How NOT To Approach Someone……

So, the other day I was on Twitter and I get an @ reply from a guy who says “Hey, you’re ranked #1 in Flint and I’m ranked #5. Let’s network.”

To be honest, that statement right there made it pretty obvious that he didn’t have a clue what he was doing. The only reason he was contacting me was because I am supposedly ranked #1 in Flint. And who cares about that? Partnering up with someone on a project should be about creating something beneficial for each other’s readers. It’s not about your “rank” or how popular you are.

I looked at this dude’s website and it wasn’t anything you, as my reader, would be into. First of all, the guy’s a dude. I have nothing against penises, but I take it that you are on this site because you enjoy hearing about marketing from a woman’s point of view.

Plus, the guy’s site was all focused on his “secrets” of getting rich on the internet. PUKE. I know you are not interested in that. And if you are, you should click away because I will have none of that on my site. It is totally possible to make money online. But it doesn’t happen overnight. And there is no “secret” — the only way to make it happen is called WORKING YOUR ASS OFF.

So back to the story. To humor this guy, I tweeted back with “what do you have in mind?” And he replies with a “I don’t know. I’m sure it will be mutually beneficial.”

WRONG ANSWER.

If you are going to be ballsy enough to approach someone, you better be smart enough to figure out what in the hell you want to partner up with them on before you make that approach.

Do you want me to be your affiliate & promote your products? Do you want to trade blog posts? Do you want to create a product together?  Know the answer before you ask. It’s not up to other person to figure it out for you. Especially when the other person has a much more well developed web presence.

So, I wrote the guy back and said that we didn’t reach the same target market. He said that as long as you were reaching people interested in online business, target markets did not matter.

WTF?

Yes, they do!

Your target market matters more than anything! That is what defines your brand, your marketing, and your whole web presence.

There are a lot of sites out there that talk about business, marketing, and publicity. But they are not doing it in the same way I am. I am targeting hip women in their 20s and 30s who are looking for advice on promoting their business – without spending a fortune. That’s a very specific target market. And it obviously matters!

Now, don’t get me wrong. Partnering up with people can be AWESOME! But it has to be done properly and the two people have to have complimentary businesses. And the person making the approach has to be on their game and have their plan outlined before striking up a convo. And, honestly, email works best for that kind of stuff. Twitter is for developing relationships, not business deals.

For more info on creating AWESOME partnerships, check out The Members Center! I uploaded a brand new guide last week on that topic! Click Here to grab it!