Today’s video was inspired by another reader question. It was sent in by Chris Mathewson, from Astro Geek. He says:

My question is this: Would it be in bad taste to add a little snippet at the end of each blog post asking readers to submit the post to Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc?  For example, “If you enjoyed this post, please consider Digging or Stumbling it.” with provided links?

I know there are “Share this” plugins that will allow a reader to submit it to many different social media sites, but this is a passive approach. I’m wondering about a more active approach – actually asking the reader to share it.  Or would that seem too much like begging?

Many times, when you want your readers (or customers) to do something, you need to directly ask them. Sometimes, you need to straight-up TELL them what to do. Now, obviously, you should have some tact in how you do that. And it is a lot easier if you have some rapport with them already otherwise they’re going to react negatively. However, NO, it is not like begging.

People tend to like to comply with others. So, if you ask or tell them what to do, many times they will respond.

There is a difference between good control and bad control. Bad control is when you’re trying to get people to do something which is not good. You would use coercion and other negative means of control. It is this type of control which gives control a bad name and makes people react badly. You shouldn’t do that. But, good control is positive. You are directing people into something good – something that will help in some way. And you control them with reality and with likability. When you control people that way, it doesn’t even FEEL like they’re being controlled. Because they WANT to do it.

You understand?

So, no, asking your readers to Digg your stuff isn’t begging. It is wise.

And as usual, if you’d like to submit a question for a future video, ask me.