The CV is dying, dead, gone. You decide.
With so much competition nowadays and your digital resume being one click away from the trashcan or pushed into email oblivion by the thousands of others following yours, you probably need to decide on an alternative approach in order to cut through the noise and get yourself out there.
If it’s really true that “it’s who you know, not what you know” then you better get knowing the right people! I’ve been watching a lot of Gary Vaynerchuks latest video series and have put together some of his top tactics for getting attention, whether that’s finding an employer, client or customer. I hope you find then useful.
If you asked a stranger for a lift, they’d probably tell you to F-off but if you ask your best friend then you’re much more likely to get a yes simply because you have spent years building up your relationship, the same applies online.
In a world where attention is scarce, the way to cutemoti through the noise relies on you doing things differently.
If you’ve got a skill set that you think the company or person you want to reach out to can benefit from, give them everything you’ve got as if you were their highest paid employee. Audit their website, make them a video, redesign their logo, whatever you do, treat them like you’d treat your Mother.
Not only will the person get to see the quality of the work you can produce being applied to their business, but it also says a lot about your character when you do something without the need to be paid (right now that is).
2. Just Ask
Asking is all about timing. You wouldn’t ask for a girls number at her father’s funeral would you? (You sick fuck!) Anyway, asking before you have the right to do so is hugely important when trying to get someone’s attention.
The law of repriciocity states that people feel obliged to do things for those who have given value first.
I once saw a homeless guy in London sitting next to a set of cash machines; he was besides one that was out of service. As soon as someone walked over to use it, he would let them know that it wasn’t working and point to one that was. Not only did he get more money given to him but he had chosen a location where people couldn’t say they didn’t have any money on them. Clever guy.
So what can you do to set yourself up for a worthy ask? Do the person a favour! If they tweet out a message asking for help, respond to it. If they put up a blog post, tell them what you loved about it. Get to know what they’re interested in and help them get more of it. Hustle, hustle, hustle. Jab, jab, jab, ASK!
3. Embrace The Silence.
So you done all the hard work and you’re still hearing nothing? Gary Vaynerchuk mentions that you’ve got to be willing to get rejected 20 times before you get what you want!
Most people can’t take one.
Think about it, most people will give up at rejection 1, 2 or 3, meaning every time you keep going, the pool of competition is decreasing greatly.
And remember, just because you haven’t hearing anything it doesn’t mean your actions are going unnoticed. In a world where tweets fly by, emails stack up constantly and sometimes the person you’re trying to reach is having a bad day, your twenty attempts over somebody else’s one has way more chance of finding that window of opportunity.
You’re persistence is a reflection of how much you want it.
3 Must Have Tools In Your Attention Seeking Arsenal
Here are three great online tools for applying the steps above.
Buzzsumo allows you to find influencers in your field. It also has a great tool to find out what that person is sharing meaning you can build up an emotional map of the things they’re interested in so you can keep delivering massive value.
Vibe and Repportive are great Google Chrome extension that can help you to guess the email address of those you want to reach out to. It’s easy to connect with people through their social media channels but getting in to their inbox can be hugely beneficial if you’re not just going to spam them with your winey needs. If you’ve already been delivering massive value through social media, they may even recongise your name when you land in their inbox and will be more likely to open.
Hootsuite comes with a great dashboard that allows you to follow individual social media streams or keywords meaning you can be constantly up to date with those you are trying to connect with and what’s being said in your field of interest.
I hope you found this blog post useful, if so please share it with someone else who you think will find value in it.
Do you have any other tools or techniques you can suggest for getting people’s attention online? If so, please share them in the comment below!
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