It’s a great question and while there are a variety of ways to go about it, I will share my experience, provide a case study from the founder of a successful startup, and offer a formula for driving business from your 15 minutes of fame.

For all of that (and more), keep reading below.

How to I Got 15,000 Visits in 1 Day

There’s no doubt about it, getting featured in a major online media outlet can drive tons of traffic to your website, blog, or business.

In my case, I was featured on the front page of Yahoo.com (the 4th most popular website in the world at the time) and just one link near the bottom of the article resulted in 15,000 new visitors to my website over the next 24 hours. Because I was prepared for this influx of traffic, I was able to convert more than 4,000 of those visitors to my email list and many of them have since become paying customers.

Here’s how I did it…

Method One: Do It Yourself

There are two ways to get featured in a major online news publication. You can either contact someone who writes for them and get them to feature you in a story or you can write the story yourself and submit it to them in hopes that they will publish it. I went with the latter, but the groundwork you need to do in either case is the same.

Before you pitch yourself in any way, take some time to browse the most popular articles on the outlets you’re reading. In my case, I developed a list of the most popular personal finance articles from the last 12 months. I wrote all of the titles down in a long list. Then, I looked at that list of titles and marked the types of topics that applied to me and my business. In other words, which of the already popular articles could I say something about. Because I knew that the news outlet was already interested in that material, I could simply insert my experience into a previously popular topic.

For example, my first article on Yahoo was titled, “7 Ways to Earn an Extra $1,000 Next Month”. That title was based off of previous articles they had run about earning extra money or boosting your side income. Within the article, I wrote 7 solid tips for earning extra month and then dropped in 3 links back to my site in the author byline at the bottom of the article. You can see the article here.

If you’re a decent writer, then I prefer this method because you control the message. That means you can place links where you want them and use the words that you want. It’s possible that an editor may adjust things (or even cut out the links to your site entirely), but your odds of driving traffic back to your site are better when you’re the one placing the links in the article.

Note: That said, I have had articles run without any links in them and if it’s popular enough and you do a good job, then people will search for you in Google. One article I wrote for US News & World Report still drove over 1,000 visitors to my site without a link because many readers searched for me in Google after reading the article.

Method Two: Pitch Yourself

If you don’t want to go through the work of writing an article, then you can follow a similar process by pitching yourself to a staff writer.

To get started, do the same research as I mentioned above and make a list of all the popular articles from the last month or two for the particular website that you want to get featured on. In this case, write down the name of the staff writer as well as the title of the article. Then, go through the list of titles and determine where you could provide a story or advice on a similar topic.

For example, let’s say I wanted to get featured on a popular travel website or in the travel column of a large website like the Travel section of CNN.com. I would first develop a list of the popular travel articles in that section over the last month or two. Because I have done travel photography in 17 countries over the last few years, I would look for titles where my experience might be useful. For example, if I saw an article titled, “The 10 Best Places to Photograph Europe” then I would make a note of that article and who wrote it. If that writer is looking to create a similar article, then it’s possible I could provide some good advice or even a story from my experiences.

Once you have developed a list of titles that are a good fit for your experiences, it’s time to reach out to the authors of those articles. In many cases, these people will be staff writers for the particular media outlet. If that is the case, then it’s usually fairly easy to get in touch with them. Staff writers often have their email addresses listed on the site or at the end of their articles. If nothing else, it’s usually possible to reach out to them on Twitter and go from there.

Because you have done the research beforehand, reaching out to the staff writer with a good pitch is easy. Here is an example of an initial email I would send to the travel writer mentioned above. Let’s call him Tom.

Tom,

Thanks and talk soon,
James

See how easy it was to write a targeted and appropriate pitch because of the research we did beforehand? Doing a little bit of extra work and finding someone who is already interested in writing about the things you do is the biggest barrier to getting featured in an article.

