How To Unlock Opportunities By DMing People You Admire
The Bleeding Edge, Edition #5
In nearly one year of community managing ONE37pm’s Twitter, then Instagram, I’ve read close to 1000 cold DMs. These cold DMs range from people saying hi, asking for a repost, reshare, a job, or any other miscellaneous things a large brand owned by a prominent figure would get DM’d about. Part of my job is to decide to respond, ignore, or potentially feature/work with them.
So, from the perspective of someone who responds to cold DMs, here are some things to keep in mind when sending a cold DM with an ask.
What are you looking to gain from the ask?
What do they gain from the ask?
How personable is your approach?
Let serendipity cook.
By the way, there is no single correct way to do it. But there are some things you can do to increase your odds.
What are you looking to gain from the ask?
Sometimes your ask doesn’t need to be an ask right away. Maybe you’re simply looking to start a connection by saying hi. A message here and there is a great way to put yourself in a position to have an ask later.
Flatter goes a long way. If it’s a personal account, maybe you point out something particular in a recent post that you liked.
Go deep. Express yourself.
When you point out a particular thing you like in someone’s work, not only are you making the person feel good, you are expressing your thought process, allowing the recipient to gain a small understanding of you as a human.
When I talk to someone I meet for the first time, sometimes I’ll try to ask a question that makes them pause and say, “That’s a really good question.” When you do that, you’re making it clear you’re listening to them and deeply considering what they’re saying. I’m also genuinely curious and want to learn from people.
You can essentially do the same thing in a cold DM by looking through a profile, considering what they say, how they say it, and giving them your observation or a question based on your observation.
You can do the same thing with a brand account, too.
If you’re looking for a job opportunity, do you have a skillset the company needs? Show your past work. Give them a chance to see who you are and what you do. Think about the first 7 words in the message, because those are the only one that shows in an Instagram DM and the person behind the account will choose to open it or not based on that.
There are no shortcuts. There are, however, ways to amplify your hard work to make your own luck.
My job interview with ONE37pm happened because I worked hard writing and making videos in a small startup. The owner of the startup was a freelance writer for ONE37pm. After seven months, we didn’t make much money. Serendipitously, ONE37pm was on a hiring spree. The freelance writer vouched for me and hooked me up with a job interview.
When I interviewed for the job, I rattled off a bunch of my interests and skillsets, which all roughly aligned with the company. Tyler, the interviewer, asked me, “So, what role are you looking for?”. I didn’t know. And I told him I didn’t know.
He told me to write some article pitches and send them in. By the end of the day, I sent them in, thinking I might become a writer. The only problem was, it was Friday. I knew I wouldn’t get a response until Monday. I didn’t know if I’d get a response at all.
People say to have a nice follow-up email, but that’s played out, in my opinion.
Instead of sending a follow-up email, I created a spreadsheet tracking the supply of recently released physical collectible cards (VeeFriends x Zerocool). These cards were very close to Tyler’s interests and very close to the company’s brand. I knew this would be a valuable tool that would be well-received by the VeeFriend community. Monday afternoon, I Tweeted it and tagged Tyler. Very soon after, I got an email from Tyler.
Spend some time observing the company and the people behind the company, then put yourself in a position to be a great person to work there.
What do they gain from the ask?
At the risk of saying the obvious, your ask should also help the other person. It’s not a MUST, but it will increase your chances.
Maybe you simply ask them what they’re having trouble with right now. And maybe you have the answers.
If you’re only looking to start a connection, I don’t think you need to go into problem-solving mode immediately. A simple back-and-forth conversation and then an ask for a 15-minute zoom call can go a long way.
How personable is your approach?
We once got a DM that said, “give me a job.”
I always look at the profile of the person who sent the DM. By looking at the profile, it was clear we weren’t aligned.
I’m not saying that would never work, but I think we can agree the odds of success were pretty low.
Tip: If the person doesn’t follow you, your DM will likely go into the request folder. People must go out of their way to check them, so they’re usually not looked at often. If you’re awaiting a response, turn on post notifications. As soon as they post, write a personable comment asking them to check DMs. It’s important to be personable to set you apart from the bots that comment on posts.
I left a comment on a post from the artist I featured last week. I sent them a DM earlier to know when their NFTs were available for purchase. They read the DM but didn’t respond. In the next post, I left this series of comments.
I can’t stress how far observation and visible effort will take you. Visible effort is when it’s clear the person did their homework before deciding to press send. I don’t know about other channel managers, but I appreciate it when someone cares about what they’re saying and how they present it.
Let Serendipity Cook
Yes, this title is ripping from the meme phrase “Let him cook!”, a meme that basically means, let him do his thing.
Sometimes, the timing just isn’t right. The person could be busy. The company may not be hiring. They may never check their DM requests. You never know.
Just keep going.
Put yourself in a position to get lucky.
Thank you for reading.
For those following the release of my first proper art NFT collection, the collection will be available to purchase FRIDAY MORNING AT 7 AM EST.
There will be 9 NFTs in the collection listed for .033 ETH each (~$54). Don’t forget to have extra ETH to cover gas costs!
A 10th animated NFT will go on auction once all nine sell out, starting bid at .033 ETH. You can see the animated NFT inside the collection to decide if you want to set aside money to go for the auction or collect the still images instead.
I will not post about the 9 NFTs on social media unless they don’t sell out over the weekend. So far, I have only talked about them in this newsletter.
I will post about the 10th NFT auction on social media, opening it up to the general public. Take this into consideration if you’re balling on a budget.
Another reminder newsletter will come out Thursday morning.
Friday morning ALL details of the NFT project and where to purchase will be released.
I’m so excited about this release. Once you see it, I believe you’ll get a glimpse into how thoughtfully I’m approaching AI’s role in creating art.