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The most underrated way to connect with creators w/ big audiences

Before you sweatily craft your next Twitter DM to a creator with a big audience, try this instead:

Sign up for their email newsletter, read it, scan it for prompts to reply and then reply to the email. If there's no prompt, just introduce yourself and say why you signed up for their newsletter.

I've found this to be a much better way to connect with creators with a big audience than Twitter DMs for 2 reasons:

  1. They want people to reply to them - they're literally trying to start conversations with their newsletters and connect with their readers 1:1.

  2. People RARELY reply to newsletters so it's ridiculously easy to stand out.

This means the creator is VERY likely to respond to you. Just keep the reply SHORT.

And there's something personal about connecting over email as opposed to Twitter DM. Their Twitter DMs are stuffed with fans reaching out but their email probably isn't (or it's stuffed with non-fan stuff like boring emails and things they're pushing off.)

Disclaimer: some creators don't respond to emails or don't monitor their emails which is unfortunate but don't let that discourage you from replying to other creators' newsletters.

From there, you can create a 1:1 relationship with them and maybe plant a seed for future engagement, collaboration or even a job opportunity (who knows.)

Here are some of the things I've gotten out of replying to creators' newsletters:

-New LinkedIn connection or Twitter follower
-Engagement on my social media posts
-Invite to speak in a Clubhouse room
-Reference to my content in their newsletter
-Offer to like/comment on my first YouTube video

If you liked this post, you may enjoy the entire May issue of my monthly newsletter, Writerpreneur Monthly:

https://bit.ly/35Ob7EF

You can also check out all prior issues of my newsletter here: https://www.lenasesardic.com/newsletter.

  1. 2

    In general I prefer newsletters than any social media. It gives the opportunity to have a direct conversation which doesn't depend on algorithms and other black boxes.

    Many people actually answer my newsletter because I ask them to do so :D it's not as rare as you describe it in my experience.

    I really like your newsletter :) subscribed!

    1. 1

      I agree, social media can be impersonal and is a conveyor belt.

      That's great people reply to your newsletter, what kind of prompts do you put? I've tried a few things and have had some luck but still tough to get replies. I only have 150 subscribers though (still growing it) and maybe you have many more so bigger chance to get more replies? This is an assumption of course.

      And thanks for subscribing! I appreciate that. :)

      1. 2

        I've a bit more (579 subscribers). I basically ask a bunch of question and I try to be as human as possible, underlining that the main goal is to connect with people.

        1. 1

          Do you have any past archives you're able to share? Maybe I will try to ask more questions. More chance to get a response.

          1. 1

            Here's my whole welcome email.

            It's "short", I don't put any link or anything distracting, I try to focus on "I'm a human being" and "I'm interested in what you have to say".

            -------

            Thanks a lot for your interest in The Valuable Dev!

            To begin with, I've got a couple questions for you:

            • How do you feel today?
            • What's your favorite article(s) on the blog?
            • What's your favorite technology to work with?
            • What topic would you love to read about?

            Could you hit "Reply" and let me know? Your emails so far have been super helpful to make The Valuable Dev even better.

            You know what? You don't have to answer any of these questions if you don't want to. But you can still reply and say hello! I'm always happy to connect with great people, and you're one of them.

            Till next time,

            Matthieu

            1. 1

              Thanks so much for sharing, very kind of you. I love it! It's a very gentle push.

              I won't steal it but will take inspiration from it. :)

  2. 2

    Great sharing there, Lena!

    I've got a 2 more examples if you are interested:

    1. Guillaume Moubeche is the co-founder of Lemlist, an email marketing software that was bootstrapped to $4,000,000 ARR in 3 years.

    One of the ways he did to connect with creators w/ big audiences was co-marketing with other industry experts by starting a series of interviews with them.

    1. Brennan Dunn is the founder of Double Your Freelancing, a site that provides business training for Freelancers, which is doing over $70k MRR back in 2017.

    One of the strategies he did to o connect with creators w/ big audiences was hosting joint-venture webinars with people with similar audiences.

    I've got more case studies of growth strategies posted by founders over at GrowthHunt.co if you are interested.

    Cheers!

    1. 1

      Very very cool, thanks for sharing!!

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