How to Connect with VIPs, with Selena Soo (Trailer)

Well, I don't have Salina's connections. I don't have this vip. I don't throw these cocktail parties in Manhattan.

Sure.

So, like, what can I do? And I think it's so interesting that the very best people find a way to add value, no matter what level they are at.

Absolutely. So some people may think, well, I would love to help other people get more publicity, but I don't have any connections. I don't live in New York City. So one example I like to share is one of my students, Christine. And Christine is on a newsletter list called Harrow.

Help a reporter out.

Help a reporter out. And so every day she gets emailed media opportunities. And every day, she is forwarding those media opportunities to different people, to friends and colleagues and experts and influencers she admires. And so there was one influencer that she sent a media opportunity from Dr. Oz to, and that person ended up being on Dr. Oz. It was her very first time. And she is forever grateful to Christine. And Christine's not somebody who has this connect with VIPs.

Now, this is important. Whether or not you run a business or you have a job or you're trying to meet other interesting people. Today we're going to learn how to get inside the mind of busy VIPs. What are their hopes? What are their fears? What are their dreams? What are some of the scripts you can use to write to them and get on their radar? So stay tuned.

Hi, my name is Selena Hsu, and I work with experts, entrepreneurs, and authors, and I help them reach more people with their important work.

Selena, thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you. All right, we have a lot to talk about. A lot of people watching this have already seen you on other videos because you have been so successful with other IWT material. In fact, you're one of our star students.

Thank you. I'm honored.

Well, thank you for coming. And I want to talk about exceeding expectations.

Sure.

I want to talk about helping your clients. Whether you are running a business or you have co workers. I want to talk about how to take these principles that you teach and apply them to your life.

Sure. I think the first thing is mindset. So when you reached out to me, I remember feeling that I was so honored to have the opportunity to help you. And I know that you're not just going to ask people every day to help you. So it was a big opportunity. So I went above and beyond. And similarly, when I'm working with my clients, I always think I'm so lucky to be able to help them or my students. And so I really want to give it my all. So it's also that attitude of wanting to make a difference. And, you know, when someone asks you a question, you could respond and take two minutes, or you could take five to 10 minutes, and that might make all the difference. That's a way for you to stand out. Busy, influential people are being contacted all the time. They're interacting with hundreds of people over the course of a week or a month. So the only way you can stand out is by going above and beyond and being memorable.

So busy people, you have a deep expertise in dealing with busy, influential people. You know, journalists, editors, CEOs, like, all kinds of people who are flooded with information. And I want you to take us behind the scenes of busy people. What are their lives like? What is their inbox like? What do they actually care about? And what do they fear?

So the number one thing is you need to put yourself in their shoes. And one thing that, you know, we know for sure about influential people is that they're busy, that they have no time, they're stressed out, they have short attention spans. So whenever I'm reaching out to someone, I'm thinking about, how can I make the value obvious to them right away? How can I make them excited or happy to read my email and make it easy for them to respond? Generally, the first email to an influencer should be one where you're not asking them anything.

Oh, like, what would you say?

Well, you can express appreciation if there's somebody that you follow. You could talk about how you read their work, you read their book, you've been a part of their programs and the difference it's made, and then end with no response needed. I just wanted to express my appreciation to you, and that's what I learned from you. And people love that because even for them to read your email, even though it's a gift, it's also taking up their time. And so just even appreciating that they read your email and saying, no response needed. I just want to express how I feel about you and just that I'm very grateful.

Yeah, super rare.

I think it's also really important to be specific because I've had situations where people responded to my emails and they said, great webinar, love that email. And then one day I'll get an email from them out of the blue, and it sounds like we're best friends and I don't remember the person. I'll search their name and I see that they've written Several emails to me, but they're all just very generic, and there was nothing that really stood out. And so they thought they were building a relationship by emailing me all the time. And they were being nice and friendly and expressing appreciation, but they hadn't really properly landed on my radar.

Love that. So instead of great webinar, it would be like I was watching your webinar last night. I've seen a lot of stuff about careers or appearing in the media, but you had something that was really counterintuitive. The part about how to get into Oprah Magazine.

Right.

I had never thought about that. And I'm going to apply that starting tomorrow.

That's a dream email.

Dream.

I wouldn't love that.

Yeah. And then if you go and search for their name, you're going to be like, oh, my God, this person is amazing. Okay, so busy people are busy. They have a lot of emails. What else? They want to be appreciated. Okay. One thing I've learned is they actually want to hear from you. I used to put them up on a pedestal, like, they don't want to hear from me because I have nothing to offer. But I actually learned that they do want to hear from you. If you are adding value in some way or another.

