{"id":9030,"date":"2016-10-06T18:46:08","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2022-03-11T09:51:30","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T17:51:30","slug":"how-to-ask-an-expert-for-help-and-actually-get-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/how-to-ask-an-expert-for-help-and-actually-get-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Ask an Expert For Help and Actually Get It"},"content":{"rendered":"

We hear about the benefits of asking for help over and over again. That it isn’t a sign of weakness. That we should actually do it more often, because we\u00a0severely underestimate how willing other people are to help us out<\/a>. And contrary to our fears,research indicates that asking for help makes us seem smarter<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n

I have to agree. But to be honest, merely asking doesn’t cut it. If you really want to get help, it’s\u00a0how\u00a0you ask that counts.<\/span><\/p>\n

I receive requests for help over social media and email all day long. For the most part, I’m happy to lend a hand. I wouldn’t have started a coaching business if I didn’t enjoy sharing what I know. But the reality is that I only have so much time. So what sets the requests I respond to apart?<\/span><\/p>\n

To be frank, I am frequently amazed by the content and tone of the messages I receive. My overall impression is that most people do not put enough energy into crafting a meaningful request. I don’t get it. If you’re taking the time to ask an expert for help, why not take enough time to improve your chances of getting it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Do:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Be formal.\u00a0When requests come off as breezy and off-the-cuff, I am less inclined to respond to them. The impression I get is that you didn’t spend much time crafting your request. It’s disrespectful. No one wants to feel like his or her time is being wasted. Polite, error-free, well-written messages will get an expert’s attention. Wait until you’re at your desktop to send your request. It’s easy to tell when someone has quickly jotted off a note from his or her smartphone, because the formatting is off. Which is hardly the end of the world, but there’s no reason not to take extra care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flatter the person.\u00a0If you tell me that you’ve read one of my books or watched my YouTube videos, fantastic. The same goes for complimenting my career or one of my products. Who doesn’t like feeling appreciated? But beyond that, it gives an expert a sense of why you’re contacting him or her and how much you already know. I’m much more likely to help someone who is already familiar with my work. Otherwise, I feel like shouting, “I wrote an entire book about this topic!”<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduce yourself in one or two sentences.\u00a0Who are you? Why are you sending this message? Please, let us know. We’re curious. But don’t go on and on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Offer the expert something in exchange, if you have something to offer.\u00a0The majority of the requests I respond to are one-way. But if you offer someone something in return, without making any demands–how can anyone turn that down?<\/span><\/p>\n

Do not:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ramble.\u00a0If your first message is longer than two paragraphs, eyes begin to glaze over. When I receive long emails, I feel as though my time isn’t being respected. And to be honest, don’t bother saying things like, “I know you’re a busy man.” It doesn’t help. It comes off as trite, even if you are being sincere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Say you’re broke and that you won’t be purchasing any of my books or my course.\u00a0That’s fine–but you’ve given me absolutely no incentive to respond to you. Why are you asking something of me without offering anything of yourself?<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell the expert you have just “one simple question.”\u00a0There are no simple questions and there are no simple answers! When people describe their requests like this, I feel additional pressure to respond. It also demonstrates a lack of understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make demands.\u00a0Like the best relationships, your interaction should start off slowly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Use Facebook to initiate a serious conversation.\u00a0It’s not a serious medium. If you’re going to use social media, LinkedIn is a better option. Feel free to ask for an email address over Facebook, but don’t write an expert about anything substantial.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my experience, the research really is true–people love to help. So make it easy for us! Be direct and keep it brief.<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally published on Inc.com\u00a0<\/em>February 4th 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[254,184,214,354,188,235,183,413,120],"table_tags":[],"ppma_author":[981],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"authors":[{"term_id":981,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"stephen-key","display_name":"Stephen Key","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SK-BW-No-Tie.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SK-BW-No-Tie.jpg"},"user_url":"","facebook":"","twitter":"","instagram":"","linkedin":"","youtube":"","tiktok":"","first_name":"Stephen","last_name":"Key","author_expertise":"Intellectual property strategy, product licensing, and entrepreneurship.","description":"Stephen Key is an award-winning inventor, renowned intellectual property strategist, lifelong entrepreneur, author, speaker, and columnist.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nStephen has over 20 patents in his name and the dozens of concepts he has brought to market have retailed in Walmart, 7-Eleven, and Disney stores and parks worldwide and been endorsed by Michael Jordan, Alex Trebek, and Taylor Swift. He has defended his patents in federal court against the largest toy company in the world, Lego\u2019s.\r\n\r\nIn 1999, he cofounded inventRight to teach others his unique process for harnessing the power of open innovation and the licensing business model.\u00a0\r\n\r\nHis bestselling book about how to license an idea,\u00a0One Simple Idea\u00a0by McGraw-Hill, has been translated into six languages.\u00a0\r\n\r\nHe has written more than 1,000 articles about intellectual property strategy, product licensing, and entrepreneurship for publications online including\u00a0Forbes,\u00a0Inc., and\u00a0Entrepreneur.\r\n\r\nUniversities and governmental organizations around the world regularly invite him to teach them inventRight\u2019s unique processes for commercializing new product ideas.\u00a0\r\n\r\nStephen has won over 20 industry awards, including two Edison Awards and the Most Influential and Inspiring Leader Of All Time by the WorldIP Forum in 2022.\u00a0\r\n\r\nIn 2018, he was recognized as a AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador. In 2020, he became a founding member of the United States Intellectual Property Alliance.\u00a0\r\n\r\nIn 2022, Stephen contributed to \u201cCases in IP Strategy: Industry Lessons Learned\u201d from the non-profit Michelson Institute for IP.\r\n\r\nCurrently, he\u2019s part of the team responsible for launching a new sustainable packaging innovation that replaces the need to use plastic to carry beverages called Fishbone."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11907,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9030\/revisions\/11907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9030"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=9030"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventright.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=9030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}