When I pick up the phone to pitch to journalists I don’t know… When I type up an email to send to a CEO I’ve never met… When I attempt to write a personal note on a LinkedIn invite to someone inspirational, but has no clue who I am… fear tends to creep up on me.
If you think cold calling is tough when selling, consider how tough it is to connect cold, to establish a relationship with someone who knows nothing about you.
Here’s what gets me through it.
Before I reach out to anyone I’ve never met, I remind myself the more people I talk to, the easier it will be to do, ask, and connect with people later down the line.
If you had to guess which scenario feels better, would you rather dial the number of a journalist who has never heard of you before or would you rather dial the number of a journalist who you’ve talked to before, if even once.
Or… would you rather send an email to someone saying “Hey, I’m friend’s with John Appleseed. He’s spoken highly of you. Would you have time to chat for a few minutes?” That’s certainly better than “Hey, would you have time to chat for a few minutes?”
The more people you talk to now, the more times you put yourself out there to warming a cold connection, the easier things will fall into place for you in the future.
The quickest way to dissipate the fear is to dive straight in it.
Stay Positive & Who Are You Connecting To?
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