A few days back, I was listening to a podcast that had Cliff Weitzman (the founder of Speechify) as the guest.
If you don’t know, Speechify is an app that allows you to convert any page on the internet, or any PDF into an audiobook.
Cliff had Dyslexia, so he found a way to teach himself by using text-to-speech features and ended up building Speechify. It is now used by 20,000,000+ people. Crazy, I know.
Anyways, here’s one of the lessons I learned from him:
Cold Email Strangers and People You Admire
[Cold email is when you email someone without having contacted them before.]
To Strangers
Emailing people randomly is a wonderful way to not only make people’s day but to make yourself more likely to get opportunities.
When you cold email people, you can get mentorship from people, you can learn from people who are at the top of their game, and you might get a job or an internship. You might even find the love of your life.
I emailed 3 people I would like to learn from who I have never talked to. And hey, I booked a meeting with one of them. Nice!
To People You Admire
Another form of doing this is emailing or texting the people you admire or love. In simple terms, it is like sending thank-you notes.
It doesn’t have to be some state-of-the-art writing or confession. It can be as simple as:
“Hey Harry, just wanted to let you know that I was thinking of you.
I wanted to thank you for being such a great friend all these years. Would love to meet and catch up with you again someday.
Let me know whenever you would be available for a quick coffee.
Thank you for everything!”If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to suggest a meeting. Just thank them. This will already improve your relationships a lot.
I am doing this when I am bored.
Instead of scrolling through social media, I have been scrolling through my contact list and emailing and texting people.
The outcome has been amazing so far, and I don’t think that is going to change anytime soon.
Give it a try once, might lead to making someone’s day.
Until another time,
Suraj Chaudhary
xoxo
