Speaker 1: 0:54

Hello and welcome to SEO is not that hard. I'm your host, ed Dawson, the founder of keywordspeopleusecom, the place to find and organise the questions people ask online. I'm an SEO developer, affiliate marketer and entrepreneur. I've been building and monetising websites for over 20 years and I've bought and sold a few along the way. I'm here to share with you the SEO knowledge, hints and tips I've built up over the years the SEO knowledge, hints and tips I've built up over the years.

Speaker 1: 1:18

Hello, welcome back to SEO is not that hard. It's me here, ed Dawson, as usual, hosting, and today I'm going to be looking at the science behind asking for favours, science behind getting people to take action. So this is really a bit of behavioural science that might surprise you. So the power, this power of asking for favors. So now you might be thinking to self why is ed talking about favors? Well, it turns out there's a lot of psychology behind why people say yes to requests, even when it's not always convenient. Today I'm going to, you know, we're going to look through a few studies that show just how likely people are to do favors, why they're feeling trying to help, and how we can use this knowledge thoughtfully to build stronger connections and to get ourself and the people we're dealing with and working with to get to the places we need to be together. So let's think about this in terms of the science to start with. So there's been lots of research into this area and research has shown that when you ask someone to do you a favour, it caps into a phenomenon called the helper's high. So, basically, people feel very good when they help someone else. It releases those feelable chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. So often, you know, when we ask someone for a favour, we're actually giving them an opportunity to help them feel happier and more connected.

Speaker 1: 2:42

There's this thing called the the benjamin franklin effect that's very similar. This is the concept comes from a story of benjamin franklin who, you know, back in the day wanted to win over a political opponent and instead of trying to impress him, franklin simply asked him to borrow a rare book. The opponent agreed and they eventually became friends. And the psychology behind it is fascinating, because when people do us a favor, their minds rationalize it by thinking if I helped this person, and this builds rapport in a way that feels natural to people. Now there's a way of making it even more interesting, and this is a study into a concept that took it a step further, and this is called pre-framing questions.

Speaker 1: 3:20

So researchers found if you ask someone a question like do you consider yourself a helpful person before you make a request, they're actually more likely to say yes to the favor. And I don't. I wish this was something I knew about when my kids were younger and I was trying to get them to do simple things like get dressed or eat a meal or do anything that I wanted them to do to leave the house. If you say to your toddler, do you feel helpful? It, but I might have had a lot more success with them when I was, when I was earlier, but it it turns out it actually works. And why it works is well, it turns, turns out that people you know have a strong, consistent desire to be consistent with their self-image. So if you say to someone you know, are you a helpful person? They respond and say yeah, I'm a helpful person. Then when you ask them for a favor, they want to act in line with the self-perception that they've just given themselves. They almost feel like they're compelled to help because they've just identified themselves as someone who does help. So by setting up these simple pre-frames, we can kind of subtly encourage people to align their actions with their words.

Speaker 1: 4:25

So let's think of some examples, okay, so how it might play out in everyday life. So imagine you're organizing an event for your community and you want volunteers to help set up. Before going and asking people directly to give their time, you could start with hey, do you consider yourself someone who likes making a difference in your community? And most people are likely to say yes, you know, and when they do say yes, then they're going to feel more aligned to helping out at your event because they want to stay consistent with that image. You know, if we think in terms of SEO and and marketing online marketing in general, then let's think of some scenarios where you know seo might be useful there. So, say, imagine you're asking a client to give you access to their google analytics and search console accounts. Now, some people can be very cautious about sharing data, so instead of asking outright preferframe could be something by saying like do you consider yourself someone who values having the most accurate insights for your business? Okay, so this question frames the request in a way that aligned with their goals and obviously they want the best insights to grow their business. So if they're going to respond positive to them, they're more going to be more inclined to grant that access to you so you can fulfill your job properly and, you know, get them their best insights.

