Advance Online Networking - Getting Others To Read Your Emails

Do you get emails from people asking favors and stuffs. Probably JV requests, or perhaps sending a press release or anything like that.

Well, that's normal, right? I get some from time to time.

But here's the thing - with all the JV requests that you get, in between the SPAMs, and also important emails that you are already waiting for, those kind of emails are mostlikely to get ignored.

Now imagine that you are the one sending that email out. Maybe you are writing to propose a JV. Maybe you just wanted to say Hi. But again, just like how you would treat emails like those, those people you are writing to may do the same thing.

So how do you get pass that?

This is somehow related to my previous post about how to make money in the make-money-market. The key point is to make yourself a more familiar name.

Imagine this - the moment they open up their inbox they recognize you. You yourself would mostlikely to open an email from somebody you know rather than a stranger.

But how do you make that other person know you even before opening the email?

I've got a few tricks to that - I call it Advance Online Networking.

How does that work? Well, here goes ... People don't really have to know about you only from the email that you send them. Let say that you don't subscribe to my newsletter. And suddenly you got an email from me. The FROM writes, "Iszuddin Ismail aka Kidino". Would you open it? Maybe ... if the subject line is interesting enough. But most probably you'll just click the delete button.

Now, what if you were at a seminar the week before and we met there. We talked about business strategies and even exchanged cards.

Then later you got that email, "From: Iszuddin Ismail aka Kidino" You might be saying to yourself, "Ah ... it's that guy from the seminar last week."

See the difference?

Here's the big secret ... you don't have to be at seminar with me, or anything other guy to be able to create that effect. It can all be done online (atleast almost all).

Again ... How?

[+] 1 - Forums ... Best with Private Forums

It's no secret that you can meet a lot of interesting people in forums. And it's sometimes surprising to see who's participating in that forums. I think in cases like this, private forums work best. For one thing, there isn't a lot of members. That makes it easier for the other guy to know you. And the feeling with private forum is different.

For example, when I am in TurningIdeasIntoDollars.com (TIID), I feel that I can share more details when seeking advice. I don't feel that risks of copycats and sabotage that much.

Apart from that, private forums normally are joined by people who are more serious about their business. This is a good place to search for potential business acquintances.

There're two things that you can do at forums. First is to participate in discussions. Give valuable insights and share your tips, tricks, opinion, experience, etc.

The second thing that you can do is start a great topic to discuss. When you created an interesting topic, more people will respond to it. And that will make you are more known person.

[+] 2 - Commenting Blog Posts

The person that you are trying to get in touch with might also be an active blogger. That's a good thing. With this, I recommend that you get an RSS aggregator like SharpReader and subscribe to their site feed, you know the RSS or XML. I can't really teach you that here. It's out of the topic. But with an RSS aggregator, it's eaiser to follow what that person is writing in his/her blog.

Apart from watching what they write, here're other things that you must do. Be on the lookout for interesting topics. Better still, topics that are related to you, or those that you can share valuable points. And just do that - share your points by commenting on their posts.

When you have something to share about what they wrote, go over to that blog and drop a comment. You see, most bloggers are more anxious about what people comment on their blogs rather than what they get in the email.

So give a comment, and they will read it. And that will make yourself known to that other person. Better still, give more comments everytime they put new posts.

[+] 3 - Putting Blog Trackbacks

This is something else that you can do if you are a blogger yourself. Sometimes you see that one blogger started to write about something, and suddenly other bloggers follow.

Well, you can do that too. There's nothing wrong in following ... When somebody wrote about an interesting thing, you can write about that same thing. But make sure you do these two things.

One is to credit that first blogger. You can say something like "Sam wrote about XYZ in his blog. I think ... " The second thing that you should do is put a trackback. In your blog admin (like WordPress), there's a place where you can put in trackback URLs. A trackback is like a comment, it's just that you do it from your blog and not theirs.

Look for a trackback URL and put that in when you are writing a new post. Be sure that you post and the other post is related. Don't put trackbacks to a post about vegetables when you are writing about the computers.

[+] 4 - Join a Teleseminar

Every now and then, there are free teleseminars that you can join. I am sure that you'll learn something interesting in there, even if you know there's going to be a sales pitch at the end.

But every chance you get to join a teleseminar, do it. Normally at the beginning of the teleseminar, there's a intro slot. You get to say your name and tell where you are coming from. Make sure you do that.

And at the end of the teleseminar, there may also be a Q&A session. Participate in that - introduce yourself and ask your question.

One time ago, I participated in a teleseminar and I said, "This is Kidino from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia." And that host said, "Woow!" I am sure that she remembers me - true enough, it's proven when I wrote to her.

[+] 5 - Buy their product and give feedback

Yep ... pretty basic but not many really do this. If the person that you are trying to get in touch with has a product, buy it. Then write to them telling how you like the product (if you really like it that is).

Good business person will take product support very seriously. And when they get an email from a customer, most of the time, they think it's a support request. Now, when you write something unexpected, like praising them about their work, you'll be remembered.

Now you can write your email ...

Now, if did some of the things above - the Advance Online Networking, the next time you write to them, you won't be a stranger. It's easier to get people to read your email when you are not a stranger to them.

You know this yourself because I am sure you get a number of strangers constantly emailing. Here's a few more tips.

When's the best time to write?

Sometimes it's about timing. These times are the best times to send an email to the guy you are trying to get in touch with. Why? - Because they are still in the mood and most of the times, very anxious to know what people think about what they just did.

So here it is ...

If that guy/gal is a blogger, write a comment after a post - then email.

If you subscribed to this guy's/gal's newsletter, write an email after you've received an issue.

If you are interacting in forums, try doing a private message. If you get a response, then invite the other person to continue in email.