How to persuade people you don't know to help you (This is the secret to getting links)
Last Updated January 16th, 2013

You already know the easiest way to build YOUR blog is to find a blog with a larger readership than you…

…and then persuade them to send you some of their readers.

BUT HOW?

How can you entice someone to link you when you feel like you have NOTHING to give them in return?

Or better yet, how can you get someone you don’t know to help you with anything?

That’s what I’m going to show you how to do in today’s blog post.

But first, I’m going to show you WHAT NOT TO DO.

Let’s Kick This Off With A Real Example…

A few days ago, this guy sent me an email to ask if I could help him out by sending him a few readers.

(He obviously knows the benefit of getting large bloggers to send him traffic)

Unfortunately, there was no way I could say “YES!” to his request…

…and the guy looked like a good, honest dude, too.

Why?

Here’s the email:

Now can you tell me what this dude did wrong here?

Here’s a hint:

EVERYTHING in the email is about him.

There’s NOTHING in the email that gives me a reason to even CONSIDER sending him traffic.

I’m not pointing this out to make fun of this guy, because as I said, I believe he’s an honest dude who’s still learning the ropes.

The reason why I’m pointing this out is because I get a million of these emails each week.

So thing not to do #1:

If you’re contacting someone you don’t know, NEVER make it all about yourself.

This is actually a UNIVERSAL rule in life.

If you’d like to make a solid impression on someone, you should NEVER make the conversation about “ME ME ME ME.”

If you wanted to learn more about this very problem, I actually created a video and a free PDF where I go into this in detail. It’s called “How to email influential people.”

That said…

Here’s Another Thing You Should NEVER Do…

Let me show a quick example:

“Hey Derek,

You’ve helped me out so much that I’d like to return the favor. If there’s anything you need help with, just let me know.”

What’s wrong here?

The email is clearly all about me, but it misses the mark… MASSIVELY.

Why?

When you send an email that says “If there’s anything you need help with, let me know,” you mean well, but you’re putting the onus on the person you’re emailing to “figure out” how you might be able to help them.

So, what you’re doing, in turn, is offering to help… and creating work for the person you’re trying to help.

They’re already busy, so the email often gets ignored.

And that leads me to thing not to do #2:

If you’re contacting someone you don’t know, NEVER extend a generic offer to help.

This is ALSO a universal rule of life.

So, whether you’re applying for a job, trying to land a new consulting engagement, or even looking for a way to partner up with someone you admire, it’s your job to present exactly how you’d like to work together… and the specific benefits of doing so.

But the question remains: Now that I know what NOT to do, what should I do?

And what if I feel like I have NOTHING to offer in return?

Keep reading.

The Dirty Little Secret Behind Getting People To Do Things For You…

As you might have noticed from “things not to do,” the real secret behind getting people to do things for you relies on one little word:

INCENTIVE!

If you want someone to do ANYTHING for you, you must provide them an incentive for doing so.

And the more important the person you’re contacting, the bigger incentive you must provide.

It’s really that simple.

I know we’re talking about blogging and links, but let me share a quick story about this guy Elliot Bisnow.

Back in 2008, Elliot was running a niche industry newsletter with his father. He had some questions about business and decided that the best advice would come from other young entrepreneurs.

But how could he get in contact with these other young entrepreneurs? That’s when he devised a simple plan. Here’s a direct quote from Inc. Magazine:

“Bisnow’s pitch was simple and, as it turned out, hard to turn down: Come out to Park City, Utah, and spend a few days skiing, hanging, and networking with other successful young entrepreneurs. The kicker? Bisnow agreed to pay their way.”

That’s it.

And guess what happened?

The young entrepreneurs (many of which were on the 30 under 30), were SOLD… All because Elliot provided a GREAT incentive to network.

But let’s take this back to you…

What incentive can YOU provide to someone?

That leads me to:

The Three Types of Incentives—Each Of Which Has The Potential To Be A Bullseye

A while back I read Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. In it, they said there are 3 types of incentives:

1. Economic incentives
2. Social incentives
3. Moral incentives.

To break each of them down, for simplicity’s sake, economic incentives involve money, social incentives involve fitting in (or meeting new people), and moral incentives involve “doing the greater good.”

Well, it turns out, when you want to contact someone, with hopes of persuading them to link you (or do something for you), you should appeal to one (or ALL) of these incentives.

(You’ll have to decide which works best).

To show you how this works, let me share some specific examples:

Example #1: The Economic Incentive

Back when I launched my podcast, I had the desire to feature world-renowned researchers, New York Times best-selling authors, and professors from top universities.

I had no connections in this space, but I wanted some. So, what did I do? I appealed to an economic incentive.