But don’t just take my word for it, here’s a short case study from another buddying entrepreneur…

How Buffer Grew Like Crazy

Buffer is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media tools online. It spaces out your tweets and Facebook updates so that you don’t overload everyone with 100 tweets in five minutes. I use it often. Click here to check it out.

The man behind Buffer’s rapid growth is Leo Widrich. Leo is in charge of business development for Buffer and that means he is often the one pitching their product to news outlets. Over a 9 month span when Buffer was getting started, Leo was able to get the company featured over 40 times in prominent news outlets like Mashable, Lifehacker, The Next Web, TechCrunch and more.

Leo wrote about these experience in an article here, and I am going to summarize his tips from that article below.

Get Featured by Featuring Yourself

Leo recommends running a blog of your own and writing about product updates, new service offerings, and anything else noteworthy that is happening in your business. He claims this is beneficial for two reasons. First, you will begin to understand what writers are looking for and what makes a good article. Once you struggle as a writer yourself, you start to find out why most pitches get turned down by other writers. Second, when you write about exciting happenings on your own site it becomes a platform for broadcasting your work. Other outlets naturally pick up what you write about. In Leo’s case, one article he wrote about new product features ended up prompting four other articles on more popular sites.

Get to Know Your Targets

If you want a particular writer to feature you, then get to know them. It sounds so simple, but doesn’t it stand to reason that a writer is more likely to mention a friend than someone they have never met before? Leo spent months connecting with staff writers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and over email before he started pitching his own stories to them.

Avoid High Profile Writers and Embrace the Newcomers

Popular writers are inundated with emails and messages. It’s likely that yours will just get shoved to the bottom of the pile. Meanwhile, new writers are hungry to prove themselves and aren’t nearly as swamped in email. Leo recommends avoiding the popular names and reaching out to new writers instead.

Leo offers the following example of an email that resulted in the a Mashable article about Buffer.

Hi Sam,

Best,
Leo

Admittedly, this pitch is mostly about Leo’s product, but notice how he offers the young writer an exclusive chance to write about this without going to any other source? That’s just the kind of advantage a young writer is looking for!

Offer a Clear and Simple Call–To–Action

Notice how Leo’s email only has one question at the end of it? That’s by design. Make it easy for staff writers to give you what you want. Don’t ask more than one question.

Timing Matters

Leo says whatever you do, make sure you get your pitch out before noon on the day you send it. Otherwise, many of the stories have already been decided upon and tomorrow a whole new batch will come flooding in and drown you out.

Also, according to Leo, Mondays are just too hectic, so don’t send in your media pitch on that day. Instead, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday is a better bet. Fridays can also be good, although as a general rule online traffic is lower on Fridays and thus fewer people will see your article.

Repay the Favor

Finally, Leo says that it’s critical to repay the favor and promote the article that a reporter writes for you. Share it on Facebook or Twitter. Or at the very least, send them a thank you email. Writers work hard and see many pitches. If they choose yours, make sure they know that you appreciate it.

How to Get Business from Your 15 Minutes of Fame

Now that you have heard from both Leo and I about getting publicity, let’s make sure that publicity actually does something for you.

The biggest mistake I see many people make is that they do not have their own website optimized to capitalize on the new influx of traffic. Make sure you can convert traffic before you get it! If you need a refresher, go watch the email list building lesson again.

The first step, of course, is to decide what a conversion is for you. Is it a sale? Is it a new email subscriber? Is it filling out a survey? (Personally, I think it should be building your email list.)

Once you’ve decided that, then make sure you have a website that can at least get some conversions.

The second piece of this puzzle is in the media article itself. If you can get a link in the article — either by putting one in the byline of an article you write or by asking for the staff writer to link to your website — it can be a huge boost in traffic. If you’re lucky enough to get featured on a website that gets millions of visitors, don’t underestimate the value of just one link.

