Somebody always has something that you want.
- Better distribution methods
- A particular person’s contact info
- Knowledge you want to have in your brain
- Etc
- Etc
- Etc
It’s just a matter of getting access to it. For me and lots of other independent artists, emails are the most efficient way to go about this, and this one email in particular has opened a lot of doors.
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BONUS DOWNLOAD:
At the bottom of the post I’m going to share 5 email templates that help me get access to anyone I need to. Skip to the bottom or download the 5 Email Templates here.
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In the last 6 months it got me…
- Guest posting opportunities on Reverb, CDBaby, Grassrootsy and Sonicbids which brought in thousands of hits to my blog and conversions to my mailing list
- Connected to the art/music director at a regional television station and I’m in discussion to get a band on breakfast television (album sales from BT shows are actually quite impressive)
- Access to the local NPR radio station director which taught me a lot about music submission to local radio and their STRICT guidelines
- Access to big venues for future bookings
- Inspired influential people in the biz to share my content and giveaways.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The funny thing is that this email will very much underwhelm you. There’s no tricks, slight of hand or voodoo magic. There’s no persuasive language and there’s no bull-shittery.
In fact, you’re going to read it and say something like “Seriously? This is it?” and I’m going to say “Yep. That’s it.”
So here it is. Prepare to be underwhelmed.
Note: I’ve made this and 4 other emails into a quick .doc download for you to cut and paste from. Grab the link at the bottom of the post.
WHY DOES IT WORK?
1. It’s innocent
You read it and thought nothing of it. So do assistants, receptionists and other gatekeepers. It’s innocence makes it feel comfortable, there’s nothing “red flag” about it.
2. It’s short
We all have tons of emails to read and the people I’m generally emailing have probably hundreds flooding their inboxes every day. These people don’t have time to read an email the size of a New York Times article. My email has 49 words and is only 4 sentences long.
3. It’s casual yet professional
The email makes it feel like you belong in this arena and that you’re not a scammy sales guy or Nigerian Royalty. The tone of the email is familiar and warm which takes advantage of the fact that the independent music scene is generally the same.
4. I’ve provided everything the person needs to do in the email
The recipient doesn’t have to make a large decision. It’s a simple Yes/No decision at the end. “Should I send it on or not?” There isn’t any make-up or lipstick on this mail. It’s direct.
5. It gives the recipient the opportunity to be is rockstar
We all like to be known as connected and intelligent. We also like to generally help out and we’re wired to say “yes.” This brief email gives the opportunity for the initial recipient to feel all of those things. They get to make the connection which shows their knowledge and they get to say yes in the process.
WHY DO YOU NEED AN EMAIL LIKE THIS?
1. You need to get access to the decision makers
Any momentum grinds to a halt when you give too much information to a person with zero authority. This email gets you access to those decision makers so you can save the information for them.
2. You don’t have to show all your cards before you talk to the right person
The email is just intriguing enough that your targeted recipient (the person who you really want to reach but don’t have contact info for) will respond, thus providing you with their email address and potentially a phone number in their email signature.
In my experience, the targeted recipient will want to hear what you’re after so they’ll hit reply. This means you get that direct email address. If you did it the other way where you send ALL the info at once, they might just trash your email without sending a response and you have no idea if they even opened it and you don’t have any contact info for follow up.
WHEN TO USE IT
Use this template anytime you have an email address but you don’t know who the real decision maker is. Typically that’s for those info@website.com or hello@website.com email addresses but you can also use it if you have the direct email address of someone and you just don’t know if they’re the decision maker.
Question: How would getting efficient access to the right people help your career?
Well, from personal experience I know that it will reduce drastically the amount of time you spend emailing so you can a) send more emails to set up more opportunities or b) spend more time creating the music you love.
See what kind of time you can save and open doors that you never thought possible.
EMAIL TEMPLATES
I’ve spent a bit of time compiling 5 email templates that I’ve used over the years that have gotten me access to all sorts of people with great success. I even took some time to write notes about when and how to use them.
Download the templates for free right here.