Here’s an example:

Dear John,

I noticed you have a book coming out in a few weeks, and I believe my readers, over at my blog, would eat it up. Would you be interested in doing a 20 minute interview, and I would feature it to all of my readers? We’ll also be able to end with a pitch for your book.

As you can see, what I want is this professor on my podcast. What he wants is to sell more of his books.

Did I email him and say, “I’d love to have you on my podcast because you’d be a great fit?”

No.

I made the email all about him… from an economic standpoint.

Let’s look at another example.

Example #2: The Social Incentive

The economic incentive was a bit self-explanatory, so how would this work from a social standpoint?

Here’s the example:

Dear John,

I recently read that piece of research you published, and I couldn’t help but wonder “Why doesn’t EVERYONE know about this?”

I was wondering, would you be interested in doing a quick 20 minute interview where we talk about this piece of research? In the past I’ve featured research from Max, someone I know you’ve worked with in the past, and I believe your research will be a big hit on my blog.

Now do you see what I did there?

I wasn’t talking about big readership numbers… I just merely mentioned that I covered some work from one of his colleagues (his colleague wasn’t even in an interview), and that I believe he’d fit in perfectly.

Social incentives at work.

Let’s look at the last incentive.

Example #3: The Moral Incentive

Let’s cut straight to it. Here’s the example:

Dear John,

I recently read that piece of research you published, and I couldn’t help but wonder “Why doesn’t EVERYONE know about this?”

As a matter of fact, this is one of the reasons why I launched my podcast Social Triggers. My big goal is to bring the insights from academic papers to the general public.

I was wondering, would you be interested in doing a quick 20 minute interview? We can highlight your research to all of my listeners, and hopefully we can both make the world a little bit smarter!

Now, to be quite honest, in this scenario, appealing to a moral incentive is quite weak, but I wanted to keep the examples consistent.

But do you see what I did there?

Instead of focusing on selling books, or joining your colleagues, I’m talking more about “making the world a better place… together.”

That’s a moral incentive in action.

And finally, let me show you how I’d use ALL THREE incentives at once.

Dear John,

I noticed you have a book coming out in a few weeks, and I believe my readers over at my blog would eat it up.

Would you be interested in doing a 30 minute interview where we talk about your book… and end with a pitch for your book?

Right now I’ve got more than 70,000 subscribers, and I suspect we could sell a few hundred books.

Thus far, I’ve featured people like Max, Jane, Dan, and other people whom I’m sure you’re familiar with. Would love to have your interview alongside theirs.

Let me know if you’re interested. I started this podcast as a way to promote the hard work of researchers like you, so I hope you have 30 minutes where I can highlight your new book.

See how that works?

As you pack on the incentives, the pitch gets more and more irresistible.

Now let’s take this back to asking bloggers to send you some of their readers.

What can you do?

How to Persuade Bloggers To Share Your Work With Their Readers

As you learned throughout this post, the secret to getting people to do something for you is providing an incentive to do it.

But how might this work with enticing people to share your work with their readers?

In my premium training, Blog that Converts, I walk you through 7 content archetypes that BEG to be shared…

…and how to use each of them.

I also walk you through the promotional strategies that light a fire under people and get them sharing / linking your stuff.

But for now, here’s what you need to know about getting people to link you:

While you MUST provide an incentive, you should NEVER make the other person feel “cheap.”

What do I mean by that?

Don’t come at someone and say, I’ll send you some traffic, if you send me some traffic.

That comes off as grimy.

Instead, what you need to do is this:

Review the type of work the person you’re emailing puts out IN DETAIL.

Then ask yourself, “Is there anything I can do to add to this conversation? Is there anything I can do to make this guy look better?”

And then do that.

As an example, let’s say I read an article by some blogger that said “Design is King.”

That blogger then went on to list the reasons why he believes design is king.

How would I reach out to him?

I’d say this:

Just read your article about “Design is King.” What’s funny is, I’ve always believed the same thing, and some people don’t. Well, check this: I stumbled on some research that PROVES design is king. It was done by a university in London, and I think you’ll dig it. Here’s the link.

What’s the incentive here?

There’s no seeming “economic, social, or moral” incentive, but it’s there… hidden in plain sight.

If I provide research suggesting that the person I’m emailing is RIGHT, then I’m giving him a reason why he’d LOVE to share my article with his fans. My article says he’s right, and people LOVE being right (that’s a social and economic incentive).

See how that works?

Okay, now I have some homework…

…and it’s going to be a fun one.

For tonight’s homework I want you to write a sample email where you show me how you’d convince someone you don’t know to do something for you.

And this could be anything… Do you want a link? Do you want them on an interview? Do you want to guest post?

Show me how you’d convince them to do it by leaving a comment below.

And remember, when writing your email, try to appeal to all three incentives.

I’ll read every single comment, and I’ll even pop in and give some people feedback on some of your sample emails.