Hi, I’m Brian, the VP of Growth at Sidekick.

I get
hundreds of networking emails every day, but I only
respond to a fifth of them. Here’s what I’ve seen work.

www.getsidekick.com  
There’s one thing that matters most when it
comes to how …
• professionals get the jobs they want
• top sales reps outperform the rest of the team
• entrepreneurs get their companies off the ground.

That thing is …

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Relationships

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But valuable relationships don’t form
out of thin air.

They require good old fashioned professional

networking and relationship building.

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So what’s the best first touch point
for networking?

www.getsidekick.com  
So what’s the best first touch point
for networking?

Twitter? Too impersonal and noisy.

www.getsidekick.com  
So what’s the best first touch point
for networking?

Twitter? Too impersonal and noisy.

LinkedIn? Messages just get deleted.

www.getsidekick.com  
So what’s the best first touch point
for networking?

Twitter? Too impersonal and noisy.

LinkedIn? Messages just get deleted.

Cold call? You will be ignored.

www.getsidekick.com  
So what’s the best first touch point
for networking?

Twitter? Too impersonal and noisy.

LinkedIn? Messages just get deleted.

Cold call? You will be ignored.

Networking events? Too expensive and overcrowded.

www.getsidekick.com  
 The answer:

Email is still the predominant channel to

network and build new relationships.

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91% of professionals check
their email daily.

But most
networking emails
fall short.

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So here is a 5-step framework to write
networking emails that get results.

It’ll help you whether you’re trying to reach the

CEO of a large company, get in touch with an
investor, or contact the hiring manager for a
job you want.

www.getsidekick.com  
The five steps are:

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Before we get started …

Do you want to read this

as a web page instead?

YES, GIVE ME THE

PAGE VERSION
Step 1:

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By spending 10 minutes to research the
person’s history, interests, problems, and
communication style, you’ll increase your
chances of getting a response.

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There are three ways to research and
uncover information:
1.  Find their email.

2.  Find where they are online.

3.  Understand their interests.

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 Find their email.

If you don’t have their email, find it. Avoid

emailing a generic address like
contact@company.com. That’ll guarantee
no response.

www.getsidekick.com  
 Find their email.

If you don’t have their email, find it. Avoid

emailing a generic address like
contact@company.com. That’ll guarantee
no response.

Click here for a trick to find anyone’s email

Find where they are online.

Examples include their social media profiles

like Twitter, Quora, and LinkedIn, or their
personal blog.

www.getsidekick.com  
 Bonus Tip!
Tired of hunting down social media profiles?
Want them shown to you right in
your email inbox?
Now you can.

GET YOUR EMAIL

SIDEKICK TODAY
Understand their interests.

Twitter: Look for tweets of questions or personal things. What

type of articles do they share?

Quora: What kind of questions do they follow or ask? What

questions have they answered?

LinkedIn: Look at what companies they’ve been involved in.

What skills have they been endorsed for?

Personal Blog: Look at their about page and what they write
about.
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Step 2:

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This step uses social media to increase your
chances of connecting. Skip this step, if the
person you’re trying to get in touch with isn’t
active on social.

The goal is to make your name look familiar

before you hit their inbox.

www.getsidekick.com  
This is easy to do. Go to their Twitter, LinkedIn,
or Quora profile, or their personal blog and …
1. Follow them.

2. Retweet a tweet they’re mentioned in.

3. Favorite their tweets.

4. Respond to open questions they ask.

5. Share a relevant link to their interests.

6. Subscribe to their blog.

www.getsidekick.com  
This is easy to do. Go to their Twitter, LinkedIn,
or Quora profile, or their personal blog and …
1. Follow them.

2. Retweet a tweet they’re mentioned in.

3. Favorite their tweets.

4. Respond to open questions they ask.

5. Share a relevant link to their interests.

REVEAL MORE IN-DEPTH SOCIAL
6. Subscribe to their blog. MEDIA NETWORKING TIPS
The best part is that
you don’t need a response.

They’ll see that you’ve engaged with them.

Do this a few times and your name will become

more familiar to them.

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Step 3:

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There are three key things to remember when
sending the first email:
Key 1: Skip the Intro

Key 2: Stroke the Ego

Key 3: Add Value (Don’t Ask For Anything)

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Key 1: Skip the Intro

“Hi I’m Mike Miller. I’m a hard working sales professional.”

Don’t do that. It screams cold email. Get to the

point of why you’re emailing them.

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Key 2: Stroke the Ego.

Ego is a core component of what humans

crave. We naturally respond favorably to
people who help us fulfill it.

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A few ways to stroke the ego include:
Mention them in association with a respected brand name

Tell them you shared their work with others

Write them a romantic song (joking)

www.getsidekick.com  
A few ways to stroke the ego include:
Mention them in association with a respected brand name

Tell them you shared their work with others

Write them a romantic song (joking)

… Seriously don’t do that. It’s creepy.

www.getsidekick.com  
A few ways to stroke the ego include:
Mention them in association with a respected brand name

Tell them you shared their work with others

Write them a romantic song (joking)

… Seriously don’t do that. It’s creepy.

UNCOVER HOW I STROKE EGO

IN OUR FULL NETWORKING GUIDE
Key 3: Add Value (Don’t Ask for Anything)

Restrain yourself from asking for anything and

focus on adding value instead.

