Ask, But Also Persuade

“Yes, you should ask — but you should also persuade,” Mental Floss magazine advises employees ready to request a pay raise.  “If your company doesn’t offer an annual review, ask your supervisor if you can have one.”

The pointers the authors offer on best ways for employees to use that meeting are definitely apropos when it comes to content writing for business owners and professional practitioners:

• Provide the reasons you deserve a raise.
  Offer reasons for readers to expand their budgets to include your services and products.

• Outline your accomplishments over the year.
  Let readers know your products and services are constantly be improved and updated.

• Point out the ways you’ve gone above your job description.
  Explain unique benefits your customers have enjoyed.

• Highlight the projects you want to take on in the future that go beyond your official duties.
  Share plans for expanding your services and new benefits you’ll be able to provide.

• If any of your projects have pulled in extra revenue, be sure to note that—with specific numbers.
  Include testimonials from clients that specify increases in revenue and visibility they have enjoyed as a result of using your company

 
One fear business owners often express to me is that they don’t want to come off boastful and self-serving in their blog, or be perceived as using hard-sell tactics to promote themselves. That concern is addressed by Steve Wamsley in his book “Stop Selling and Do Something Valuable“, which was reviewed in the Financial Planning Association website. Here’s what Wamsley has to say: “We have to sell ourselves to potential clients so that they choose to work with us rather than the competition. In our role as advocates (he’s speaking to financial planners), we need to persuade people to act.”

When it comes to marketing through posting marketing blogs, you should ask, but also persuade!