No one can argue with the power of email marketing, and networking. These two combined are the right mix to accomplish EXACTLY what you are trying to build online. For example, much of the blogging and traffic I generate is through outreach, and getting the help of other bloggers within the industry. However, this process is ART and SYSTEM because it must be done in a specific way. Outreach, if done poorly, can ruin your chances to secure a solid lead and even relevant traffic. Many people over the years have reached out to bloggers with very little success. Some people have even started to reach out to me, but I’ve figured out EXACTLY what I’m looking for when someone sends me an email. Before I continue, here are some things a solid outreach campaign can do for you.
First, it’s great for traffic and building momentum to your blog quickly. For example, if you’re just starting out then a simple guest post on a popular blog can lead to enormous traffic quickly. Secondly, this can lead to work because some bloggers might even pay you for your content. I started guest posting for two people, and both are paying me for my time and effort. Third, outreach is great if you ever plan on starting your own product or service. These authority bloggers will be an awesome backbone of support. They can help market your product enormously.
With that said, let’s look over a few reasons why your outreach is failing, and what you can do to improve your networking. Your feedback and opinion will be appreciated.
Un Authentic
One of the worst ways to kill your outreach is by sounding unauthentic, and lying when writing your emails. You have to keep in mind that top bloggers get hundreds of emails each week, and this means they can spot someone trying to pull a fast one. For example, don’t write you are a big fan if you’re not, and don’t say you read all their content. This is impossible and untrue. You’re better off saying that you see their name around a lot or be sincere about when asking for them to help you out. Many of these bloggers have had others help them in their journey, and this means they are willing to help, but you have to be honest and genuine. What happens if you come across unauthentic?
You simply cannot be trusted, and this means with almost everything you do. It means if you write content, start a product or ask for a partnership, you won’t be considered a straight shooter. Here’s some things to consider when you are writing your outreach email message:
Be genuine – Be humble and let them know who you are. Let them know honestly why you chose to contact them in the first place.
Be upfront – Don’t run around the push because these bloggers have very little time. They don’t want to read 800 words before you get to your point. They’ll think you tried to trick them into helping.
Tell them about yourself – This is very important because they want to know who you are before they consider helping you. Think about it, would you help someone you don’t know especially through email? You might on the street with a tire, but NOT in business.
Relevance Matters
It’s going to be hard for you to move forward if you are writing to bloggers who have nothing to do with your niche. By doing this, you are setting yourself up to NOT gain anything. Think about it? You won’t generate relevant traffic, no one will buy your products, and you can’t help each other out. One of the major reasons why you fail at your outreach is because you contact the wrong bloggers. Google knows the importance of relevance and it’s seen within their algorithm…right? I’ve written about relevance so many times before, and it’s becoming even more important these days especially when building your brand or business. Before you start contact people for outreach, it’s important you take the following into consideration.
Google search for relevant blogs using your target keywords. This way you’ll only bring up blogs which include your related and target keywords. Next, if you have been in the business, then you might want to contact those bloggers who you have visited before or read their content. You can also start by searching forums relevant to your keywords because you’ll find others talking about certain bloggers.
Next,
You should visit each blog, and see what type of content they are writing. The more relevant content to yours, the better for you. At the same time, it’s important to look over their products and services for future partnerships with them. You should read some of the comments posted by readers. They will provide insight into how relevant the blog is because of the questions.
Outreach Request Tedious
The top bloggers of our industry and very busy people so DON’T ask them for too much work in the beginning. If you start making enormous money and are comfortable with each other, then you can jump into more tedious tasks. Trust me when I say top bloggers are very busy, and they are looking for something which won’t take up too much time. This is why you guest blogging for them is always a great route to take. They’ll accept, and you take on all the responsibility to get the work done. All they have to do is click publish or some will even give you access to publish the content yourself.
Going forward, keep these two things in mind:
First, make sure when doing an outreach, you are NOT asking for a lot of work to be done by the blogger. They are busy so DON’T have time to take on new tasks especially when they don’t know you.
Secondly, try and find ways to take the load off them. Time is a very important commodity so if you can help them out then you’ll have an easier time getting your request approved.
Wrong Time
I want to talk a little bit about timing and making sure your outreach is done when the setting is just right. Think about it this way. When is the wrong time for people to email you when they are trying to get information? You’ll probably say late at night or early morning like 2AM-3AM, right? During this time, you are probably done work or sleeping which means the likelihood of you checking emails is very slim. By the time I get your email message it will probably be buried under 100-200 more emails, and this reduces the chance of me actually opening it up. For top bloggers who have been around for years, the chances are even slim. This is why we should do the following:
First, try different timing until you get a response. I like to send follow-ups to bloggers I have contacted several times throughout the month during different times. I’m hoping sooner or later I’ll get a response and can build a connection with them going forward. Next, you want to try different subject lines because some will stand out better than others. From personal experience some emails which get sent to my inbox standout compared to others. Depending on your niche you’ll have to tweak, and optimize certain subject lines.
Final Thoughts
Email outreach is important no matter what niche you are involved in. Through email outreach you’ll be able to build your brand and business more quickly. For example, having some who is credible share your content can generate enormous traffic to your blog quickly. This can lead to sales, conversions and even audience loyalty. However, when doing outreach, you have to be careful in the way you implement some strategies. Take a look at some of the ones I outlined above, and incorporate them into your business. I’ll admit some will work better than others, however you won’t know until you have tried them all. Next, if some don’t work then DON’T be unmotivated because from my own experience it’s all about trial and error. With that said, here’s the game plan going forward:
Read over the steps again, and make a quick note of each. Once you have these notes you can go through implementing each one into your strategy. Outreach, if done correctly, will boost your engagement 10 fold. It’s all about trial and error because you’ll find some work better than others. However, once you find one that works, you can use the same one several times for other outreach campaigns. Just remember these in short form:
Be Authentic – Always be genuine and be straight up about what you are looking for.
Relevance – You’ll get more out of your outreach if you contact bloggers who are involved in the same niche as you. This way you guys will have something in common, etc.
Tedious – The first time you are contacting the blogger, it’s important to keep things easy and as less tedious as possible. Top bloggers are busy and don’t have time to worry about a lot of work when they already have a lot on their table.
Wrong Time – Try different subject lines and timing for response rate. Keep in mind, outreach is a form of email outreach so you have to try different things until you find one which works for you. In the end, it’s all about getting a reply and what you need done.
Get started now and your feedback will be appreciated below.
