A Blog about Nothing | The power of asking

Asking for what you want

November 6th, 2007 | by Brook Durant |

Everyone knows you’ll never receive something if you don’t ask for it. Want to spend some time with that cute girl? Ask her! Want that last piece of chocolate cake? Ask for it! Even the scriptures implore us to ask when it saysFor everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. We’ve all experienced the power of asking in the “real” world, but when it comes to online monetization we often miss the boat entirely.

Ask for what you want

So you want to have thousands of RSS Feed subscribers (feel free to sign up), but if no one else knows how exactly will you get them? My own experience bears out that by mentioning my desire to have RSS subscribers my number of readers grow. If you want more comprehensive proof just consider the contest that recently went down between John Chow dot com and Shoemoney dot com. Chow’s count gained over 4,000 new subscribers and Shoemoney gained over 7,000. Granted it was a contest and some amazing prizes were being given out, but had neither one of them asked their readers to participate it would have been a huge flop.

It doesn’t stop at RSS subscribers. Whatever you want, ask your readers for it. Want stumbles, or more My Blog Log community members, or comments… just ask.

How to ask

Asking for anything can be hard because it leaves us vulnerable for a moment as we do so. Fear not my friends. We’re not talking about marriage here. We’re talking about asking your readers to do something for you.

Make your intention in asking clear. It isn’t hard. Something as simple as “Help this post go viral by submitting it to stumble upon!” (if you don’t mind…) is plenty to get the ball rolling.
Don’t be a pest. If you want people to click on your Text Link Ads affiliate link for example ask them to do so, but don’t pester them about it. (yes I’m asking you to click and of course sign up)
Consider linking to a review that you’ve written and using that as the “splash page” to the product. For example I believe that Host Gator is a fantastic hosting company and I’ve done a couple of write ups and reviews on it. So if you need a new host go read the review and signup from there.
Avoid asking by using another blogs work. It’s tempting to let “them” do the work, but it will backfire every time. The other blog will get the referral and you’ll get nothing.

Remember if you don’t ask you will not receive. With that in mind what are you wanting your readers to do for you?

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Tags: Blogging, monetization, promotion

10 Responses to “Asking for what you want”

By Patricia Skinner on Nov 6, 2007

All too often in our marketing efforts. we forgot to ask for whatever it is we want the customer to do. This is a very important concept, whatever you’re promoting.

Patricia Skinner’s last blog post..Which One Will Be the Next Big Search Engine?
By A Blog about Nothing on Nov 6, 2007

Patricia - I think it’s probably the most overlooked concept. Ask any salesman and they’ll tell you they never close a deal until they’ve asked for the sale. It translates easily into the online world as well
By betshopboy on Nov 7, 2007

“Ask and you shall receive….”

I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed, do you think you can subscribe to mine?

betshopboy’s last blog post..Office Pet Peeves Freakout!
By A Blog about Nothing on Nov 7, 2007

Betshopboy - Absolutely. Nice blog you’ve got!
By Mark Putnam on Nov 9, 2007

good advice!

I will start whipping my visitors into shape.

Mark Putnam’s last blog post..SUPERMAN IS GOING TO THE DOGS
By Mark Putnam on Nov 9, 2007

hey these comments show my last post

thats pretty badass!

Mark Putnam’s last blog post..SUPERMAN IS GOING TO THE DOGS
By A Blog about Nothing on Nov 9, 2007

Mark - Thanks for stopping by! Glad you liked the article, and the plugin (comment luv by the way is what it is called)
By mmorpg on Mar 10, 2008

Asking for it is a powerful yet often overlooked way of getting things…like you said, if you don’t ask you’ll never get it.
By Christine OKelly on Mar 15, 2008

Exactly! This is a great post. I guy I knew told me once “a closed mouth doesn’t get fed,” when I asked him how he managed to get so much ’stuff’ and so many opportunities. Duh. Brilliant, simple advice. I never forgot that and think of that saying often. And that picture of the kid with his hand up gave me a great laugh!!

~ Christine

Christine OKelly’s last blog post..How I Sold Millions of Dollars of Intangible Products in a Highly Competitive Market