To summarize this final point: When I was featured on the front page of Yahoo, I gained thousands of email subscribers because I had a link to my website in the article and I had a website that was built to convert. When a friend of mine was featured on the front page (twice!), she barely gained any subscribers because she didn’t have a link in either article and her site wasn’t designed to convert the visitors that did show up.

It’s fun to get featured in the spotlight, but don’t leave a big opportunity on the table.

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In many cases, your email list will be the primary way that you take online visitors from “interested” to “invested.”

The exact offer and copywriting that you’ll use to get visitors to sign up will obviously differ based on your business. For that, I recommend reading Breakthrough Advertising, which was mentioned in a previous lesson.

In addition to copywriting, design is also a critical issue. Where do you place email opt–in forms to get the most sign ups? How many forms should you have on your website?

To answer those questions, I’ve put together a video showing the best performing opt–in forms on PassivePanda.com. These forms results in thousands of new subscribers each month. Take note of where they are place and how they are designed. Feel free to replicate the placement and design of these forms on your own site.

Click the Play Button Below

Your Homework

Edit your webpage! Don’t just read about email lists, actually use this information to build yours.

As always, if you have specific questions about what adjustments should be made, just send an email to support@remoramethod.com

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She has now been in business for herself for 2 years and — in typical Remora Method style — she has developed a wide range of partnerships along the way.

In this report, you’ll learn exactly what Jessica did to build partnerships, find her ideal clients, and land customers from a wide range of areas in her first 2 years.

Jessica Glendinning Case Study: How Can You Succeed If You’re Just Getting Started? — Right click here to download this report as a PDF

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Keep reading because I’m going to share that rule with you today.

Here’s the deal: whether it’s on your own or with a small team, growing a small business can be tough.

You have to get the word out about your business, but you don’t have a big marketing budget. And you need to funnel in new customers, but not too many because you have a small staff and can’t compromise on quality. And, of course, you’re constantly working against cash flow constraints.

But if you follow the #1 rule of The Remora Method, then you’ll safely avoid getting stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Let me show you exactly how to do this by sharing a story from real life.

The Groupon Nightmare

By now, most people are familiar with the success of Living Social and Groupon. The daily deals sites offer 50% to 90% off products and services in your local area.

What not as many people know, however, is that many business owners have had very bad experiences with their promotions.

First, there are cost problems. You have to offer a huge discount and then half of the money that you do charge goes to the daily deals site. For example, if your service is usually $100 and you discount it to $50 for the promotion, you only get paid $25 and the rest goes to Living Social.

Even if you can make the low price work, you have to deal with the flood of new customers. On the surface, that sounds like a great problem to have. But the issue is that you’re not making much money from all these new people, and it may actually cost you more to service them. Some restaurants, for example, have had a flood of new customers, ran out of inventory, had too few staff members working, and the entire situation turned into a nightmare.

In some cases, they had to pay for rush delivery of goods or pay their staff overtime. If you’re running on tight margins, then this creates a huge problem because you’re not making much money from the new customers (remember, they are there for a huge discount) and now you have additional expenses.

***

I was lifting yesterday when the owner of the gym walked by my platform. We started talking about business and he mentioned that they had just finished a Living Social promotion that landed them 214 new customers in 24 hours. Even better, it was obvious that many of these people would become long-term customers.

Why?

Because he structured the deal very differently than most daily deals promotions. And he did so by using the #1 rule of The Remora Method.

Here’s how it worked…

How to Get 214 Customers Overnight

This deal started when a Living Social representative stopped by the gym to see if the owner was interested in running a promotion.

In the beginning, Living Social wanted the gym owner to offer a 1 month membership for at least 50% off. (And remember that half of the profits go to Living Social, so the gym owner would only be getting 25% of the regular fee.)

Not only did that deal not make financial sense, there were two other problems.

1. A one month membership also meant that the trainers and teachers in the gym would be completely overwhelmed for weeks on end.
2. The discounted monthly membership gave the customer a direct comparison to the regular monthly membership. In other words, it made it very easy for them to compare and see how much of a deal they were getting. In general, this is a bad idea because once people get used to paying a discounted price for something, they don’t really want to pay full price.

