We all have important people on our list that we need to contact for one reason or another.  Maybe we’re trying to pitch investor or maybe we’re reaching out to potential sponsors.  Connecting with  important people is usually difficult, because everybody and their brother is also trying to connect to the same important people.

In my experience, I’ve found there are 3 key steps to successfully connect with important people.

1. See if you already have a connection to them.

Before you do anything, see if you already have a direct connection to the person you’re trying to reach.  A great place to start is LinkedIn.  See if you’re connected to the person or if anybody in your LinkedIn network is connected to them.  I generally don’t go any degrees of separation further from that as there’s less chance of getting a quality intro that way.

If you are connected to them directly or through a mutual connection, you’re more likely to get ahold of them because it’s a warm intro.

2. Send an email.

If you have a connection to the person you’re trying to reach, email your connection and ask them for an intro.  If you don’t have a connection, try emailing the person directly anyway.  You have nothing to lose.

Keep your email short and to the point.  The person you’re trying to reach probably gets a ton of email and doesn’t have time to read your life story.  Be concise in your writing and get straight to the point of why you’re contacting them.

3. Follow up regularly.

You probably won’t get a response after your first email to the person.  But don’t just give up there.  Schedule a reminder for yourself to follow up the next week.  And if you don’t get a response after that, follow up again the next week.

Emails easily get lost in the shuffle, especially with people who get tons of email every day.  In my experience, I’ve found I get a response around the 3rd email or so.  If I had given up after reaching out once or twice, I would have lost out on some key opportunities.

Be consistent and follow up regularly.  It’ll pay off!

(photo credit)