Don’t Be Surprised When People Aren’t Supporting Your Work
It's very likely they have no idea what you want from them
I used to subscribe to a particular newsletter that was infinitely helpful in pointing out the obvious. One of the biggest takeaways it offered was that people don’t know what you do, what you offer, or what you want from them.
This could be for many reasons.
Maybe they’re too busy to notice or maybe they don’t care. But there’s also the possibility they simply don’t have a clue because you’ve never come right out and asked them to notice you.
Once upon a time, a fellow writer had tagged me on Facebook telling me I should write for a particular publication.
The thing is, I already had. Many times!
I joked with her that she clearly didn’t read my work or else she would have known. But the truth is, we can’t assume anyone knows anything about what we do unless we’re bold enough to point it out and go for the ask.
Here’s the challenge and a fabulous example:
Move in for the kill.
If you want people to know what you offer, make it obvious.
If you want them to buy something from you, ask for it.
If you want them to read something you’ve written because it may be helpful, ask them to.
Don’t assume that what you want should be obvious to everyone.
We’re all wrapped up in the spin cycle, we have no idea what’s going on outside of our own machines.
The worst that can happen is they ignore your ask, and that’s fine. They were ignoring you anyway, right? We can’t please all the people, all the time.
But the best that can happen is you make someone aware of what you actually want….and they take you up on your offer.
In my Medium hay days, I almost always asked readers to ‘buy me a coffee’ at the end of my posts and guess what? It worked far more often than I thought it would. But they never would have known if I hadn’t asked.
The BEST example I’ve ever come across on Substack.
A couple of weeks ago,
who writes Oops, My Brain sent out an unsolicited email to her readers. It wasn’t one of her regular newsletters, it was a targeted email sent to all non-paying subscribers. This is what it said:And guess what? Her ask was so bold that I immediately upgraded to a paid subscription because she had the balls to ask. She also offered a lifetime discount to anyone who upgraded as a result of this email. That was worth it to me.
So, what’s YOUR next big ask going to be?
If your tolerance for tinkering with Substack is below sea level, you’ve got options! I double as a Substack Virtual Assistant and I’ve got you. Send me your to-do list and forget about it.
Thanks for the shout out! Who knew I was doing something right?! 😅
Nice. 🙏🥰