But there was another issue that the gym owner was even more worried about: scheduling.

You see, the gym only has a limited amount of space and a limited amount of trainers. Can you imagine if 100 new people all showed up after work on Monday at 6pm? It would be a terrible experience for everyone.

So, here’s what the gym owner did.

He sat down and looked at their current schedule. Right now, he allows a “free lifting” time each Saturday for new people to come in and try the gym out. He also let’s people bring a friend to classes throughout the week if there is space in the class.

After a little work, the owner came to this deal… 50% off the regular price of 4 CrossFit workouts with the caveat that each person who bought had to call or email the owner to schedule their sessions ahead of time.

This deal was perfect because it allowed him to schedule in new people without overwhelming the trainers and it gave new customers a change to sample the gym without taking advantage of a full membership at a massive discount.

And perhaps the biggest secret of all: he was now getting new customers to pay to try out the service (even if it was at a discounted rate) instead of handing those slots out for free.

In other words: he was paying for leads. And that’s the secret to growth as a small business and the #1 rule of The Remora Method: get paid for leads, don’t pay for advertising.

Why Aren’t His Competitors Doing The Same Thing

I asked the owner why other gyms in the area aren’t doing the same thing.

His response was shocking, “They say that they don’t do that type of stuff. That they’re not a Groupon business.”

I can’t believe that’s actually a reason for turning down customers, but so be it.

That said, another issue is that most gyms can’t get past the idea of offering a monthly membership for 50% off. They get hung up on what the typical deals look like and can’t reframe and negotiate things to work for their situation.

This type of approach leads me to the 3 big takeaways from this story.

The 3 Key Takeaways

1. Maintain the overall vision and you can figure out the details. Just like we mentioned in the SpareFoot case study, the most important thing in any partnership is to maintain the shared vision and figure out the details along the way.

In the case of the gym owner above, he and the Living Social representative went back and forth on 4 different deals that didn’t work before they settled on one that did. Each person had different ideas and they didn’t agree on many things, but they always had that shared vision to come back to and remind themselves that they were working for the same thing.

Having a vision to act as a beacon when things seem uncertain is crucial to building successful partnerships and it’s a key part of The Remora Method framework.

2. Get paid for leads, don’t pay for advertising. So many small businesses waste money on marketing and advertising. It makes no sense to pay for advertising when you can spend your time getting paid for leads instead.

3. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. How easy would it have been for the gym owner to dismiss the idea of giving 50% off a monthly service and tell himself, “Oh well, I’m sure I couldn’t negotiate with them anyway. Living Social is a really big company, they won’t pay attention to me.”

Really easy. We talk ourselves out of opportunities like that all the time. Don’t tell yourself no, let the other person do that! Who’s to say that you won’t succeed?

At the end of our conversation, the gym owner told me that this is the second time they have done a Living Social deal. The first time, they landed 209 customers. This time, 214. So here he is, with over 400 new leads paying him to try out his service … and the other gyms in his area are missing out on the same opportunity just because they assumed that they couldn’t figure out a deal that worked.

Answer These 3 Questions

1. What businesses already have access to my ideal customer? Where are those people hanging out? (These are your potential partners.)

2. What is important to this business and it’s customers? (You need to consider their needs when structuring a deal that is good for everyone.)

3. In the best case scenario, what would a deal look like where I could share the profits with a partner and get new leads at the same time?

Send your answers to support@remoramethod.com and you’ll get individualized feedback on your ideas.

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Sinek covers multiple ideas that we have previously talked about in the Remora Method (how to find the right partner, why you need to work with people who naturally mesh with your beliefs, etc.) … but he does so in a very unique way.

You will want to have a pen and paper or a document that you can type on. Take notes and keep in mind your approach for discovering and approaching Remora Method partners as you watch this lesson. Below the video, you will find 5 questions to consider while you watch.

