TL;DR: Yes, and the odds are better than they feel. On August 8, 2019, I found the most senior person at Burton I could and emailed them cold. Five days later, on August 13, a real reply came back. Asking cost me almost nothing.
Asking for help has always been hard for me. But here is what I’ve learned over the years, mostly the slow way. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know. The worst thing that happens is silence, or a no, and you can live through both.
I wanted a snowboarding sponsor. Snowboarding is the thing that gave me back my freedom after the stroke, and I speak about it, and it felt worth a shot. So on August 8, 2019, I went online, found the highest-up person at Burton I could locate, and sent a cold email to a total stranger.
It turned out I’d emailed Jake Burton’s assistant. I guess I picked a pretty good person.
For five days, nothing. I started telling myself the usual story — just another attempt, one more time I reached out and nobody answered. But at least I’d tried. That was always the point. Nine times out of ten I heard nothing, and I kept sending them anyway.
Then on August 13 a reply came from someone on the Burton team. They couldn’t fund me, but they offered to send gear for my speaking engagements and the mountain. I’ve spent years since as a corporate keynote speaker telling that story, because the whole thing turned on one email I almost talked myself out of.
Everybody has ideas. Most people don’t act on them.
— I’m Not Limping. That’s Swagger!, Chapter 9
The idea was free. Hitting send is the whole thing. Please welcome Kelsey Tainsh, professional cold-emailer of strangers.
When you’re sitting on an ask you’re scared to send
- Find the most senior real person, not a contact form.
- Send the ask before you’ve talked yourself out of it.
- Expect silence nine out of ten times. But send anyway.
The Burton story is one of my favorite stories to share as a corporate keynote speaker, because everybody has an ask they’re sitting on. If your people are full of ideas and short on sends, I’d love to talk about that on your stage. And the rest of the story is in my book.
Book: https://kelseytainsh.com/kelseys-book/ · Speaking: https://kelseytainsh.com/corporate-keynotes/
Questions people ask me about cold outreach
What did you actually put in that email to a stranger?
I kept it honest and specific. I explained who I was, that I’m an adaptive athlete and a speaker, and that snowboarding had given me my freedom back. I asked about a partnership that reflected both the athletic and speaking sides of my work. No begging, no life story, just a clear ask and a real reason it fit them.
How do you keep sending when nobody writes back?
You decide the trying is the win, not the reply. For years I reached out and heard nothing most of the time. If I’d measured myself by responses I’d have quit early. Instead I measured myself by whether I sent the thing, which is the only part I control. Most emails went unanswered. The few that didn’t changed my life.
Recent Comments