I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Slide into those DMs
Last week, I shared some Break-through Techniques for pricing and market research.
This week, I was reminded of a technique I've been using for the past few years that has also been a game-changer for me.
If you guessed sliding into people's DMs on Zoom, LinkedIn, and other meeting and professional platforms, you are correct.
Just this week, doing that very thing landed me a podcast invitation, a guest expert for my upcoming class, and a great networking meeting with someone who serves the same audience as me.
I know some folks feel nervous reaching out to strangers, but the truth is, there's basically no risk to this tactic.
What's the worst that can happen? The other person (gasp) ignores your message?
I actually once had that happen. I DMed someone I thought it would be great to connect with while attending a big conference session on Zoom. Then, crickets.
I thought, "OK, what's the harm? They weren't interested."
A few days later, I received a LinkedIn invitation with a message of apology from the person I had DMed. The chat was so busy that they'd missed the DM I'd sent them. They only saw it later when they were reviewing the saved chat. They felt terrible.
I felt lucky that they'd bothered to review the chat and found my message.
To me, it's way easier to slide into someone's DMs than pull them aside IRL at an in-person event. And, it feels way safer, too, especially to the painfully shy child that still lives within me.
I've also found that people genuinely appreciate it when you make the first move and reach out.
Whenever that shy child pokes her head up, and I feel nervous about reaching out, I ask myself how I would feel being on the receiving end of my own message.
I've also never received a DM (in professional contexts) that has made me think, "What were they thinking," or "How annoying."
As we get back to live events, I know I'm still going to keep virtual networking events on my calendar because they're such rich territory for connection.
And, it's so much easier for me to 'work the Zoom' than work the room.
How about you? Are you itching to get back to IRL or breaking out in hives just thinking about it?
Until next week, keep reaching out and building connections.
Sharing is caring. Please pass this message on.
Your success is our strategy!
Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Hi Reader, Last week we had the first tornado warning in Manhattan and the second in New York City that I can recall. There was horrible air quality from the Canadian wildfires as well as torrential rains with their accompanying flood warnings the week before. Right now, Spain and France are suffering devastating wildfires and heat waves. I've written before about disaster preparedness, but I really want to drive home the need to think about and plan for the potential impact of natural or...
I promised I'd share some AI wins after bashing on it for the last couple of months, so here goes. An old client of mine runs a wine shop in Brooklyn. She's got some help but she's largely a one-woman show. She's been using Monday's AI features to help her analyze and manage her inventory and understand seasonal sales trends to purchase more smartly. She had to level up her investment and hire someone to help her set up the AI agents she needs but feels it's been money well-spent. Another one...
There are lots of thoughts spinning around in my brain at any given moment. Maybe you can relate. We're kind of living in whirlwind times where information is coming at us incessantly; it's like being caught up in a tornado. There's just no way to catch your breath and really marinate on anything for too long. So here are a few things I'm trying to give a little bit more thought and attention to these days: What impact will Pope Leo's AI encyclical have on governments, tech leaders, and...