Shy Expat Uses “Deep Questions” Cards to Spark Conversations

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

Do you have a lot of connections, yet still feel lonely? Do you know a lot of people but still carry a sense of isolation? There's a lot of research about this lately, but you probably don't need a study. You may in fact already know how it feels to be surrounded by a lot of people, both online and offline sometimes, yet not feel understood, not feel like you truly know anyone or that anyone truly knows you. Here's a quote from the person I'm going to tell you about today. He says, "I had no problem meeting people, but I struggled

making real, deep connections." That statement and the belief and experience behind it was the inspiration for the project I'll tell you about today. So hey, welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Every day on the program, I'm telling you a different true story about somebody out there who has a job, doesn't necessarily plan to become an entrepreneur, but finds a way to make some extra money and not just make extra money, but also pursue something creative, make the world a better place, all kinds of good stuff without quitting their job and by using a skill they already have. So in today's story, this German immigrant to Canada creates a set of playing cards that sidestep small talk and go straight to meaningful conversation. You could call it Cards for Humanity. He calls

them Ask Deep Questions. Stay tuned for the story. Growing up in Germany, Jan Kek was the perennial shy kid. The mere thought of his teachers calling on him resulted in a serious case of the butterflies. As he put it, "I was the guy who sat next to you in math class, who years later, you completely forgot." But like all of us, he still craved connections. Growing up as an only child forced Jan to

put himself out there. He joined sports clubs, summer camps, and political organizations. He said that joining these groups served as his catalyst for personal growth. Fast forward a decade to when Jan was living in Canada on an internship for his studies. He met a girl, fell in love, and decided to make Toronto his home. In his early years

there, he still wasn't fluent in the language, and despite the numerous friendly Canadians he met, he found it difficult to forge meaningful relationships. Then, a couple of years ago, something changed. He organized a camping trip for some friends and wanted to find a way for them to get to know each other on the four-hour road trip they had. He collected a bunch of questions he found online, then printed them onto cards and handed a deck to each car. Surprisingly, it turned the whole weekend trip into a collection of meaningful conversations. It allowed a group of strangers to become much closer to each

other. When the trip was over, everyone asked where they could buy a deck of cards for themselves. And that's when Jan started thinking about going deeper with his idea. Over the following months, he did a lot of testing, researched printers, designed new cards and packaging, and then officially launched his creation as a product. He called it "Ask Deep Questions." And he started small, ordering 180 decks of cards. When they arrived, he hosted a small

launch party, inviting friends over to celebrate with, well, what else, some deep conversations. Four months later, he had sold out and ordered another 200 decks, which also sold out. Realizing he was onto something, he published a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $15,000 to pay for the production of 1,000 decks. This was just November 2018, so he's ramping up now. His decks sell for $35 each. And his hustle right now earns him around $1,000 a month from the

website with an additional $300 to $500 a month coming through in-person sales at events. That's right. He also offers a variety of events, including one called Level Up, a business seminar focused on building your brand, Campfire Conversations, which he hosted a local meditation studio, and Conscious Camping, where he leads his own camping trips. Yann said marketing Ask Deep Questions has been largely through word of mouth. A little bit of PR and his social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. A lot of

sales come from people who have attended a dinner or gathering where somebody else brought the cards. Then they went home and wanted their own. He also creates a lot of content for social media with different resources that help people get beyond small talk. He's got something called a Small Talk Cheat Sheet. He's got a Deep Conversations Guide and a Relationship Roadmap.

To manufacture the cards, he first reached out to a couple of factories through Alibaba, but found it to be too much of a hassle. Then he was introduced to a print broker through a referral. She was able to get sample decks made and took care of all the communication with a factory located in Hong Kong. That broker cost Yann $250. He said it was worth every penny. He didn't even know that sort of person existed up until then.

In terms of shipping and receiving, Yann is still handling it all himself, at least for now. He's got an assortment of card decks stacked in his office, along with plenty of bubble wrap and envelopes. But he'll soon be retiring his DIY shipping center and transitioning to a storefront on Amazon, which will handle fulfillment. He wants his next big order of cards to ship directly to Amazon's warehouse so that he doesn't have to send out another thousand decks of cards. He's also focused on creating more experiences in the shape of smaller events and workshops to help people combat their feelings of loneliness. Working

on expansion decks to help facilitators create more connections for their communities is step one. All right, a couple of comments here about this project. First of all, another quote from Yann that I liked. He said, "I believe we're facing a huge crisis of people feeling isolated, disconnected, and alone." I agree with that, first of all. Also, isn't it ironic that this is the day and age in which we are more connected to more people, most likely, than any point in history in terms of our ability to reach out and find all sorts of people, at least find their avatar or find their face or name or handle somehow? Even

if you just think about offline stuff, going to networking events or meetups, there's all kinds of stuff out there. And yet, as he points out, and the whole point of his project is to help people get beyond small talk, help them get beyond these surface level conversations that we all tend to have. So it's definitely a big issue, and I think this is a pretty creative solution. Now also, on a practical point, for his day job, Yann is a partner at a video marketing agency. And I was reminded of that fact when I went to his site and watched his promotional video.

It's really good. So if you're out there looking for an example of a persuasive product video, you should check it out, because it does a really good job of describing the problem that the cards seek to solve, rather than just spending a lot of time telling you about the cards themselves, which is what our natural inclination is to do, like, "Hey, I made this product. Look at all the time I spent making this product. Look at how awesome these cards are." But correctly, in his video, he actually focuses a lot more on the core issue. It only has a solution to that core issue that the cards themselves come up. So it's really smart how

he does that. Even if you don't get a chance to look at the video, just think about that core concept. How can you apply it to your idea? What is the main problem you're trying to solve? What is the issue? And speak to that need. Speak to that urgent, desperate

need that people have, whatever it is, and then show them what the solution is. But don't just tell them how awesome your product is. Show them first that you identify with them. You understand their problem and you empathize. All right, that's it for me today. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action

is better. To find the show notes for today's episode, including links to Jan's project and anything else I mentioned, just go to sidehustleschool.com/804. That is for episode 804. All right, much more is coming up. And by the way, beware the eyes of March, those listening in real time. If it's later that you're listening, beware the eyes of April or May or, you know,

whatever it is. Just beware in general. You can never be too careful. Thanks so much, my friends. I hope you'll join in again tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau and this is Sidehustleschool.