Ask for what you want so you can get it
…usually a bit more subtly than I ask my husband and son to dote on me for a day.
I know exactly what I want for Mother’s Day: to be feted like no other day.
I want a big, beautiful brunch that spans the whole morning, with all my favorites: bagels, cream cheese, SMOKED SALMON, orange juice, and a bottomless cup of aeropress coffee until I’m so hyped up I impulse-landscape the front yard again.
I want to sit on the deck and enjoy the fresh morning air in the company of my husband and son, while we sporadically scream at the squirrels to get out of the birdfeeders, the rabbits to get out of the garden, and my son to get his finger out of his nose, my blood pressure rising and plunging like a thermometer in the Midwest in springtime.
I know from past experience that I can’t expect my husband to figure this out on his own. Left on his own, he’d make french toast, apple juice, and get me a latte. And my son would proudly place a platter of his treasures in front of me: dirty rocks, dead ants, and pinecones.
Also great choices, but not what I want that day.
So I’ll tell them precisely how I want to be celebrated on Mother’s Day. (Actually I’ll casually mention to my husband, “Hey, you should read my blog,” every day until he smirks to let me know he’s actually done it.)
It saves misplaced effort and disappointment all around.
It’s the same for marketing. You have to ask for what you want if you expect to get it.
That means asking your audience to do what you would like them to, usually a bit more subtly than I ask my husband and son to dote on me for a day.
If you want your audience to sign up for your email list, you have to ask them — repeatedly, in different ways.
If you want to steer your audience toward your [most popular, best value, best margin, etc.] product, you have to know why it’s great and then talk it up — repeatedly, in different ways.
And here’s the big catch: To know what to ask your audience to do (in a way that makes the right kind of difference for your business) you need to look at your data from the past few years and create a strategy that works toward your business goals while aligning with your lifestyle and values. (That’s where I can help, btw.) It doesn’t work to ask your audience to do anything and everything all the time.
So what I am asking you to do (with all the subtlety of a mom who just wants to gorge on smoked salmon on Mother’s Day):
Share this with someone you know who’s a small business owner.
Thanks! Now I’m off to go impulse-landscape the backyard.
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