Hey there! Have you ever sought expert guidance only to be left feeling misunderstood? Or maybe, you understood but didn't get the results you expected when you followed their advice? The problem might not be the advice itself, but the way you’re asking it. Believe it or not, the quality of advice you get depends on the quality of the questions you ask. The quality of the advice you receive depends on the quality of the questions you ask. By learning to ask clear, concise, and focused questions, you can unlock better answers that drive real progress in your business. Unfortunately, most of us haven’t learned to effectively ask a question or to get a useful answer. Nic Peterson, author of Bumpers, introduced me to the difference between valid answers and useful answers. He uses the example question of “what is protein?” Ask that question, and the answers you get vary widely: “An essential macronutrient” “A chain of amino acids” “Food for your muscles” Each answer is valid, but are they all useful? That depends on the goal of the question. If you want to know about the molecular structure of protein, the most useful answer is the second one. The others are valid but not helpful. You could spend days following valid advice that is neither helpful nor useful in your specific situation. As a business owner, that wasted effort doesn’t just cost you time. It also costs money and energy. Lost productivity is hard to reclaim. So how do you ask an effective question? Here is my advice (hope it’s useful):
Want to practice? Jump into The Secret to Thriving Online Communities today, where we have an AMA (ask me anything) thread going all day long. Even if you don’t have a community-specific question, take the opportunity to practice your asking skills by using the advice above to effectively articulate what you want to know. And if you want deeper advice on how to ask better questions, my friend Mary Williams at Sensible Woo has a whole training on it. If woo isn’t your thing, jump in at the 11-minute mark when Mary breaks down her framework for asking questions guaranteed to lead to useful outcomes. On the Podcast: Top Episodes by DownloadsI’m two months into co-hosting The Business You Really Want with Gwen Bortner. It’s been a wild ride. We’re transitioning away from the production team we started with and now discovered we need to change hosting companies, too. Luckily, I have a high level of comfort with plans going sideways. And, because I have a co-host, I don’t have to shoulder the stress on my own. 😌 While we’ve been making lots of adjustments behind the scenes, episodes still drop every Tuesday. Listeners continue to write in to share the insights they are gleaning from the show, and to tell us how they are applying the tips we share. As of today, the top episodes by all-time downloads are:
If you’ve been listening, let me know which episode has been your favorite and why. Your feedback informs future episodes. Keep thriving, Tonya The Gathering Ground FOR THE WEEK OF Oct. 14 (may contain affiliate links) ⬇️ Want to learn this footer email strategy? You’ll want to check out this training! |
I believe social media should bring people closer together — not drive them further apart. As a social media strategist, I help impact-driven entrepreneurs and organizations grow highly engaged online communities, so they can conquer their business goals without running on empty. You can find out more either by subscribing below or joining The Secret to Thriving Online Communities on Facebook, www.tonya.link/group.
Hey there! Running an online community isn’t as easy as some like to think, especially if it’s designed to build your business. On any given day, you’re juggling the proper care and feeding of your people along with content creation and scheduling, sales and marketing, strategic planning, performance tracking, service delivery and more — and we haven’t even covered what’s going on in your personal life. I’m in the same boat. Not only do I have to manage all of those things for my own...
Hey there! I’m taking a break today from the usual. Instead of thoughtful insights on strategic community design and the soft skills of community management, I have just a few notes to share: TODAY is the last day to get free access to the Save Time, Sell More bundle. You have until 3 p.m. Pacific to sign up, and then you have until Oct. 31 to thoughtfully consider which discounted offers make sense for you and your business right now. Tonight’s live workshop in The Secret to Thriving Online...
This is an email about the Save Time, Sell More bundle. If you don’t want bundle promotion emails, click here to opt out. You'll still get our regular Monday updates. Hiya! Today's email was going to feature my favorite deeply discounted (but not free) offers inside the Save Time, Sell More bundle. But here's the thing: That information is only useful to those who sign up for the bundle AND that's a decision that you don't have to make until Oct. 31st. The decision that has to be made first...