How to Get Noticed by Influencers Without Appearing Needy

Do you ever wonder why or how there are so many successful bloggers in an industry?

Especially in a crowded one like the blogging and online marketing space.

Yeah, I used to wonder about that, too.

It’s kinda strange, right?

Your content is just as good as theirs, if not better, but they still get all the glory, all the shares, all the comments.

So what are you missing?

Why does it just seem to just “work” for others, but not for you?

It’s actually quite simple, once you know the trick.

It’s because they’ve got connections. That means relationships with other more powerful bloggers in their industry.

And every time they publish a new post, they reach out to the people they’ve mentioned, and to people they’re friends with – which ultimately encourages lots of sharing.

So the question then is: How do you connect with these influential bloggers?

It’s a long road, I can tell you that.

And it all starts with getting their attention.

These are extremely busy people. So you better do it right.

And in this post, I will show you the 7-step process to getting on an influencer’s radar.

Ready?

Let’s get started.

How to Get an Influencer’s Attention and KEEP IT

The following are all the steps you need to take.

Most of them are simple, and they’re all very important. So don’t skip any.

Step 1: Become a Subscriber

Becoming an email subscriber on their blog is pretty straightforward. And these influential bloggers get dozens, or hundreds, of email opt-ins every day.

That is why you can’t just be a passive subscriber, like most of their readers.

You, my new friend, are going to become a more engaged type of subscriber.

Here’s what to do:

i. Sign up for their list.

I’m sure they have signup forms all over their blog so it won’t be hard to find the form.

So take a look around and as soon as you find one, sign up.

ii. Send your first email to them.

After you’ve signed up, and confirmed your subscription, you’re going to send them an email.

Most influencers will send you a “welcome email”. Some will even ask you to reply with any questions you might have.

This is great because it means they actually read their subscribers’ emails.

Here’s what to do:

• Hit the reply button.
• Introduce yourself and what you do.
• Ask them a legitimate question.

Let me give you an example.

Here’s a screenshot of a welcome email I got from Henneke at Enchanting Marketing.

As you can see, she lets her subscribers know that she’d like to answer their questions.

So, if your welcome email asks you to reply with a question, you reply with a legitimate question.

Now, if they don’t ask you this, you have 2 options:

1. Hit reply and ask them, anyway.
2. Hit reply and send a fan-like email.

With a fan-like email, you’ll basically be telling them you like their content.

Here’s a basic template you can get some inspiration from:

Hey [first name],

I just wanted to let you know that I am a big fan.

I really loved your post on [insert title of a post you read and enjoyed] especially because you [give a reason the post was so great]

Really looking forward to learning more from you.

I can’t wait to read your emails! 😀

Regards

[your name]

Step 2: Share Their Posts On Social Media

The social share is the easiest to do out of all the 7.

Read, share, done. Simple.

But, in order for the influencer to know you’ve shared their content, you’ll have to tag or mention them in your social media post.

It’s easy. Most of them may even have it set up in their share buttons.

Here’s what to do:

i. Choose a post that interests you.

You don’t even have to read it.

Just browse through their blog page and choose a post you like.

ii. Share it, but make sure they’re mentioned/tagged.

Hit one of the share icons.

I’d suggest going with Twitter because it’s easier to mention them and be noticed.

iii. Share a couple more posts – optional.

I’d highly recommend you share a couple more of their posts. Just in case they don’t see your first share in their notifications.

Also, sharing multiple times shows you are doing this more than just to get their attention.

So, again…choose a post that catches your eye, hit the share button, and mention.

Tip: Spread your share out over a longer period (ie. not all at once).

Step 3: Comment on a Post

The blog comment requires a little more work than subscribing and sharing.

For your comment to get noticed, and I mean really noticed, it can’t be the old “Hey Ashley, great post. It helped me a lot. Cheers, Julian” type of comment.

It’s got to add value to the post OR to the discussion that is happening in the comments.

You can do this in a number of different ways.

The easiest way would be by asking a question or sharing your experience or opinion on the topic at hand.

That means reading the whole post, too.

