What’s your view on asking friends and family to support your brand? We asked members of the community to open up and share their views on this controversial topic. Check out some highlights below.

Ashley Meade

I feel you shouldn’t need to ask friends and family to support your business. If they truly want to see you success and support your business they should want to purchase and or help promote your business! I don’t think they have to purchase necessary, even a social media post now of days helps tremendously! Read more>>

Lizbeth Labra Espino

I believe there’s a fine line between sharing your passion and feeling like you’re pushing too hard. For me, the key to navigating this balance lies in authenticity and mutual respect. Rather than expecting friends and family to become your most loyal customers or marketing team, it’s about sharing your journey and allowing them to decide how they’d like to engage. Inviting them to follow your social media, encouraging them to leave a review, or suggesting they recommend your services if they’ve used them are all appropriate ways to seek support. When the support comes naturally, it feels genuine, and your relationships remain strong, with no strings attached. Read more>>

Maggie Hill

When I was just about to publish this first, long-awaited, dearly-fought-for, dream-of-a-lifetime novel, I didn’t realize how much I would need to rely on the kindness of my friends. From bolstering my confidence to showing up at book launches, to buying the book, and possibly posting a review about it — I have been blessed with supportive, enthusiastic, lets-do-this friends. Still, I needed to let them know how they could help get the word out. It’s not like people in general know how to pragmatically help an author. It’s also not like I was a marketing executive, who knew what’s what and could lay out a plan. Sure, there were online lists espousing how to help, but I wasn’t about to send my friends checklists. There are lines that I realize I won’t cross; lines that I didn’t even know existed. For instance, let’s say I casually mentioned that I was trying to rack up some reviews on Goodreads or Amazon. If that wasn’t enough to get a reluctant friend to write a review — hey, not everyone likes to write! — then I cringed over whether or not to ‘remind’ them that this would be helpful. Read more>>

Clarisa Moreno

It’s definitely important to have that support system when starting your business. I don’t really ask my friends or family to support my business anymore. Every now and then if I want a little more push i’ll ask if they can share or like but it means more to me when they just take the initiative to do it themselves because then I know it’s genuine. It shows you who truly wants you to succeed and wants to see you win. I am very lucky to say that I have a good support system. Of course I don’t expect it all the time but trust me I know how it feels to watch people you thought would be supportive turn out not to be but you’ll also be surprised at who does show support. Read more>>