Note: This presentation was originally delivered at The 99 Percent Conference by Behance. You can see the original article here.

Click the play button below to watch.

Video Download:
Right click here and choose “Save As” to download this video in MP4 format

List of questions to consider during this lesson

1. When considering potential Remora Method partners, who believes what you believe?
2. What are the indicators (i.e. the “red hats”) that people in your group display?
3. Think about an experience you had where you ?
4. Have you ever made the mistake of changing how you “dress” or “talk” to meet the needs of customers? What can you do differently in the future?
5. What are you doing for the person beside you in business?

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Click the play button below to watch.

Video Download:
Right click here and choose “Save As” to download this video in MP4 format

PDF Slides Download:
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Video Download:
Right click here and choose “Save As” to download this video in MP4 format

PDF Slides Download:
Right click here and choose “Save As” to download these slides in PDF format

Click here to return to The Remora Method Classes page.

When you visit SpareFoot, you can browse the different storage facilities and units in your area and find the best unit for your needs based on price, size, location, and so on.

Recently, SpareFoot has developed a partnership with truck rental moving company, Penske. When they first contacted Penske, SpareFoot was just a small startup company hoping to work with a large, established national retailer.

I spoke with SpareFoot CEO, Chuck Gordon, about their partnership with Penske and how they went about developing it.

In this report, you’ll learn exactly what SpareFoot did to land Penske as a partner and hopefully this story will provide some insight into how you can develop partnerships with companies big and small.

SpareFoot Case Study: How to Partner with Big Companies — Right click here to download this report as a PDF

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Now it’s time to show you exactly how to contact them.

What to Say

The exact words and phrases that you use in your conversation with partners will be specific to your product or service. In other words, the offer that you make to them should address the wants, needs, and desires of your partner.

That’s why we spent so much time on Modules 1, 2, and 3. At this point, you should at least have a working knowledge of what your offer is, who it is for, and what is important to your partners.

That said, there are some basic principles that apply to all Remora Method partnerships. Let’s cover those now.

Where to Start

Note: Where you start your conversation depends on how well you know the person. If you already have a relationship with a person and you’re now asking for a partnership with them, then you can feel free to skip some of the introductory steps outlined below because you already have a relationship. When all else fails, remember this: behavior changes in small steps. Take it slow, ask for permission, and show a genuine interest in the needs of the other person.

Successful partnerships evolve out of successful relationships. And the foundation of good relationships is a genuine interest in the other person.

This means that the first thing you should focus on when talking to a potential partner is creating a good relationship with them … NOT on selling them on the idea of partnering with you.

In fact, your only goal with the initial contact to a potential partner is to get them to ask for more information. This is true regardless of the circumstance.

Want to speak to an organization and sell your services? Your goal: have them ask for more information about what you do.

Want to write a guest post for a popular blog? Your goal: have them ask for you to send one over.

Want to have a local business offer your coupons to their customers? Your goal: have them ask you for more information.

Notice how your goal in none of the cases above (nor in any case you can think of) is to SELL them something right away. Instead, your goal is to get permission from them to give them more information.

Permission is the key. If someone asks for more details, then you can give them all the details you want.

How to Ask for Permission

Asking for permission isn’t hard. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.

You focus should be on their needs and getting them curious about the opportunity you provide. (Remember, the Information Gap Theory of Curiosity from the last lesson.)

Here is an example of an introductory email that you could send to a potential partner. (Note: this could just as easily be a phone message.)

In this example, let’s assume that you are running a landscaping company and that you want to work with a local contractor. People who buy new homes often want landscaping done at the same time, so the target customer is a good fit.

Dear Mr. Smith,

I have some ideas about how we can work together to give your customers more value and increase profits on your end. If you’re willing, I’d love to talk with you more about this.

