“The only stupid question is the one you fail to ask”.
That has always been my philosophy. Of course at school that philosophy contributed to my regular beatings. Any pupil who took too much of an interest in class was considered fair game for a head-flushing. In adult life though we should be above such things and the philosophy has served me well.
Have I embarrassed myself? Sure! A lot!
But the thing is, I always get answers to things that I am stuck with, struggling over or finding challenging.
I would rather ask a stupid question than not have any answers.
So my point is, never be afraid to ask. Swallow your pride and put it out there.
Where am I going with this?
Questions are only half of the equation. You need a network of people who can throw back the answers. That means you need to be hanging out in quality communities of people who, well, know stuff!
Another aspect is if you know stuff then hang out in communities where people want what you know.
That’s how I got started and how I still build my business today.
Back in the day I was helping out in programming communities, now it might be online business communities, but my approach is the same. Show up, be helpful and approachable, and a small percentage of people will follow you back to your site to check you out or want to hire you, buy your stuff, sign up to your list. I have had a whole bunch of people check me out because of my Third Tribe interactions, and a couple of them became coaching clients.
If you find a community that matches your target audience, and people have to pay to be a member of that community, don’t you think they will be a good prospect for what you offer? They are action-takers, have demonstrated a willingness to invest time and money, have self-identified business needs, AND are in an environment where you can build some familiarity and trust 🙂