In this episode of Yes Yes Questions, I answered these:
- How do I make a good first impression?
- Is it normal to fall behind in an online course?
- How do I get a big-shot to send me referrals?
- How do I sell the thing I’m good at?
- How do I make friends in a new city?
- Is asking for help at work is a sign of weakness?
Want to know what I said? Including, for the first question, one of my FAVOURITE first-impression hacks (that involves just staring at something for a while)?
Read precise answers below, or listen here:
Here are shorter, written versions of my answers:
1. INTERVIEW TIPS:
Q: “I’m going to meet the people in charge at a company where I’ve been recommended for a role. I’ve never done a role like the one advertised, but I really do feel that I would rock it! Any words of advice for a fantastic first impression??”
- Research the company as much as possible. Go in there knowing everything you can about them, so that (i) you can ask interested, pointed questions and (ii) you look KEEN. We all want someone at our company who’s stoked to work there.
- If you can, find pictures of the people you’ll be meeting (LinkedIn is good place to start) and spend time looking at them. When you’re in a meeting, there’s a LOT of new information to take in — if you can make their faces feel familiar, they will feel like old friends and you’ll be more comfortable around them, which’ll make them more comfortable around you.
- Show an interest. Making a good first impression is less about what you broadcast to them, and more about how they feel around you. As Maya Angelou says, people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Don’t worry too much! It’s rare that a full decision is made based on one meeting.
2. FALLING BEHIND ON AN ONLINE COURSE
Q: “I’m doing an online course (Uncage Your Business and am completely behind and feeling lost. Is it normal to get behind and feel lost and is it normal to ask a lot of questions?”
- Yes, this is totally normal! It’s kind of expected, so don’t be afraid to reach out to them and tell them. No one there wants you to drop out of their course.
- Asking questions is good! If you’re wondering, I’m bet someone else is too! Having said that:
- If you’re worried you’re taking up all the question-asking real-estate, wherever possible, try to find out answers on your own or see if you can save up all of your questions to ask at the same time.
3. GETTING REFERRALS FROM A BIG-DEAL IN THE INDUSTRY
Q: “There’s someone who is a bigger deal than me, I think I can help people just before they’re ready for her. How do I make this happen?”
- You MUST build a relationship with her first before you ask that question. She’s never going to refer people to you if she doesn’t know you well enough to 100% trust that you’re a good person to send people to!
- But also, ask other people for referrals first. Build up a reputation for being the person to refer to for the problem you solve.
- Put it on FB and let people know who you are looking for.
- When you do ask, you make it short, clear, and be humble.
- And I have an email template for asking a big-shot for a favour! Want it?
Pop your details in below and I’ll email it to you*:
*You’ll also get free membership to the Yes Yes Family, where I send you free email coaching about how to tell powerful stories. You can unsubscribe whenever you like! I won’t be offended, I promise.
4. HOW DO I SELL THE THING I’M GOOD AT?
Q: “I am working on Curiosity as what I want to sell — How to do Curiosity better. I feel like I’m missing the mark in convincing people that they need curiosity. What do you think about this?”
- You’re not wrong that people need this — as proof, the amazing Karen Ward’s business is founded on it — find her at www.curiosityinc.com
But HERE IS WHAT YOU MUST UNDERSTAND:
- People buy a solution to a problem. Which means you need to sell them based on the PROBLEM, not the solution (ie curiosity). So try and reverse engineer to figure out what the problem is, and who you want to solve it for.
- Want some help? Figure out your niche by using my MAGICAL NICHE VENN DIAGRAM! Click on the pic to download it:
Figuring this out is EXACTLY what I do in my Sales Page with Soul Process
- I do a Visualization process, where I use my emotions in storytelling exercise.
I give you a free recording of that at the bottom of the page with the “Magic Bullet for Storytelling” freebie. Want it? Pop your details in here:
*Another place that gets you free membership to the Yes Yes Family, where I send you free email coaching about how to tell powerful stories. It’s ok to unsubscribe if you’re not into it :)
5. HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS IN A NEW CITY
Ok, so strictly, no one asked this. But he had someone on who is new to Toronto (the best city), so I decided to give some unsolicited advice:
- Join meetup groups. Even if you never go to anything, knowing that you have somewhere you could go every night — where you’d be welcome — does wonders for self-esteem.
- Start volunteering. If, like me when I moved here, you have a job that is mostly done at home alone, then volunteering once a week gives you a place to go and a sense of purpose that self-driven work / work for people in distant places can’t. I particularly recommend volunteering with a demographic who could not care less how your life is going, like pets, kids or (as in my case) senior citizens with varying degrees of dementia
- Make dates to hang out with people where you don’t have to talk all the time. Making new friends is kind of exhausting. If you can, suggest to one that you go swimming or for a walk or to play chess or something else where it’s not just getting-to-know-you chat the whole time.
- For more on making friends in a new city, see this blog I wrote about it: yesyesmarsha.com/newcity
6. IS ASKING FOR HELP A SIGN OF WEAKNESS?
At work, I recently asked for help because I was tired from doing too much. Now I’m feeling like it was a sign of weakness. Do you run into that? Is this just self-perception?
- Being a superhero helps no one. Why not?
- Because if you’re working 14 hour days, you’ll burn out or have a nervous breakdown and then they’ll lose you. So think about how it benefits the company you work for that you not be burned out
- Also, zoom out and think about what you want your life to look like. Do you want it to be you working yourself into the ground and then breaking down? I’m guessing no. BALANCE means asking for help.
- Finally, nobody knows everything. If you ask for help, people will respect you more not less, because they’ll trust that when you say you know what you’re doing the other times, you actually DO.
So that’s it for this month. Want to add anything onto my advice for any of those? Or have you had any similar experiences? Let me know in the comments below! And if you know someone who’s just asked you one of these EXACT questions, you can share this with them using one of the round buttons below — or click HERE to share on Facebook.
Thanks so much for reading! Have a question of your own? Then YOU’RE IN LUCK! We do Yes Yes Questions around once a quarter. To find out when the next one is (and/or submit a question if you can’t make the live call), pop your details in here:
*This will also get you free entry into the Yes Yes Family. You’ll get free coaching via email every week, but you can opt-out whenever you like. This is a democratic family :)
You rule!
xx (Yes Yes) Marsha
PS Which one of these bits of advice landed the most with you? Leave me a comment, I’d love to know!
xxyyM
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