NO FAIL COFFEE

CHAT GUIDE
YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LAND GREAT MENTORS

FREE
GUIDE
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 TIP 1:
DON'T BE SELFISH
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Very similar to a cover letter, companies don’t care about what

they can do for you... they care about what you can do for them.

When you ask someone out for coffee, you are asking them a
favour and their TIME.

Professionals are BUSY... what are you going to exchange for

their time?

Instead of “Hi I’m an aspiring entrepreneur so I want to take you

out for coffee to pick your brain..”

SAY: “Hi I’m a an aspiring entrepreneur and I would love to learn

how you scaled your business. I saw you create blog posts on
your spare time and I’m actually pretty good with copywriting.. I
would be more than happy to offer some free services in
exchange for the opportunity for you to review
my business strategy and get your advice on how I can reach
your level of success. 

This should be an EXCHANGE. What value can you give in

exchange for the persons time?

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 TIP 2:
BE FLEXIBLE
My biggest pet peeve is when the other person
isn’t flexible with the location.

If you are the person asking for someone to take

time out of their day to meet you, be extremely
flexible.

If this means you need to take a 45 minute bus

ride is what’s most convenient for the other
person.. do it.

If you don’t want to do it, then it’s not fair to ask

the other person to commute to you.

 They are not obligated to meet you for a coffee

so do them a favour and make the process easier
for them.

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 TIP 3:
OFFER
ALTERNATIVES
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Another pet peeve is when I take time to meet

someone in real life and their questions could
easily have been answered over the phone or
through Google Hangouts.

Remember, people are BUSY. Especially people

who are running their own businesses!

If you want to respect their time and be efficient,

ask yourself if asking the person to commute to
see you is really the best medium to get your
questions answered.

Even for me, I prefer to do online calls because

overtime I realized that meeting in person really
isn’t the most effective medium.. so OFFER this
option to the other person and I guarantee you
will have more success in getting a “Yes!”

© VANESSA LAU INTERNATIONAL INC., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

 TIP 4:
DO YOUR RESEARCH
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This goes back to Tip #1.

As someone who is asking the other person for help,

show that you truly respect the other persons time by
doing research. Actually understand their business and
follow their content (if they have podcast, YouTube,
LinkedIn, etc).

Don’t ask questions that’s already been covered.

Here’s an example: I have a YouTube video that literally

explains why I quit my job... and I get a bit annoyed when
I go to coffee with someone who asks me the same
questions I already covered on YouTube.

Instead, I would appreciate if the person did the

research and asked questions ON TOP of what is already
covered.

I promise you that this will help you build stronger

rapport with the other person and will make the other
person feel appreciated.

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 TIP 5:
BE SPECIFIC!
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Don’t use vague phrases like “pick your brain”...

Be specific about what exactly you want.

This not only helps the other person have more

understanding, but it also ensures EFFICIENCY and
EFFECTIVENESS in the chat.

It will actually significantly improve the quality of the

conversation and give opportunities for you to go deeper if
you send your questions in advance.

Not only this, be SPECIFIC on what particular skills or

experience the other person has that is relevant to your
problem.

For example: “Hey Vanessa, I see that you started a YouTube

channel and I noticed that your videos are getting better and
better in terms of quality. I’m also starting a YouTube
channel and I wanted your advice on what equipment I
should get and also any editing hacks you can share with
me.”

NOT “Hi Vanessa I saw you have a YouTube channel and

would love to pick your brain on how I can start mine.”

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 LOOKING FOR MORE
MENTORSHIP? HERE ARE 2
OTHER RESOURCES:

1) For private mentorship with Vanessa,

CLICK HERE.

1) To network with over 400 BOSS

Millennials,
 CLICK HERE.

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