How To Get Introduced To That Perfect Contact

A big part of marketing is meeting the right people who can help you spread the word about your book, your business, or yourself. But often, it's hard to meet the people you are trying to connect with. A quick cold-call can definitely do the trick (i.e., e-mail, direct message, etc...) but many times we prefer a "warm" contact. That is, a contact where the person has already heard of us or we have been introduced to them by a mutual connection.

While I think that sending an e-mail to a perfect stranger is still a great way to introduce yourself to a person, here are some other ideas you may want to consider for making a connection.

• Ask Your Current Connections- If you want to meet Author X or Publisher Y, then let your current connections know. It utilizes the 6 degrees of separation principle. This principle says that we all are only 6 people away from knowing any other person. It's the "friend of a friend" notion. By letting your connections know that you want to meet someone specific, they can start to discover who they know that can help you. You'd be surprised at how powerful this technique can be.
  
  
• Join A Mutual Group- Often, there can be a fine line between creepy cyber-stalking and creative networking, but joining an association that your targeted contact is a member of can be a legitimate way to warm the waters for first contact. Just make sure you have a legitimate interest in the group and you are sincerely planning on being involved. Once in, groups can be be a very friendly and helpful place to network. A general motto for most associations is "we take care of our own."
  
  
• Do Business With Your Targeted Contact- If you need a product or service (or a great book), why not consider the person you want to meet? Most entrepreneurs are naturally drawn to connect with their clients. This may be the easiest and most natural way to connect to your target.
  
  
• Ask For Advice- Before you make your cold-contact, you may want to seek your target contact's advice on something. This may be a quick question on a post they have written or something in their area of expertise. Most people genuinely want to help others and it will be a great way to bring your name to the front of their consciousness. Subsequent contacts can flow smoothly and naturally.
  
  
• Thank Your Targeted Contact- Is there a positive influence that your targeted contact has made on you? If so, shoot them off a quick message to thank them. Let them know what they have done to help you. Most people work for the purpose of bringing value to others and when they hear that they have accomplished that, they are thrilled. Trust me, if you are sincere, you will leave a positive impression on their minds and chances are excellent for future channels of communications to remain open.
  

As I said before, I don't think a carefully constructed cold contact is a bad thing at all. But for those who want to warm things up first, I hope these tips will help.

Did you happen to notice a theme through these "warm" contact tips? They all center around the element of building relationships to one degree or another. When you boil away all the surface dressing and get to the core issue of networking, it's all about building and cultivating relationships. The truth is, it's a lot easier to connect with someone we have a relationship with, no matter how simple the relationship is, then it is to connect with a perfect stranger.

If you have techniques for connecting with someone, I would love to hear them.

Tony Eldridge