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The Power of the Personal Ask

Posted on October 13, 2010

personal askEarlier today, I wrote a post for Christian Web Trends about how successful bloggers don’t wait around for people to respond to broad general appeals but they make personal asks of others.

The principle is true in all walks of life.

But, we just don’t like to do it.

We would rather ask for volunteers in an announcement form the pulpit.  We would rather ask for donations by sending out a mass email to everyone on our contact list.  We would rather grow our business using ads, signs, or direct mail.

There’s nothing wrong with mass communications.  In fact, we should do it.  But response rates are typically very low.

In fact, the bigger the ask, the lower the response rate to a mass request.

People are busy.  There’s a lot of noise.

When we ask everyone, everyone thinks someone else will do it.

We don’t like to make the personal ask because it’s hard work, it takes a lot of time, we’re afraid of putting people on the spot, and we’re afraid of being turned down.

But if you really want to realize your dreams, you have to make the personal ask, one person at a time.

You have to ask that key person to join your team.  You have to ask that big donor to support your cause.  You have to ask that prospective client to make the sale.

Where have you seen the power of the personal ask in your life?  Where do you need to start making those personal asks?

Now will you rewteet this or post it to Facebook?  Or do you have to ask you personally? 😉

7 thoughts on “The Power of the Personal Ask”

  1. Pingback: Tweets that mention The Power of the Personal Ask | Live Intentionally -- Topsy.com
  2. Luay Rahil says:
    October 13, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    There is a lot of noise out there, and if we dont personalize our message, nobody will hear it. I dont respond to emails that addressed to everybody, I dont listen to mass media. If the cause is too important, write me a personal email, call me, or you can even text me. People do not like to be anybody, but we all like to be somebody, so address me as a person. good post

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    1. Paul says:
      October 13, 2010 at 10:47 pm

      Thanks, Luay.

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  3. Phillip Gibb says:
    October 14, 2010 at 7:17 am

    “When we ask everyone, everyone thinks someone else will do it.”
    yip – that is what I experience.
    People want to be noticed, a personal ask is like highlight the person out of the crowd – making them feel important.

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    1. Paul says:
      October 14, 2010 at 7:29 am

      Exactly!

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  4. Denise Barreto says:
    October 17, 2010 at 9:01 pm

    LOVE this post!! I have given several workshops about volunteer relationships and this is my number one ask of my audience – go and personally ask for what you need from your community.

    Thanks for the reinforcement and I plan to tweet this this week!

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    1. Paul says:
      October 18, 2010 at 8:28 am

      Denise, thanks for your comment. It’s good to hear your experience validates the importance of making the personal ask and that you’ve been emphasizing it so much in your workshops.

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Thanks for visiting. I'm Paul Steinbrueck - husband, father of 3, founder of OurChurch and Skyway Web Design. I love to learn, take on new challenges, and help people become more than they ever thought possible. Read more about Live Intentionally and subscribe below to receive email updates.

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