Absolutely. I think every time an expert sends out an email, for example, it feels sometimes like it's landing into a black hole. Like, yes, I know there's hundreds or maybe thousands of people receiving it, but did anyone like it? Did they find my jokes funny? Did they like the story? And so when you hear back from people, you're getting that validation.

So this is where it gets down into really interesting psychology, because a lot.

Of people are like, big media, Rolodex. She just forwarded one email, and that.

Person will never forget it.

Exactly.

Amazing. Okay, so connections, if you have a connection, of course you can introduce them. If you don't have a connection, like your student, you can be on a HARO list or any other place that might have something interesting and you can forward it along. Amazing. What about giving feedback? This is another way to add value to VIPs.

Sure. So when I attend a VIPs webinar, I will send them an email and tell them what I enjoyed about it. I also give feedback to my students. I go above and beyond. So I may have, let's say I have a client who's working with me one on one and we're focusing on publicity, but I learned that she has a launch that's happening and it didn't go too well. That the webinar didn't convert, even though you may say it's outside of scope. I'll say, you know what? Send that to me. I'd love to listen to the, you know, recording of the webinar, and I'll spend an hour listening to it. I'll make a voice memo with specific feedback, and I'll send it to her.

Why a voice memo?

A voice memo because. Well, for me, it's easier to share my ideas via the voice memo format, and it's more powerful. It's like we're having a coaching phone call, except that we don't need to schedule a time. It's just there for her in her inbox, and she can forward it to team members. So it's very convenient.

Yeah. And I've had you help me with that as well. You've given me feedback via voice memo. Super helpful. And that's exactly what I did. I forwarded along. I was like, this is great. Problem solved. Just fix it now.

And one thing to keep in mind is when you're looking to build relationships with influencers and make a difference in that way, you know, also consider people that you're currently working with. It could be your current clients. It could be your students. It could be colleagues at work. It's not always about going out and finding new people to connect with. It's about nurturing your existing relationships and making them feel like you really appreciate them.

Okay, so I want to get into some specifics here. You've talked about how to give feedback. You've talked about value you can add to VIPs, even though you may not be able to spend $10,000 with them, they. There's a ton of stuff you can do, and you've done it in your own business. So let's talk numbers, let's talk strategies, let's talk tactics. Your first year of business, I believe Your revenue was $157,000. Right.

That was the first year of my coaching business. So before that, I had my business for about six months, and I didn't really know what I was doing. I had one client at the time, but once I started investing in my education, my business education, it blew up.

Investing in your business education?

How so? I hired a coach, and I joined a mastermind, and I continued to join programs, online programs where I could learn more about business. And so the first six months, I wasn't really doing that much. But once I started getting serious about my business, I made $157,000. And that was my first year as a coach?

157. The first year after you started getting serious. How about the next year?

It was over 300,000.

Okay. And then the year after?

About 700,000.

Awesome.

Yeah.

So basically doubling the first few years now, just so everybody knows, you won't keep doubling your business every single year.

I don't expect to.

Yeah. Let's talk about challenges along the way.

Okay.

I don't want anyone to walk away thinking, just do a couple things and you'll make 330,000. 700,000. Like, that's the myth that people propagate that it's so easy to just make all this money and sit back. It's really hard. And there's a lot of adversity and challenges you face. Let's talk through those challenges, and I'll share some of mine. I'd love for you to share some of yours in terms of mistakes you've made, just challenges you found yourself facing at each level of your business.

So most of the problems that we have in business are because we've forgotten about the basics and we need to revisit them. And my personal philosophy in my own business is that it's impossible to fail because I choose to learn from the very best people. I always invest in my education, take courses. I know I'm hardworking, and I've also taken the time to build a network of people who care about me and want to help me. So if I've done the hard work investing in myself and I also have this network, how can you fail? So even when I have challenges, I just know that I can make my way out of those challenges.

Awesome. Well, I am so happy to get a chance to talk to you because I'm a bit wary of a lot of online programs. I'm very wary of a lot of them. And I know that a number of IWT students have gone over to join your programs, and I know that they will be taken care of. That makes me feel really good. They're going to be contacted. They're going to be treated with white glove service. They're going to get results. It's not just a bunch of hype. They're going to learn how to coordinate with the media, how to get publicity for their business. So my entire goal is to raise the caliber of the whole industry and help people lead richer lives. To have somebody like you build your own community, it's very rewarding.