I almost didn't send the message.
It was a Tuesday afternoon. I'd been following Scott Betley — @ThatMortgageGuy — for about six months. Watching his content. Taking notes. Thinking, "this guy gets it."
And then I almost talked myself out of reaching out.
The Message I Almost Didn't Send
Here's what I sent:
*"Scott — I've been following your content for a while and I think what you're building is genuinely different. I'm working on something called Referral Boss and I think there's a real overlap in what we're both trying to do. Would you be open to a 20-minute Zoom call?"*
Simple. Direct. No pitch. No ask for anything big.
He said yes.
What Happened on the Call
We were supposed to talk for 20 minutes. We talked for two hours.
We discovered we'd been solving the same problem from different angles. Scott had the social media reach and the content system. I had the referral framework and the community infrastructure.
Neither of us had what the other had.
By the end of the call, we'd sketched out the bones of what would become the Referral Boss partnership.
What This Taught Me
1. The message you almost don't send is usually the one worth sending.
The hesitation you feel before reaching out to someone you admire is normal. It's also the exact thing that keeps most people from building the relationships that change their business.
2. Lead with value, not a pitch.
I didn't ask Scott for anything in that first message. I acknowledged what he was building. I shared what I was building. I asked for a conversation.
That's it.
3. Partnerships are built on complementary strengths, not identical ones.
The best partnerships aren't between two people who do the same thing. They're between people who each have something the other needs.
Your Takeaway
Who is the person in your industry that you've been meaning to reach out to?
Write the message. Send it today.
The worst they can say is no. The best case is a two-hour Zoom call that changes everything.
— Keith
