End of rant. Sept. is my busy month.
So, this:
ALL THE ANSWERS YOU NEED ARE FOUND IN THE QUESTIONS YOU ASK.
If I have a one sentence piece of advice, this would be it.
Over the several decades, I have found that most people don't know how to ask the right kind of questions, and if they learned how, it would make their lives so much better by saving time and money while working on their business goals, or money making goals.
All the answers you need are found in the questions you ask.
In the past 30 years, I think I have been asked over 25,000 questions, probably more. And truthfully, it is more like 100 questions asked 2500 times over and over...and of those 100, few are the right questions to ask.
I am adept at Socratic questions, enhanced with studies of Barry Neil Kaufman's work: POWER DIALOGUES, which I have written about here. It is one of the most useful books I own, and has a special place on my desk.
Asking the right questions, and asking the right people at the right time, is the greatest shortcut, fast track, and rabbit quick way to reach your goals.
Yet so few do it. Or know how to.
See, a question starts a series of questions, like a ball in a Pachinko machine. One thing I do when working with people is asking a lot of questions, to the point of being annoying...annoying because they want simple answers and to be told what exactly to do...and I can't get there until I have a firm grasp of what and or where they want to go.
I call myself a mapmaker, able to give you a pretty good map to show you how to get to your goal, however, I need to know what that is. So, my first two questions, What do you want? and Why? are often the first stumbling blocks those folk have.
My favorite metaphors are Harvey Brody's view from the rooftop, his flight plan and pre flight checklist, my PYRAMID OF ACTIVITY, aka Plan of Action, and the whole of the Square One Workshops.
My most used VISUAL metaphors are a path around a bend and a bridge across the river, with YOUR goals being either around that bend or on the other side of the river.
What I like about Dien Rice's HIDDEN BUSINESS IDEAS (
http://www.hiddenbusinessideas.com/ ) is how he includes the MARKETING plan, which is left off of so many of these business idea anthologies. One complaint I had over the years was that these didn't tell anyone how to go about marketing.
The foundation of ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE and its founder, Chase Revel, sold little reports which included some semblance of a marketing idea, and that is what made his little INSIDER REPORTS so popular, but he then only offered a genetic, general marketing plan which was the same for all of his business plans.
The DETAILS of how to get customers, IS the thing most often left out of these business presentations...and when they are included, they are glossed over and made to sound so simple and easy, oft found in the words of some dork who sez;, "If I can do it, so can you." Ever hear that one?
So, when I do, or better yet, when I did CONFER or consult with someone, it was one of my up front questions, what is your marketing plan? Right after what do you want and why?
Ideas are literally a penny a dozen. Ideas without action are just wasted mental activity, akin to fantasizing or wishing or day dreaming. Just wool gathering.
A PLAN OF ACTION has to accompany a goal, and here is where the asking of questions, the right ones, will help you determine your potential success.
In case you don't know, my preferred method is to BACKWARD CHAIN the events from the delivery of whatever goods or services you are offering...how is the money/value exchanged? How do they find your offer? WHO are they that want/need what you offer? Where are they now? What are they buying? From whom? For how much?
Baselines. Foundations. A well thought out plan of action in incremental steps, with markers along the route. All because you asked the right questions first.
Save yourself time, money, and frustration with your biz ventures, simply by learning how to ask the right questions.
So now, are then any questions about asking questions? If not, I'll get to work, got a lot to do in Sept.
Or if you do have any or comments make them here.
Gordon