10 Best Practices For Contacting Highly Successful People

By Carly Fauth | Published May 3, 2023 | 7 min read

Have you ever tried to contact a successful person?

Maybe you’re running a growing small business, looking for a mentor, or seeking personal enrichment.

Reaching out to this someone who has “made it,” so to speak, can be a challenge, if not downright intimidating, because of his or her level of success.

10 Best Practices For Contacting Highly Successful People

1. Use LinkedIn

One of the best ways to reach out to successful people is through the LinkedIn website.

It’s a more professional social media website than many others.

If you maintain a solid and complete profile of your own, you might get a response from the successful people on your list.

But to improve your chances, try to find something in common you have with the person in question, with the goal being to have your initial message be more attention-grabbing.

If you’re a member of a LinkedIn Group they participate in, for example, you could mention a recent post or comment in the group from the individual.

Or if you perused their profile and were impressed with it, mention that to them!

2. Reach Out to Friends and Family

You should also enlist the help of family and friends.

Most of us know at least a few successful people!

Using a “bridge” for your initial outreach will make you more likely to achieve your goal.

Even if it’s a friend of a friend, as they say, that might be all you need to get an actual response.

3. Attend Networking Events

Successful people became that way, likely in part because of networking.

Therefore, attending such events will get you closer to an in-person meeting with the individual you’re trying to contact.

Need help finding relevant events that you can attend?

Use the website Meetup.

Input your industry or niche, and you’ll get a list of the upcoming meetings in your area.

Don’t be afraid to travel outside of your city limits because the connections you might make can pay off big time in the end.

4. Utilize SCORE

Although this tip is relegated mostly to small business owners, it’s still effective.

If you’ve never heard of the website SCORE, now is a great time to check it out.

You can directly connect with entrepreneurs who have “been there and done that,” and they can be key in helping you reach your goals if you’re an entrepreneur.

The Small Business Administration sponsors it, so you know the professionals involved there are quality people.

5. Join Industry Associations

Again, another option is to join industry associations related to your niche, mostly for small business owners, who are probably a lot of the folks who are reading this article.

As previously mentioned, these successful folks are a part of these groups.

So, any chance you get for even an impromptu meeting should be investigated.

For help finding associations you can join, try the North American Industry Classification System website.

6. Send Better Emails

Since most your communications when reaching out to successful people are likely to be of an online nature (namely emails), it’ll be important to send better messages!

Especially your first one, to anyone on your list.

It should be brief and direct, but you should also include a level of personalization as well.

A quick anecdote from your personal life related to why you’re communicating with them, to begin with, might work well.

Successful folks normally get many inquiries, so make yours stand out.

Try to write your messages in a convivial form as well – the recipient should want to go out and have a beer with you after reading your message, as a rather subjective example.

Add some value to your message as well.

Maybe you send a link to an article about an interesting take on one area of their expertise and ask for their opinion on it.

Successful people are always looking to learn more and giving them some interesting information they might not have read ups your chances of moving the relationship forward.

7. Act Professionally

In any of your messages to successful people, do not make the mistake of appearing too pandering or silly.

There’s no need to state what a huge fan you are of the person or overly dwelling on their accomplishments.

Maintain an air of professionalism in your writing.

8. Be Direct

Also, be direct and concise in what you want from the relationship.

After a brief introduction, if you’re interested in getting the person to promote your new product or service, say so.

If you’re looking for someone to fill a speaking engagement need, communicate that quickly as well.

Most successful people are busy, so it’ll be important to get to the point immediately if you want to get a response.

9. Place Quality Over Quantity

When you’re looking to connect with successful people, it’s easy to reach out to many folks en masse without a mindset or focus on quality.

But that would be a mistake.

Instead, narrow your list to the three or four people you most want to connect with.

That way, your efforts will be more focused, and you’ll be much more likely to succeed.

Establishing one quality relationship with one successful person is much better than wasting your time trying to establish five connections that don’t have your best efforts put towards them.

10. Do the Proper Research

Before you write your first message, be sure you have thoroughly researched the person in question.

Do a generic Internet search and spend some time reading their writings, their social media profiles, if applicable, a review of a book he or she wrote, and any podcasts that might be available.

And figure out beforehand exactly what you desire to learn from them.

That way, once you’ve established an initial relationship, you can ask the right questions.

For example, if the person has extensive online postings about how to budget your money, as one brief example, you wouldn’t want that to be one question you ask because the information is readily available.

You want to come up with questions or topics in their field of expertise that aren’t necessarily easy to find the answers to, such as what to do when your budget isn’t working, following up on the example just mentioned.

If you make this mistake, successful folks will realize that you didn’t do your homework and are less likely to have a bona fide relationship with you.

Final Thoughts About Contacting Successful People

Remember—this is probably not going to be a quick process if you employ all the above steps, and you should not expect success in your efforts in the short term.

Don’t get frustrated if you don’t receive a response in the first day or so.

These are successful people you’re reaching out to, and they’re probably busy, as mentioned.

However, there’s nothing wrong with a follow-up inquiry or two as long as you don’t appear to be pestering the individual.

However, if you haven’t heard from someone after several attempts, simply move on to the next person on your list.

But also ensure you heed the above point about prioritizing quality over quantity.

In the end, you should be able to reach your goal.

Checkout these Terminator quotes to learn how just like successful people, they relentlessly pursue their goals without giving up, no matter the obstacles in their way