How to get traffic on your blog (in just 2 steps)

Today, I’m going to share two strategies I’ve used to get traffic to my websites from extremely high-traffic blogs like Lifehacker and sites like the Wall Street Journal.

These strategies are the same ones I used to 10x my blog traffic in just one year.

IWT traffic 2014 vs 2015

This advice for getting more traffic doesn’t just apply to blogging either. You can use it to get more customers or clients, get more followers on social media, or snag your dream freelance job.

The best part: Once you learn the two systems for getting traffic to your blog, you can start using them today.

How to get traffic to your blog in 2 steps

On a recent forum where both new and experienced bloggers share tips for getting traffic, SEO, etc., most of the discussions were debating minutiae about meaningless changes they could make to their blog to get more readers.

“What SEO plug-in should I use?” one asked. “Does anyone think I should change my blog’s name???” another wondered.

After 20 minutes of reading, I had to close the window because I was getting so frustrated.

Look, here’s a simple chart of what matters for getting traffic for your site:

Basically, there are only two ways that really matter to get traffic to your website without spending a fortune in advertising:

1. Writing really good content. What I call “remarkable content” – and then telling the right people about it.
2. Writing amazing “guest posts.” Articles for other relevant blogs with more traffic than you.

Let’s take a deep look at each now and give you a framework to accomplish them.

Use the Remarkable Content Strategy to get traffic to your blog

You’ve seen awesome writing on the web, right? Work that creates reputations and builds businesses.

Maybe you read people like Tim Ferriss, Neil Patel, Brian Clark, or one of the other big-name bloggers who regularly produce high-caliber material you can’t get enough of.

Their amazing content turned them into respected experts, helped them build a loyal fan base, and opened up huge opportunities in their business and personal lives. And it all started with great content.

The real question is: Can you do the same?

There is a proven system for creating remarkable content. A system that helps you churn out amazing articles, blog posts, and emails – anytime you want.

I spent dozens of hours documenting everything I know and turning it into a free guide to creating remarkable content. It’s already got hundreds of thousands of new visitors to my website, and it sends more traffic every day.

• Read how: The Ultimate Guide to Remarkable Content.

For now, I want to share just one tactic that will help you craft top-performing content that floods your blog with traffic. To leverage this tactic, you just need to answer three questions:

#1: What can I create that would be irresistible to people?

This is content that people see and immediately need to read.

Did you catch that? It’s not enough that they want to read it. They feel so compelled to click on your article that it’s like they need to read it.

To do this, you need to know your audience better than they know themselves. This involves a lot of research and, gasp, talking to people.

Over at GrowthLab (IWT’s sister site about entrepreneurship), we call this the Immersion Strategy. It’s the alternative to diving into writing a blog post with nothing in mind — and getting zero traffic as a result.

While there are a lot of different ways to go about it, the best way is by going to the places online and in real life where your readers might “hang out.”

Luisa Zhou, a former student of mine, did this, and it helped net her $1.1 million in less than a year.

From Luisa:

“I started spending all my free time hanging out where my potential clients were online (free Facebook groups) and directly engaging with them by sharing valuable content and answering any questions I could about advertising.”

Is there a place online your readers like to hang out? Maybe a subreddit, Facebook group, or message board?

What about meetups in real life? What groups or organizations are they a part of?

Find them. Spend some time talking, and most importantly, listening to them. You’ll discover topics and pain points that your reader will want answered.

When you write content your readers care about, they’ll happily devour your work.

#2: How can I make it so valuable that they’ll write me to say, “Thanks, this really helped me”?

Great content solves a problem.

Think about one of the best-selling books of all time, How to Win Friends and Influence People. That book solves a huge problem for people: making friends. And it presents the information in a way you can use right away. It includes word-for-word conversation scripts and action steps for you to follow, which makes the content immediately helpful to you.

Great content is about more than just the information. It’s about getting your audience the results they want.

So include ALL the information your readers need — without overwhelming them.

Another one of my students did an excellent job of this. While most bloggers rehashed vague networking advice, she distilled her knowledge into specific action steps her readers could follow. Then, she went a step further and included word-for-word email scripts to try. If you wanted to network with VIPs, everything you needed was in that one post. Making it easy for your readers to implement your ideas is critical.

#3: What do I really feel I have to share with the world?

If you care about something, you’re definitely not alone. Someone out there will want to read your writing, especially if you’re passionate about the content and add in your own personality.

Top bloggers don’t hide their beliefs, personality, and quirks. Instead, they create a personal connection with their audience by being themselves.

After all, how boring would I Will Teach You To Be Rich be if I didn’t show my sense of humor and crack a few jokes from time to time?

If your writing lacks a personal touch, people will click away. Open up. Tell a story or two. Include a picture. The more real you are, the more you’ll stand out.

Use the Guest Post Strategy to flood your blog with traffic

Once you write really good content, you’re going to see traffic come into your site. BUT if you really want to flood your blog with traffic, you’re going to have to write remarkable content for another blogger who has more traffic than you.

It’s funny — when you point this out to many new bloggers by saying, “Hey, why don’t you write up something really good and send it to a bigger blogger as a guest post?” many of them quickly make up a bunch of excuses. “Well, uh … I am really busy this weekend” or “I’m in the middle of this really interesting post on how HSBC interest rates changed!” Yeah right, okay.

