In the article How to Ask a Favor published by the Valet. magazine staff, they say:
- Be direct with your request
- Give your reason why
- Provide an opportunity for escape
Great little framework. If I was to apply it to my publication CSS-Tricks and me reaching out to a potential writer I might say:
Hey person!
Are you interested in writing a guest post for CSS-Tricks? I saw you’ve been working on ________ and it’s extremely cool.
I’m always looking for great guest posts, and it’s often a win-win-win. You get some publicity and payment, I get content for the site, and our readers will love it.
If you don’t have time or just would rather not for any reason, just ignore me.
I do like #3. It relaxes the whole thing and it flips something that could be pushy and a turn-off into no big deal.