“If Muhammed doesn’t go to the mountain, the mountain will go to Muhammed.” – The most profound statement ever.’
Sometimes in life, you have to chart a path from where you are to where you want to be. And many times you don’t know how to reach the people that can guide you on that journey. Whether it is funding, work or a mentor, the easiest way to reach for anything you want is via email. Seeing as almost everyone in the world owns an email address.
So, how do you go about it? especially since you are sending an email to someone you don’t know and have never met.
These simple steps have the answer:
1) Personalize the message.
Research about who you want to message and make a framework of the kind of person they are based on the information. This makes it easy to sell the idea of why you are emailing them because you can tailor specific information and show them why they are the best fit and why you chose to message them.
2) Establish credibility quickly.
In real life, like attracts and unlike repels. Anything you have in common, now is the time to drop. Whether you know the same person, studied the same course, are from the same village. You know about the person but the person doesn’t know about you and this is how to establish credibility. By showing that you have things in common.
3) Give value.
Always ask yourself; why should someone who doesn’t know me and has never met me, give a backflipping fuck about me? The answer is easy. Provide value by helping them solve a problem or link them to someone who can help solve that problem. Press their pain points and offer them some relief.
4) Keep it brief and actionable.
Short messages good, Long messages bad. Keep it short and leave the person with actionable points. Take out the mental stress for them and guide them. I.e “I am free to talk between 8 am and 9 am to discuss and if this doesn’t work for you, kindly let me know what time works.”
5) Gratitude is a must.
Always end the email thanking them for their time and being grateful. A simple “Thank you very much for your time and consideration” can make improve your response rate.
If you like this, you can check out our new column titled ‘A Week In The Life Of” that documents the struggle of what it means to hustle in Nigeria and try to earn a living.
Click here to read the first episode about Odunayo, a keke rider. She shows us what it means to be a breadwinner, a chief, and a woman in a male-dominated field.
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