This is a play on the Rule of Reciprocity which

states that we’re all bound – even driven – to
repay debts of all kinds.

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Here are 4 examples to add value to your email:
1. Share their company, product, or content with others on social media.

2. Feature or mention them in an article you write.

3. Share a high quality article or book on a topic of interest.

4. Introduce them to someone they would find valuable.

www.getsidekick.com  
Here are 4 examples to add value to your email:
1. Share their company, product, or content with others on social media.

2. Feature or mention them in an article you write.

3. Share a high quality article or book on a topic of interest.

4. Introduce them to someone they would find valuable.

CLICK HERE TO UNLOCK BONUS

TIPS ON HOW TO ADD VALUE
Step 4:

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Now’s the time to ask the person for what you wanted this whole
time. There are six keys to make this email successful:

Key 1: Size Matters

Key 2: One Email, One Outcome

Key 3: Get Specific

Key 4: Small Asks, Then Big Asks

Key 5: Do The Work For Them

Key 6: Get the Timing Right

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Key 1: Size Matters

The moment someone opens an email, they scan it

and decide whether or not they want to deal with it.

The longer it is, the higher the chance they’ll delete it.

Keep the email as short as possible. Revise brutally

and cut out anything that’s unnecessary.

www.getsidekick.com  
 Key 1: Size Matters
Hey Brian,

I loved your post on Building Growth Teams. I shared it with 3 other friends
that I know are facing similar challenges and they all said they immediately
subscribed to your blog and even read more blog posts from you.

Your’s and Seth Godin’s writing have been very influential on my own work. I
can’t express much I’ve learned from you and I’m looking forward to more of
your work.

There are two other really incredible posts on team building I read recently
that you might be interested in. Creating High Performance Teams on
Harvard Business Review and A Study of The Top 1% Team done by a
researcher at Stanford.

I hope you enjoy! What are you currently working on? Let me know if there’s
anything I can do for you. Would love to keep in touch.

www.getsidekick.com  
 Key 1: Size Matters
Hey Brian, Hey Brian,

I loved your post on Building Growth Teams. I shared it with 3 other friends I loved your post on Building Growth Teams. I shared it with 3 friends that
that I know are facing similar challenges and they all said they immediately are facing similar challenges and they immediately subscribed to your blog.
subscribed to your blog and even read more blog posts from you.
Your’s and Seth Godin’s writing have been very influential on my work.
Your’s and Seth Godin’s writing have been very influential on my own work. I
can’t express much I’ve learned from you and I’m looking forward to more of There are 2 other incredible posts on team building I read that you might be
your work. interested in. Creating High Performance Teams on HBR and A Study of The
Top 1% Team at Stanford.
There are two other really incredible posts on team building I read recently
that you might be interested in. Creating High Performance Teams on I hope you enjoy!
Harvard Business Review and A Study of The Top 1% Team done by a
researcher at Stanford.

I hope you enjoy! What are you currently working on? Let me know if there’s
anything I can do for you. Would love to keep in touch.

www.getsidekick.com  
Key 2: One Email, One Outcome

Keep the email highly focused. If you ask for

multiple things, you’ll get nothing.

Ask for one thing.

www.getsidekick.com  
Key 3: Get Specific

Get as specific as you can with your ask. Generic or broad asks create
work for the other person. Compare the following:

“My startup is a SaaS product for marketers. What should my marketing
strategy be?”

“My startup is a SaaS product for marketers of SMBs to help them capture more leads.
it costs $100/month to start. I’m trying to decided between content marketing and
paid acquisition as a channel. What do you think the pros/cons of those two channels
would be in my case?”

www.getsidekick.com  
Key 4: Small Asks, Then Big Asks

The smaller the ask, the more likely you’ll get a

response. As your relationship develops, you
can comfortably ask for more.

www.getsidekick.com  
Key 5: Do The Work For Them

Do as much work as you possibly can to make it easy for them to give
you what you’re asking for. Take for example, asking to meet in person:

“When and where could you meet for half an hour?”
“How is next Tue/Wed/Thur at 4pm at your office, or the Starbucks down the block
from you?”

First example = instant delete. In the second example, date, time, and
location are chosen and convenient for them. They just need to say,
“Let’s do Tue 4pm at my office. See you then.”

www.getsidekick.com  
Key 6: Get the Timing Right

Once you’ve taken care of keys 1-5, you need to time your email.

Data shows that sending in the evenings will optimize your chances of
receiving a reply because:

1.  If your email is part of the day-time bunch you’ll be filtered out.
2.  Most emails get read within an hour of being sent. When will they
be in their inbox? Lunch time, commute home, dinner time are
bad times.

www.getsidekick.com  
 Use this tool!
You can’t always send an email when you
want to. You might be out with friends, at
the doctor’s office, or asleep.

Use this tool to schedule your emails

ahead of time. Boom.

DISCOVER THE FREE TOOL TO

SCHEDULE EMAILS AHEAD OF TIME
Step 5:

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 Want the final step?

Find out how to follow up effectively.

UNCOVER THE SIMPLE TIPS
TO FOLLOW UP EFFECTIVELY
Every networking buff needs a partner.
Upgrade your networking game
with a trusty Sidekick.

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NETWORKING SIDEKICK