Speaker 1: 5:42

Another one might be trying to say you want to get a client to participate in a case study. You know, asking clients to share their experience can be tricky because, again, people are very protective of their data or their methods. But if they're just asking directly, you could start by saying you know, would you say you're someone who likes to inspire other businesses in your industry. And when they say yes, then your follow-up when you request for a case study aligns with that self-image, making it more likely they'll agree and get a classic one getting testimonials, getting people getting testimonials, getting people to provide testimonials for a website or your LinkedIn profile, instead of asking straight out for a testimonial pre-frame with a question like do you think it's important for businesses like yours to support other high-quality service providers? If you tap into that sense of mutual support within your industry, then you're framing the testimonial as a positive contribution to the large business community and not just a chore.

Speaker 1: 6:34

And then here's a clear one You're trying to encourage people to try new SEO strategies. Imagine you're trying to convince a client to try this new strategy, like experimenting with structured data, for example. So, as I was saying, can we add structured data to your site? You might ask would you consider yourself someone who wants to adopt effective strategies that help you stay ahead of your market? A yes, because who's not going to say yes to that? Then lead you to that pre-summit. You can lead into the question, say can we add in this data because it will be an effective strategy? That is something your, your other client, you know, sorry, your competitors aren't doing and we can see that if we do this, it'll put you at the forefront and you can get people to take those actions. So they won't always do, because it can be incredibly hard getting clients I know this from from history to do the things that you recommend.

Speaker 1: 7:24

Okay, so by pre-framing before making the request for the changes, you can make a big difference. It's such a small shift, you know, just one quick question, but they can have such a big impact and it's amazing how, even like minor framing, like this tape, sort of taps into a basic human need for consistency, and this effect shows up in all sorts of fields, from marketing to personal relationships, and the beauty of it is that it works because it feels good for the person being asked, it feels authentic and it taps into their own positive self-perception. So, all right, you know now we've explored why asking for a favour is often more successful than we think. I'd like to put it into practice here with all of you.

Speaker 1: 8:01

If you've enjoyed this episode, or if you've found any value in my podcast or in the podcast of mine that you've listened to, I'd love to ask you a favour. But first let me ask you this do you consider yourself someone who enjoys supporting things that bring you value? Now, if the answer is yes, here's my request could you take a moment to leave a review for this podcast? Whether you're on apple podcasts, spotify or wherever you're listening, a review not only helps this show reach more people, but it also gives me insight into what's resonating with you so I can keep delivering the best content possible. It doesn't have to be a long review. Even a few words make a big difference. So if you look for it, I really, really would appreciate it and, who knows, you might even feel a little of that, a little of that helper's high that comes with supporting something you believe in. So, with that said, I hope you've enjoyed the episode. I hope you find it insightful and yeah, yeah, until next time I'll see you later.

Speaker 1: 8:55

Before I go, I just want to let you know that if you'd like a personal demo of our tools at Keywords People Use that you can book a free, no obligation, one-on-one video call with me where I show you how we can help you level up your content by finding and answering the questions your audience actually have. You can also ask me any SEO questions you have. You just need to go to keywordspeopleusecom slash demo where you can pick a time and date that suits you for us to catch up. Once again. That's keywordspeopleusecom slash demo and you can also find that link in the show notes of today's episode. Hope to chat with you soon. Thanks for being a listener. I really appreciate it. Please subscribe and share. It really helps.

Speaker 1: 9:33

Seo is not that hard. It's brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUsecom, the place to find and organize the questions people ask online. See why thousands of people use us every day. Try it today for free at KeywordsPeopleUsecom To get an instant hit of more SEO tips. Then find the link to download a free copy of my 101 quick SEO tips in the show notes of today's episode. If you want to get in touch, have any questions, I'd love to hear from you. I'm at channel5 on Twitter or you can email me at podcast. At keywords, people use dot com. Bye for now and see you in the next episode of SEO is not that hard.