Let's Talk About The 'Hey, My Long Lost Friend' Networkers
How to craft outreach that gets noticed, not ignored.
This is the actual text extracted from a recent email.
It's been many moons, but I wanted to reach out and say hello! I was searching through Google for influencers and there you were! HAHA! I hope that you are extremely blessed these days, I have no doubt you are. You were one of the smartest, innovative and amazing people I've ever met and I just wanted to reach out and say hello....and I'm working on a start up right now...and I'm looking to build my brand and expand quickly. To say that I respect your opinion and advice would be an extreme understatement, but you are the guru, the standard, in what you do. If you don't have the time, would you be able to point me in the right direction?
Truly, I believe this is one of the worst "hey hey hey can you or could you or I need or do you know" emails I receive from people who I haven't heard from in a significantly looong time. And no, I don't necessarily dread hearing from someone I worked with ages ago, or ignore "hey hey hey it's been a while" emails.
But rather than a lengthy explanation and a blast of my network ranting, let's have fun with this dreadful email outreach, by turning it into a learning exercise, since I imagine some of you could quite possibly be struggling with exactly how to reach out to someone you haven't talked to in a long time - and don't want to come across like the sender above. HAHA!
So here's the challenge I have for you: REDESIGN the worst ask or email or text or voicemail request, you were the recipient of.
What about that email or text or whatever supremely annoyed YOU?
Lack of connection? Bad timing? Annoying tone? Another endless, repetitive ask from someone who is endlessly reaching out? Lack of empathy? Absence of background research? Getting basic facts wrong? Poorly explained or outlined request? Drafted by AI so completely f'g impersonal?
Then consider HOW the sender could have “asked” in a way that resonated with you (or at least stopped you from hitting delete or sending it to spam)? Jot down what comes to mind.
Once you've done that...think about an email or other outreach you are agonizing over, struggling to hit send on.
What's behind your hesitation?
HOW - using the insights from exploring what's pissed you off as a recipient of a poorly asked, ask - can you improve your communication (and results)?