I occasionally hear back from people I haven’t seen in a decade. The email format doesn’t really matter as long as it’s respectful and to the point.
It’s common for busy entrepreneurs and founders to draft brief emails – sometimes even a paragraph or two.
The common courtesy doesn’t hurt either – but everyone who’s actively working over the web is used to reading between the lines (receiving hundreds of emails daily).
If your past conversations went well (no hard feelings), you’ll probably receive an answer, considering the advisor is not swamped over the coming week or two.
Here are several snippets from emails I’ve received from former clients or people in my network I haven’t seen in years:
- Hey X, hope all is well. I’ve been dealing with Y now and could definitely use some help. Any chance we can connect over the coming two weeks?
- X, it’s been a while but your advice really hit home. I would like to touch base regarding some problems we face while scaling. Are you still available for consulting?
- Hi X, long time no see! I hope your family is well and work is busy as usual 🙂 Would you be able to spare an hour for some challenges we have at my agency? I’d like to start an ongoing engagement if you are able to help.
I really like the “if you are able to help” as a mix of courtesy and an ego bait. Advisors pride themselves with their work and “of course I can help!” is a good trigger to get your email answered 🙂
Of course, it depends on the temperament and the style of the advisor, but nevertheless, even if they are not available, there may be someone in their professional network they can introduce you to.
