Successful people are often seen as being arrogant and self-centered, but the truth is they’re just trying to protect themselves from failure. When you fail, it’s a massive blow to your ego that can be difficult to recover from.
Rich douchebag is a term that many successful people use to describe themselves. The time has been used in various contexts, but it usually means someone very wealthy and successful.
I had no fear when I initially started as a business. I didn’t have a lot of money, and I didn’t have a lot to lose, so I was ready to go to any length to succeed. Reaching out to other successful businesses would be one of the things I would do regularly. I used to believe that if I went out to individuals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, I could learn from them and make as much money as they did one day. However, I soon discovered that these successful individuals didn’t want to talk to me. Because they ignored me, I naturally assumed they were jerks. So, I learned how to attract the attention of these great entrepreneurs, develop connections with them, obtain their assistance, and even get them to invest money in me within a few years of starting my business. In the end, it aided me in expanding my company and achieving financial success. So, do you know how to deal with these jerks and enlist their assistance? There are a few things you should know before I go into the methods I used.
Successful people aren’t jerks
Sure, some of the well-heeled businesspeople you encounter are jerks, but the vast majority are decent and modest individuals. They don’t want to flaunt their riches. They don’t boast about themselves on social media, and they love assisting others. Because they have their defenses up, they may come off as haughty or unapproachable at first. Yet, people like you contact these individuals every day, requesting their assistance or money. Consider how many homeless individuals have approached you begging for money. You’ve probably become used to it and now disregard every one of them.
Successful people are always busy
Most successful individuals get where they are now by working hard and continuing to work hard, which means they don’t have many free hours in the day. When they have free time, they prefer to spend it with their loved ones. Most dismiss inquiries because they don’t have much time to assist others. Sure, they want to help you and everyone else, but they wouldn’t have much time left in the day if they did that. Don’t take it personally if they dismiss you. Their most precious asset is time, and they must be cautious with how they use it. Now that you know successful people aren’t jerks and are just preoccupied, you’re probably wondering how you might gain their attention. Here’s how to do it:
1. Don’t beg, be generous
Do some background study on successful individuals before contacting them. Try to find out what they’re working on and what they’re up to. Once you’ve established that, you may concentrate on assisting them first. No one likes to be exploited, so strive to build a connection that benefits both parties. Next, determine how you can help them and take action. Make sure you don’t ask how you can assist since they won’t tell you. You must figure it out and do it with little, if any, of their time. If you’re unsure how to assist them, look into it more since you may have something to give. All you have to do now is think about it. Make sure you do everything for free after you’ve figured it out. Don’t charge them a cent, that’s right. The majority of individuals that approach them are looking for money, so that’s the last thing you should ask for.
For example, when I started as an Internet marketer, I provided free assistance to sites like TechCrunch, Mashable, Business Insider, Gawker Media, and GigaOm. I informed them that their codes weren’t searched engine friendly and that I could help them boost their search traffic-free by making a few simple changes. I even went to the trouble of making adjustments for them. This way, they didn’t have to spend as much time on it.
2. Remember to be considerate
As I previously said, time is the most important commodity that successful individuals possess. Therefore, you must be mindful of the time constraints. When you’re assisting someone, you don’t want to waste any of their time. However, if you have questions for them, keep your emails and phone conversations brief and to the point. Don’t squander their time with idle chatter. Instead, concentrate on assisting them as quickly as possible.
For example, while I was assisting TechCrunch, I spent most of my time working with Henry Work, the company’s former developer. I took care not to bother Michael Arrington. All that mattered to me was that he understood I was assisting them in increasing traffic. The better you are, the more results you offer and the less time you take from them. You’ll have to think outside the box to find methods to utilize as little of their time as possible while still delivering something useful, but it’s feasible.
3. After you’ve provided some results, go ahead and give some more
Giving without expecting anything in return is the secret to developing connections with successful businesses. Sure, you’ll ultimately ask for something, which I’ll discuss later, but you must continue to give for now. Let’s pretend you volunteered to assist these folks. Assume they observed some excellent outcomes as a consequence of your activities. You haven’t finished yet. You still wish to continue helping them for free. Over three to six months, you’ll develop trust and demonstrate that you’re not in it just for yourself by consistently placing their interests ahead of your own. I understand what you’re thinking. Three to six months is a significant amount of time. And that is, but you can’t expect a successful person to assist you without first getting to know them. That individual will only have three to six months to get to know you. My work with the blogs I mentioned before is an excellent illustration. I not only assisted them in increasing their traffic, but I also assisted them in fine-tuning their publishing operations. These blogs needed more traffic, so I looked into their authors and the blog articles they’d written. I then used that information to suggest which authors they should employ more often and which subjects they should blog about to increase their traffic.
4. Make just one request
You may inquire after you’ve assisted them. However, you can’t make a request that’s too large. You can’t simply say, “Give me a million dollars,” because it won’t work. The proposal should be modest in scale for the individual you’re asking yet substantial in value to you. An introduction to a company with whom you wish to collaborate is an excellent illustration of this. For example, after assisting Michael Arrington, I requested connections to a few venture investors. He sent a couple of them an email informing them of the findings I had given. He also suggested that I get hired by one of their portfolio businesses. This aided me in increasing my earnings. Don’t worry if the individuals you asked for a favor ignored your request. You may always re-ask them at a later time. Meanwhile, continue to assist them without charge.
Conclusion
Douchebags are uncommon among successful individuals. They are just busy individuals who are continuously inundated with requests for assistance and money. Instead of becoming offended when you are ignored, learn how to follow the procedures outlined above and form genuine connections with these successful individuals. In an ideal world, you’d want to create relationships with these individuals not because you need anything from them but because you want to be their buddy.