In today’s world, the question isn’t where to meet people: even celebrities have social media, and theoretically, you could reach out to them. It might be difficult to message Beyoncé, but connecting with someone influential in your professional sphere is quite feasible. Here’s how to introduce yourself to someone interesting and invite them to a meeting they’ll agree to attend.

Preliminary Preparation

Before heading to your messenger app, learn what the person is interested in and why they would find interacting with you worthwhile.

• Research the Individual: Understand what the person does. This will help you understand their interests and find topics for conversation. Ask mutual acquaintances, search online, or follow them on social media.
• Identify Mutual Benefits: Think about what you can offer. Align your skills and resources with their interests and propose something that would interest them. This could be contacts, recommendations, or a collaborative project. Prepare some engaging questions for the initial conversation.
• Utilize Common Connections: If you have mutual acquaintances, ask them to introduce you. A warm introduction is better than a cold one, so use this to your advantage. Ask them to inform the person that you will be reaching out, or refer to mutual acquaintances during your introduction.

Crafting Your Message

Deciding to message a stranger is tough, and crafting a message that gets a response or leads to a meeting is even tougher.

• Introduction: The first message should include an invitation to meet or a request to discuss personal or professional topics. Being in a seemingly disadvantageous position as the sender, it’s futile to focus solely on yourself: avoid praising yourself excessively, overwhelming them with details, or insisting on a meeting.
• Plan for the Introductory Message:
  1. Introduce Yourself: State your name, surname, and briefly what you do.
  2. Context of Acquaintance: Mention how you know the person. Acknowledging mutual acquaintances, joint presentations at conferences, membership in the same interest groups, or working at the same company can build trust faster.
  3. Purpose: Explain why you are reaching out.
  4. Additional Information: Remember to include important information, an additional contact method, or a social media link if necessary.
  5. Opportunity to Decline: End with a phrase that allows them to refuse without pressure, like “If yes, that would be great, but if not, no worries—I understand.” This makes you appear more approachable and friendly.

Expressing Feelings vs. Making Judgments

According to the authors Maxim Ilyakhov and Lyudmila Sarycheva in their book “The New Rules of Business Correspondence,” unsolicited compliments can be seen as inappropriate flattery. Instead of evaluating the person, express your impressions, e.g., “I am impressed by your interviews and have read all your articles.”

Examples

• Poor Example: “Hi! Got a minute? I’d like to schedule a meeting to discuss a chatbot.”
• Good Example: “Hello, Ivan! My name is Maxim, and I work as a marketer at Yandex. The guys from Random Coffee recommended you as a great chatbot specialist. We have a project to create a bot that tracks customer journeys. Would you be interested in working together on this project? We can call or meet to discuss the details. If you’re not available, it would be great if you could recommend someone reliable. My contact number is: +5(9xx) xxx-xx-xx.”

Managing Expectations

No matter how excellent your message is, the recipient is not obligated to respond. If your message doesn’t capture their interest, or they don’t have the time or desire to meet new people, that’s perfectly normal and doesn’t reflect poorly on either of you. If there is no response, remind yourself after a couple of days, as the message could have been overlooked. But if there’s still no response, accept it and move on to others who might be interested.

Post-Initial Contact

This topic could be an article in itself, but if you want to reinforce the first impression and your intent to continue communicating, follow up with the person after a day or two. In this message, you can thank them for their time and reiterate your interest in continuing the conversation. If you promised to send a link, article, or video, do so immediately. You can also hint at a future meeting.

• Good Example: “Inna, thank you for your time, I’m really glad we met. I remembered the name of the book I was talking about—Mike Monteiro, ‘Design Is a Job.’ The author is speaking at a conference in Moscow next month. If you’re interested, we could go together.”