Note: Different people will give you permission at different times. Some people will want to know all the details right away. You need to be ready for that.

Which brings me to an important subject…

Good relationships are founded on a genuine interest for the other person. In your case, that means you need to show the business owner that you are interested in their needs and wants. Focus on them.

You initial contact should be short. Your primary goal is to ask them for permission to talk about a potential partnership in more detail. Your goal is not to sell them on the partnership or tell them every single detail.

Note: If they want more detail right away, then give them the details. But don’t push it on them.

I’m not sure the approach you would take, but let me tell you what most people would do.

They would probably start by introducing themselves and telling the partner why they were reaching out. Then, they might include a paragraph or two on their product or service. Then, they would talk about how that product or service could benefit the partner and their customers. Then, they would propose a partnership and ask to work together. Then, they would go over the details of the partnership. And finally, they would end with their contact information and ask for the partner’s thoughts.

Not a bad structure really … and you’re going to have to cover all of that information at some point anyway.

From your view it seems like, “I’m giving them all the information they need so that they can make an informed decision.”

However, from the partner’s view it seems like you’re trying get married before you went on a single date.

The first thing that many partners will think when getting this much information is, “I never asked for this.”

I don’t want you to get that response and in this lesson I’m going to show you a better approach.

A Better Approach

You may have noticed by now that we do things a bit differently in The Remora Method than the typical approach.

For example, instead of wasting tons of time always trying to bring in a new client, we focus on building one or two key partnerships that can bring us paying customers over and over again.

As you might have guessed, we’re going to reach out to potential partners differently than most people. Let’s start by talking about changing behavior.

How to Change Behavior

When you want someone to partner with you, you essentially want them to change their behavior.

Right now they aren’t partnering with you, and you would like them to start the new behavior of partnering with you.

There is a wealth of behavioral psychology research that has come out in recent decades and one of the key learning insights from this research is that the best way to change behavior is through small steps.

Here’s what that means for The Remora Method: the best way to get someone to partner with you is by getting to know them through small steps and incrementally building the relationship.

An important distinction: small is not the same as slow. You could form a solid partnership in a day if you took enough small steps.

For example, you could send an email in the morning and the partner could respond by asking you to call them. You call right away, have a good 5 minute conversation and decide to meet in person. In the afternoon, you drop by their office and meet. Within 30 minutes, the two of you have drawn up a solid partnership deal.

All of this happened in one day, but the steps were small … email to phone to in-person. You didn’t try to sell them the whole thing at once.

Let’s get into the details of how you can make this happen by talking about curiosity.

How to Make People Curious

Have you ever heard of the “Information Gap Theory of Curiosity?”

It was developed by George Loewenstein and it’s a simple, yet extremely powerful, theory. The theory simply says that we become curious when there is a gap between what we know and what we want to know.

Now, why is this important for us?

Well, because if you’re curious about something then that means you’re interested in it. And the number one thing we want when reaching out to new partners is for them to be interested in what we are offering them.

The “Open Loop” Technique

One of the best ways to create curiosity is by using a tactic called the Open Loop Technique.

Open loops are a powerful tool that are used often by Hollywood film writers, bestselling authors, and direct response copywriters … but most people have never heard of open loops.

The basic idea is that you open a story line and then you keep it open. In other words, you mention something, but you don’t conclude a thought.

This opens a loop within the readers mind and makes them curious to learn more. Remember, curiosity happens when there is a gap between what we want to know and what we already know. By telling people a little bit, but not everything, you are opening a loop and creating curiosity.

Open loops are important because they prevent you from making the mistake that 99% of people make when reaching out to someone new. And that mistake is giving too much information. Open loops allow you to take small steps with your partners and make them curious at the same time.

You’re allowed to give your partners all the information in the world … but only after they have asked to learn more.

How to Use This In Real Life

In the next lesson we are going to cover some examples of how you can use small steps, curiosity, and open loops to successfully contact your Remora Method partners.

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