In an article he wrote for Boost Blog Traffic last year, Kevin J. Duncan (of Be a Better Blogger) broke down the anatomy of a great blog comment. Here’s what it looks like:

As you can see, you have:

1. The Greeting – a simple a “Hey [first name]” is great.
2. The Compliment – which is basically a “great post”.
3. The Added Value – this can be a legitimate question, an opinion, sharing an extra tip etc, or sharing your experience.
4. The Parting Promise – a simple promise for a share is good.

Note: Always read the post before leaving your comment.

Step 4: Let Them Know of an Error

We all have issues with our websites from time to time, and appreciate it when someone gives us a heads up.

An error can be:

• a broken link
• a spelling mistake
• a slow loading page
• a issue with an optin form (popup etc)
• and more

Some of these may take a while to find, or be glaringly obvious if you are lucky.

I’d suggest the broken link or the spelling error as they are often easier to find, and there are some cool tricks to help.

Here’s what to do:

i. Find a Broken Link.

Don’t worry. You won’t have to go through every post and manually check if any links are broken.

We live in a world full of expert coders and developers. And there’s a tool for everything, right?

Well, maybe not everything. But there certainly is a tool for checking if a website has any broken links.

BrokenLinkCheck.com.

Here’s what do to:

1. Go to the homepage.
2. Copy and paste your influencer’s blog URL into the search bar.
3. Hit enter and let it works its magic.

This will bring up all the domain’s broken links.

Another option is to use the Chrome extension: Check My Links.

• Install the Chrome extension
• Go to the page (or pages, one by one) you want to check
• Hit the icon in the top right of your browser

The extensions then highlights any broken links in red.

ii. Find a Spelling / Grammar Error.

There’s a tool for broken links, then that means there’s one for spelling and grammar, right?

Right. Grammarly – you can see a full review here on Mad Lemmings .

Grammarly is great for spotting spelling mistakes as it shows you them visually on the page.

Here’s what to do:

• Sign up for a free account.
• Copy and paste the full post into the Grammarly editor.
• Grammarly will give you some suggestions.

Now, when you find something worth letting them know about it, shoot them a quick email.

It should be nothing else but the mentioning of the error itself.

So keep it short.

Get straight to the point.

And don’t ask for anything in return.

Step 5: Link to a Post

A backlink is worth a lot on the internet. Especially if it’s from an industry relevant blog.

And, it’s worth even more if it’s from an authority site (but, let’s not talk about that right now).

Linking out is easy. You can do this the regular way with just a plain old hyperlink.

Or, you can do it by using the influencer as an example in your post.

Multiple influencers mentioned by SEMRush on one of their pages.

Or, you can do it “the resource way“, which is using an influencers’s post as an additional resource to read for your visitors.

This post shows multiple related resources relevant to the post (you will also see this method used in this post in some places)

Also, and this is crucial (otherwise they won’t know what you just did for them), let them know you linked to them.

You can do this via email or social media.

1. Reaching Out Through Email

If you decide to shoot them an email, here’s what to do:

• Start with a personalized subject line – “[first name], mentioned you…”
• Open with a simple greeting – “Hey [first name],”
• Let them know who you are – “It’s [your name] from [your blog]. You might remember me from the other day. I was the one who left that huge comment on [post name].
• Let them know you’ve linked out to them – “I just published a post on my blog and mentioned [their post headline]. I thought you might like to check it out. :)”
• Let them know where they can find it – “Here’s the link: [URL here] It’s under [subheading name].”
• End it – “Let me know what you think. Your #1 fan, [your name]”

Get the idea?

It’s short and to the point. Right on.

2. Reaching Out Through Social Media

If you decide to send them a social media notification, here’s what to do:

• Hit the Twitter share button on your blog.
• @ mention them in your social post.
• Let them know you’ve linked out to them.

Before we move onto the final 2 steps, I just want to say something important.

These next steps will take longer than any of the previous steps. The final step, in particular, may take longer than the first 6 steps combined. But it is definitely a lot more powerful and therefore, worth the effort.

If you haven’t quite captured their attention, these next two steps will do the job.

But if you have, then steps 6 and 7 will get you on his good side (which may lead to lots of other opportunities).

Step 6: Create an Egobait List Post (and Feature Him)

Publishing an egobait list post on your blog is one of the best ways to getting people to notice you.

It’s great for generating traffic, but it’s just as great for getting on some influencers’ radars.

