How To Write E-Mails To Bloggers And Webmasters That Get Answered

Networking is a hugely important part of online marketing and organic outreach so it’s something that every business owner should spend time learning. It’s through networking that you will be able to increase your chances of getting a link on a popular blog or to get a shout-out on social media. Networking will find you more people to work with and will get you free advice. In short, it can really give your website’s performance a boost.

When it comes to promoting a website, just like promoting a business, it’s often more about who you know than what you know.

The only problem, is that networking online is somewhat more difficult than networking in person. After all, big bloggers receive hundreds of e-mails daily and most of those people want something. If you want to stand out and get a response rather than being sent to the ‘trash’, you need to write e-mails that will get responses. Here’s how you go about doing that:

Choose the Right Target

If you e-mail Tim Ferriss or Matt Cutts asking for a link, then you can almost guarantee you’re not going to get a response. These guys are just too busy and too successful to take the time to respond to every e-mail in their inbox and they don’t stand to gain anything from responding.

Conversely though, if you choose a blogger who is slightly less prominent, then you’re much more likely to get a response as these bloggers will likely be flattered to gain responses. This way, you can work your way up to contacting the big fish.

Build a Relationship

Getting a response from a big blogger isn’t only about writing them a great e-mail – it’s also about building a relationship through other channels. If you can meet them in person, you’ll find that this does wonders for your site, which is one of the reasons it’s such a good idea to attend networking events in person.

Otherwise, you can build relationships through other channels such as through their own comments section, or through LinkedIn even. On LinkedIn, you might even find that you have a mutual contact. In that case, you can politely request an introduction.

Write a Great Subject Heading

Also important is to write a great subject heading. This is what will make your e-mail stand out in a crowded inbox. Your objective is to prove you’re human (big bloggers hate spam in their inbox) and to make your e-mail sound interesting.

The Content

As for the content, it’s always a good idea to avoid asking for anything in your first e-mail. By just touching base and saying hi, you’re much more likely to get a response. Once you have your first response, it will be much harder for bloggers to ignore you.

When you do ask for something, make sure to get straight to the point and to be polite. Try to pose your question in such a way that the blogger stands to benefit too and don’t pester if you don’t get a response. If you get radio silence then wait a while and only approach again if you have something genuinely useful and different to say.

Doing organic outreach is a tough job but when you ace in the art of writing e-mails that elicit favorable responses, it’s truly satisfying!