“I’ve never found anyone that didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help,” said Steve Jobs. “Most people never ask … and that’s what separates, sometimes, the people who do things from the people who just dream about them.” Learn how to ask for help in business effectively. Discover tips on overcoming pride, finding the right support, and leveraging advice for entrepreneurial success.
In the entrepreneurial industry online, this is especially true. There has never been a more isolating career path than this one, but that doesn’t mean you have to work in a bubble where you never ask for or receive assistance from others.
This is a career where there is no formal education or degree that is going to map out every step you need to take from start to finish in order to succeed. In fact, there are too many different pathways you can take, which almost makes it more like a “Choose Your Adventure” scenario.
But asking for help is sometimes either intimidating or unacceptable for certain men and women. There are those who insist on doing it all themselves because they have too much pride to turn to others and ask for help.
There are also those who are just too shy to reach out to another person because they feel like a burden having to ask for information or assistance with something they may not know how to do.
Online Marketing Isolation Is Self Sabotage
Repeat after me: “There is no way I can know every single thing there is to do as an online entrepreneur.” This is a multi-hat career path. You have to do things like write content, research, learn technical things, master social media, be a blogger and email marketer, handle customer service issues, figure out copywriting and more.
To think you can quickly earn money and simultaneously master all of this (and more) is ridiculous. If you do intend on taking a full DIY path, it’s going to take ample time, which means slower earnings.
You have to remove your ego, set aside your lack of self confidence, and be willing to learn from others. Sometimes, that means doing more than just buying courses or absorbing free information from the ‘net.
Yes, that’s where you stat. It’s the best starting point for anyone. But as we all know, there will be times when that’s not enough. You might do everything you’re taught and something still glitches or isn’t effective and then what?
You might turn to the person who created the course and ask (but you may not always get an answer). You might ask in a forum, but get ineffective replies. Asking someone specific for help is an option you need to have available to you.
Asking for Help Doesn’t Mean You Get to Be a Burden
There’s a caveat to the instruction of making sure you’re willing to ask for help. Don’t be a pain to anyone else. That means a couple of things. First and foremost, always be able to tell the person you’re turning to what you’ve done so far.
If you haven’t done anything and you go asking someone, “How do I build a blog?” then you’re being a leech. Go Google it. Go to YouTube. Try it. Don’t go to someone else until you’ve made an attempt.
Secondly, you want to limit your questions and be very precise with them. Don’t go to someone saying, “I don’t know why my emails aren’t getting opened.” You have to give the person data to work with, examples of your subject lines, time of day you send them, etc.
Don’t bug them for a reply. They’re busy. You’re asking for help for free. And once they answer, don’t bombard them with endless additional questions. Unless you’re paying them for coaching, make sure it’s a two-way street.
Your appreciation needs to be shown in some way. You might mention and tag them on social media as a fantastic mentor in the industry – someone willing to go above and beyond.
You might share their post with a product promotion, both on social media as well as to your list of subscribers if it’s relevant. Be sure to ask if there’s anything you can do for them.
Perhaps you have talent whipping up high-ranking blog content, and they struggle with that. You can have them give you a keyword phrase and create a post to help them rank their blog.
Steve Jobs called Bill Hewlett (co-founder of Hewlett-Packard) when he was just twelve years old and asked for help. He needed spare parts for a project. Not only did Hewlett give him the parts, he gave him a job later, and the rest is history.
Asking for Help the Right Way
We already talked about making it a two-way street. But what else do you need to know? First, realize that just the simple act of asking is an ego boost for most successful marketers.
It means you look at them as a leader or authority figure. It’s a sign of respect, unless you are demanding about it. Have some confidence when asking for help and don’t keep apologizing.
People like to help those who are fellow go getters. If they get the vibe from you that you’re too meek and mild mannered and just going to continue floundering, it will be a waste of time for them.
For many marketers, they view your success either as a badge of honor for them to have help you achieve it – or as a future collaborator in some way that can help them earn more in their own business.
Sometimes, your question might be turned into a lesson for all of their followers. So you might be doing them a favor giving them a good content idea, while being able to show everyone how helpful they are.
You need to figure out the best people to ask for help. Not everyone is going to have the same expertise, skill level or even ethics. This requires you to do your homework on reputation – and not rush into anything in a panic.
Keep mental notes (or an actual record) of who shows expertise in which areas. You might have some names for those who excel with email marketing, others whose copy converts amazingly well.
Watch their social media to see if they post about something related to what you need to learn. Or, see if someone else tags them to compliment them on an achievement regarding something you want to know.
Never contact someone on the first time and dump a bunch of questions and a request for help on them. Introduce yourself. Explain that you’re impressed with their knowledge. Then mention what you’re doing and how you still have an unanswered question that you think they might know, but ask if they’d mind you giving it to them.
Some might respond that they don’t have time. That’s okay. Don’t let that deter you from asking someone else – even if you get a negative reply several times in a row. You will encounter all kinds of very busy entrepreneurs, and some really don’t have time to help everyone who comes around asking questions.
Don’t sound too needy or flustered. It’s not their job to calm you down. Be an adult and very professional in your exchange. When they give you advice, take action on it. Don’t waste their time asking for help and then do nothing with the information.
That’s a slap in the face. Execute the instructions or advice and follow up with the results and your appreciation, or further question if what you did didn’t produce the kind of results you’d hoped to see.
Asking for help is something you’ll probably do even when you’re bringing in six or seven figures. It’s not something that ends. Your questions might change. It might be something like asking for help in who they recommend as a virtual assistant so you can delegate your growing business tasks to.
