By guest writer, Christy Farnbauch of Strategic Links

NOTE FROM MEREDITH: As you know by now, I’m a big fan of using simple baby steps to increase your business, attract ideal clients and raise your celebrity profile. Here is a great simple idea that was presented by one of my Raise Your Celebrity Profile™ Success Circle members in our last meeting, and I thought it was so powerful I decided to share it with you. Enjoy!

In his research, social scientist, Randy Garner, sent out surveys to people with a request to complete them. The survey was accompanied by either:

a) a handwritten sticky note attached to a cover letter requesting completion of the survey;

b) a similar handwritten message in the corner of the cover letter; or

c) the cover letter and survey alone.

The results …

More than 75% of the people completed the survey with the sticky note attached. While 48% did so who received the handwritten note, only 36% complied when simply receiving a cover letter with no personal note of any kind.

The results of this study point to the recognition people have when you take a little extra time to add a personal touch. Similar to the hand-written thank you notes we’ve talked about. The more personalized the request, the more likely someone will comply.

For this and 49 more persuasion tips, I highly recommend the book: Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini. And, yours truly has a case study published on pages 230-231.