What is an egobait list post? you ask.

It’s basically a “top blogs to follow” type of post. But there are 2 differences:

1. Instead of “to follow”, you go with some other phrase (eg: become a better blogger).
2. Instead of writing it like a grocery list, you write it like you would with a comparison post (each list item gets a summary, image, and subheading).

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Determine How Many Pros You’ll Feature

The more people you feature, the better chance you have at a successful post.

If you’re in an industry, like blogging / online marketing, consider going for a larger list. Like 50+.

2. Find Your Pros

This shouldn’t be too hard to do. Industry experts are practically everywhere.

A great place to look is on Buzzsumo.  (you can read more about how BuzzSumo works here)

Simply go to their homepage, enter your main keyword, and then hit the “Amplifications” link in the top menu.

This will give you a list of influencers that are doing well on Twitter.

Another place you could check out it Alltop.

Go to their homepage, enter your main keyword, and then click the category that seems right for you.

This will bring up a page full of websites for that keyword.

Note: Most sites that are in Alltop are quality sites. They don’t accept anything that looks spammy or low-quality.

The last way to find some pros is…through Google, obviously.

You can search for lists that feature the pros you’re looking for (top blogs to follow posts).

Here are some you can search for:

• top “industry” experts
• top “industry” blogs

You could also search for phrases that are obvious in your niche, for example, “blogging tips” if you’re in the blogging niche.

3. Come up with a Bangin’ Headline

Your headline is super important.

(Check out this post if you want to learn how to create great headlines)

It should say how many pros/blogs are featured on your list and how they can help the reader.

Here are a few example headlines to give you some inspiration:

• 50 SEO Blogs That’ll Help You Get Better Rankings
• 63 Productivity Pros That’ll Save You A Lot of Time
• 75 Blogs That’ll Teach You How to Make Money Blogging
• 100 Weight Loss Pros: They’ll Show You How it’s Done
• 101 Web Hosts That Offer Cheap, Fast, Reliable Services

Remember, don’t use the words “to follow” in your headline.

4. Create Your Egobait

Have you ever written a list post before?

I’m sure you have. List posts are pretty much the most written type of post on the internet.

And that’s how you’d write your egobait, too.

It’s like this:

• Start with your outline – wrap your list items/points in h3 subheadings.
• Fill them in – include an image (headshot/logo), a 50-200-word summary, and a link to their site or content.
• Everything else – introduction, conclusion, featured image, CTAs, etc.

Here’s what a list item should look like:

5. Reach Out To Those Mentioned

Now you send them an email letting him know you’ve just featured him.

You could also do this on Twitter (with a @influencersName mention).

Step 7: Use Their Advice

As I mentioned before, this step will likely take you a little longer. But if you do it right, your relationship with the influencer will be a lot stronger.

Here’s what you to do:

1. Find Something They Teach and Take Action.

If you’re in the blogging / online marketing niche, for instance, you’d probably find something like a traffic generation strategy, an SEO technique, or even a guide on how to get social media followers.

Whatever it is, make sure that it’s really doable.

Let me give you an example:

Let’s pretend you’re in the blogging space, ok?

And the person you’re trying to connect with is Ashley.

So, you’d browse around his blog looking for something that you actually need help with.

And let’s say you find the post about speeding up WordPress. Since you’re blog loads like a turtle, you follow his every step.

BAM! Your blog now loads within a second.

So what do you do?

2. Tell Him Your Awesome Results.

You’d shoot him a quick email that thanks him for his post and shows him your results (through screenshots).

But it’ll have to be just that.

When you’re showing him your results, you can’t be asking him for anything.

You’ll do that afterwards, once you have exchanged a few emails.

Wrapping It Up

There are a lot of steps in this post, but I don’t want to overwhelm you.

So let’s do a quick recap :

1. Become an email subscriber.
2. Share one or some of their posts.
3. Comment on one or some of their posts.
4. Let them know of an error on their site.
5. Link out to one of their posts.
6. Create an egobait list post that features him (or them).
7. Take action on something they teach (and show him great results).

These 7 steps (or at least the first 5_ will definitely grab an influencer’s attention.

So go out there and get on some influencer radars and let me know how you go!

If you need help with anything, I’ll see you in the comments below.