Category Archives: Networking
How To Write an Email Subject Line That Gets Your Message Read (VIDEO)
Remember when getting an email – any email – felt terribly exciting? Really early on, when you got your first email address?
Oh, heady days.
The vast majority of emails I receive won’t get opened. I have a filtering system so I don’t even have to look at most of them, but even of the ones I see – I delete about half without reading. Ones that have subject lines like PRESS RELEASE or NEW SINGLE BY LONDON BAND or MARSHA WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO CALL ME? I AM YOUR MOTHER FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, IT IS YOUR DUTY.
Ok, joking about that last one (called her this morning). But you get the gist.
The sad thing is, some of the emails I delete are probably good, and might be a band I do want to listen to, or someone I would like to know about. But if I’m put off by the subject line? No chance. And that’s only out of a couple of hundred.
Big-shots in your industry – as I explain in the video – get THOUSANDS of emails a day. So if you want any chance of getting yours read? It must have…
Why Your Shyness at a Party Is Actually A Secret Superpower
Harry Nilsson was wrong. One isn’t the loneliest number. It’s three.
When you’re shy, at a party and standing with two people who are talking to each other as if you’re not there, that’s how it feels.
In the summer of my second year at university, I had my first ever experience at a professional radio station. I hadn’t actually applied – an exceptional man called Lenny Love (real name!) had heard my show on student radio, paged me (remember how it was the 90’s?), then invited me to come and help out. (As my introduction to both radio and stand up comedy, this irrevocably altered the course of my life).
I was part of a 40-strong team working on Radio Forth’s coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe – the largest arts festival in the world. All day, we’d charge about watching shows or manning ticket giveaways. In the evening, we’d have a big production meeting, then sardine into the on-air studio for the main program: a three-hour, late-night spectacular, crammed with features, reviews and – most thrillingly – guest stand up comedians, who’d leave us asthmatic with laughter and almost taken off the air…
The Huge Misconception I Held – And Why It Led To Me Launching A Business
When I was 23, I got to experience what it’s like to be a pop star.
I spent a year as the Chair of the Student Radio Association, a sort of union for student radio stations in the UK. I know, I know – it’s hardly joining Spice Girls. Bear with me.
After I got elected at the yearly AGM & conference, a load of us went for a drink. The only thing I’d done as Chair at that point was to stand on stage and give a three minute speech about why I thought I’d be good for the role. My sole competitor was not a terribly serious candidate, and I was voted in by 33 stations to three.
I arrived at the pub a little after everyone else, and plonked myself at the end of a table that had four people sitting along each side. Then, something peculiar happened…
My BIGGEST Client Secret: The Best Way To Sign Off An Email (VIDEO)
So, this feels a bit scary.
There’s this one trick that I tell my clients. I made the decision a while ago that I wouldn’t ever put this in a blog, because I thought I had to save something just for them…
What YOU have to offer big shots in your industry (VIDEO)
Let’s say there’s someone you’re desperate to grab the attention of.
They get 1000s of emails every day. Yours needs to stand out.
You could send them a giant teddy bear, holding a heart, that says,
I BEARY LOVE YOU
Or…. You could ADD VALUE to them, in one of the ways I talk about in this video.
Yes, even you, my currently small-fry-compared-to-them-friend…
Important Rule When Emailing Big Shots
Most people are pretty busy.
Big shots in your industry are VERY busy.
When you email them…
This Is The Most Important Moment Of Your Life. Don’t Fug It Up.
People throw the word “unbelievable” around a lot. But sometimes something IS unbelievable. Like, you actually can’t believe it’s happening. To you. But…it is. It is.
For reasons that have been kept secret, you…
Are You Making This One HUGE, Common Mistake In Your Emails?
There was a time when getting free music was a really exciting perk of any job.
CDs were expensive and, when I was in radio, it was lovely not having to pay for them.
There was also effort and expense for a new band, in sending you their CD.
They’d probably had to save up to record the demo, more to get it mastered and pressed, even more for the physical copies and then a load of cash for posting.
It was easy to listen to everything I was sent, because I wasn’t sent much.
Now that I occasionally choose music for TV shows, I still get sent tunes.
Because bands no longer have to put any hard cash behind sending it (and can generally record pretty cheaply and easily), I get a LOT of music.
Far more than I would ever have time to listen to. So a lot of it slips through the net.
What is it that will make me take the time to check out an artist’s songs?…
The Lie All Grown Ups Tell Ourselves
There’s a lie we all tell ourselves.
Everyone does it.
And, when you finally discover the truth, it’s a triple-whammy;
– you encounter shock and disappointment, on top of what is already an unpleasant experience.
Here’s a secret fact about me:…
The Worst Thing You Can Possibly Imagine. Or Maybe The Best.
It’s deeply offensive.
I can’t believe anyone would even consider doing this.
Picture the scene:
You’re out at a work function. It’s a launch for someone in your industry – mostly, you’re there just to show face.
Just as you’re thinking of leaving, you spot your friend Liz, stood with another lady.
You go over to say hello.
Liz introduces you to Silke.
“With an ‘e’ or an ‘a’?”, you ask.
She tells you it’s with an ‘e’.
You ask Liz how it’s going with the apartment she just moved into.
“Fine”, she says. “But I really needs some thick curtains – the sun is searing my eyes open every morning!”.
It’s late, so…
