19 Building in Public: Just Ask

GM and welcome to building in public.

Where we pave the road with mistakes so you don’t have to :)

Alright, let’s dive in.

Today is all about “the ask.”

One of the key mistakes I made (and still make) is my hesitancy to ask for business. I rarely tell people that Elevate Financial is growing and taking on new clients. Or that businesses should post their jobs on HeyCPA. Hell, I rarely tell people I write a newsletter…

And the reality is, whenever I do ask, leads and sales skyrocket. Who woulda thought??

The idea that we will somehow make a living passively is wishful thinking. And I dunno about you, but I hate leaving stuff up to chance. We gotta be asking. Constantly.

So, here’s something I’ve recently implemented:

• I’m going to spend 20% of my time asking for business. What does this mean? It means 80% of my content will be slowly nudging people towards a decision, but 20% of it will be a straight up ask.

And why not? I produce free content and resources on the daily. So one post, one piece of content, or one email campaign asking for business ain’t so bad. I actually think it should be expected.

Myself, and many others (I think), totally underestimate the amount of times we need to ask for a sale.

Prospective clients usually need 6 - 7 touch points before purchasing. That is WILD. So one of those touch points may as well be a straight-up ask. If you’re confident in your service or product then there’s no harm.

And it’s not about the sale on that exact day. It’s about pushing people just a little closer each and every day.

So, let’s all start asking for business.

Stop the shame.

Stop the uncomfortable feelings around it.

And let’s shoot our shot.