said “Go Bills” to me in less than 30 minutes, and one offered to let me jump them in line because my arms were full. Katelyn Bourgoin explains why people who share your interests (even hundreds of miles from home) are more likely to help you in a time of need.
5. ​How to Monetize Your Expertise: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself. Some great advice from Josh Spector on getting clear on what you know, its value, and who can benefit from it.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Ask your sales team what questions they hear most often from prospects/customers and then check to see if you've answered them on your website. If you haven't -- and you've resolved those questions through work you've done for clients -- you should consider creating a case study that focuses on the problem they have (rather than patting yourself on the back). Here’s an ungated link to a template that will help you ask the right questions to write more effective case studies. Or you could call someone like me with experience interviewing business leaders and asking the right questions.

Whenever you complete a project -- or if it went off the rails -- you need to take the time to bring the stakeholders together and figure out what happened and what you learned. I created a post-mortem during my time at Bank of America and am sharing it on my website for free. One thing we found was that the people who were involved in the project shouldn't facilitate the discussion. If that's the case, give me a call. If you use it, please let me know how it went.

I welcome your comments or suggestions for future issues. Drop me a note here. If you found this on LinkedIn or had it forwarded to you, you can subscribe by clicking the button below.

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