But it’s not just as simple as deciding to write a guest post. When it comes to high-traffic bloggers, there are very specific ways to approach them so they’ll accept your pitch.

It all boils down to creating a system for creating and promoting your content to these bloggers.

Here’s what that system looks like:

1. Strategy and planning (1 hour / week). This is when you research different bloggers and websites you can reach out to with bigger audiences than you.
2. Creating new content (2 hours / week). This is crafting content targeted towards specific bloggers.
3. Promoting new content (2 hours / week). This is time spent reaching out to those bloggers and websites with your content to see who wants it.

Here’s an example from one of my students (a fitness blogger) on how he breaks that system down for him.

The best part about this system: You don’t even need to have a blog yet — you can just write your article on a Google document and share the link with whomever it is you’re reaching out to.

The point is to get creative and get some traction on other websites, regardless of what stage you’re at.

We’ve already covered writing great content — and if you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you know who the heavy hitters in your field of expertise are. Now I want to show you how you can reach out to them using a proven email strategy called the 1-2 Punch. These are the emails you’re going to be sending to other bloggers and websites that’ll get your foot in the door for guest posting.

Here’s what they look like:

My “1-2 Punch” email scripts:

Email #1: Introduction

Hi NAME,

My name is NAME and I’m a big fan of your work. I especially loved what you wrote about TOPIC because AUTHENTIC REASON.

I’m thinking of starting a website myself, and was hoping I could get some quick advice. The idea is to help AUDIENCE get RESULT. I just wrote my first article HERE, but I’m trying to improve it so that it’s really excellent.

You have a lot more experience than me. If it were you, what do you think would make this better?

– Add more A

– Talk more about B

– Etc.

What do you think? Is this something you feel would resonate with your readers if done right?

-Ramit

Email #2: Follow-up

NAME,

Thanks so much for your feedback. I’m going to make those changes right now. If it’s OK with you, I’ll send you an update when it’s finished.

One more thing: This is a bit further down the line, but would you be at all interested in having me contribute a guest post to your site once I have everything up and running?

It would really help me get the ball rolling and I think your readers would love it. You can even use this post if you like it.

Let me know — thanks!

-Ramit

Here’s why these emails work:

• Ben Franklin Effect. People love helping each other — and when they help you once, they’re much more likely to help you again. This is called the Ben Franklin Effect and it’s at the core of what makes these emails so effective.
• Not spammy. You’re adding value to them and their website. By doing so, they’re going to be much more inclined to add value to you.
• Thoughtful. These emails show that you’re not just some wannabe internet marketer shooting off boilerplate emails. Rather, you’re showing them that you’ve put effort into knowing who they are and what they want.

Who could apply this strategy? 3 examples

Like I said, this works for bloggers and many other areas of business:

1. You’re a new blogger who wants more traffic: If you’re a blogger and you’re looking to grow traffic, put yourself in the mind of bloggers with large readerships: They’re busy, they have huge egos, and they need to constantly post new, interesting stuff to satisfy their readers’ voracious appetites for content.

   Could you write one piece of excellent content for them? As an example, here were the results of Nora Dunn’s guest post for my site, which drove nearly 100,000 pageviews in 72 hours. I invited her to have a regular guest spot on I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

   
2. You want to break into an industry: Let’s say you read fashion magazines and really want to break into the industry. The magazine needs fresh perspectives, especially things that haven’t been done (think Money Diaries for a magazine, for example). How could you help them?
3. You just started a new company and need customers: How about if you’re starting a business on Christmas ornaments, and you aren’t sure how to get traffic to your website. The first thing I would do is record some interesting videos for other Christmas sites and give them away for free.

How to get hundreds of thousands of new visitors using the Remarkable Content and Guest Post strategies

I’ve written up a detailed post with the tactics for writing successful guest posts for high-traffic bloggers. It takes effort to create these articles, but when you do it, you can get hundreds of thousands of new readers and many thousands of new customers for your business.

• Read how: Tactics for writing winning guest posts for high-traffic bloggers (includes examples & screenshots)

Want to grow your blog, and launch an online business people will flock to? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Remarkable Content.

How to get traffic on your blog (in just 2 steps) is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

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How to get into consulting (with advice from a consultant)

Consulting is a great career choice if you love:

• Traveling
• Networking opportunities
• Exposure to a variety of industries and businesses
• Good money

There are a lot of different options when it comes to consulting though. That’s why I want to show you all those options as well as give you a good framework for becoming one.

How to get into consulting — with advice from a real consultant

To help out with this article, I talked with my friend Pamela Slim, an award-winning author and writer for Escape from Cubicle Nation. The website is a business and career development blog that she’s been running since 2005.

She’s also worked as a consultant for more than a decade — so she knows her stuff.

Throughout the article, she’ll be weaving in and out to give her perspective on certain aspects of consulting. Each of her sections will start with “From Pamela” to avoid confusion.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Choose your adventure

From Pamela:

Before jumping in with both feet, it is important to understand what you are getting into, and how to avoid stupid mistakes.

For context, there are a number of different types of consulting businesses, with some advantages and drawbacks in each:

Big 5 consulting firms
Like Bain & Company, Accenture, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which generally work for the largest Fortune 500 companies on complex, global projects.

Advantages: Very well-developed and defined consulting methodologies, ample work, clear training programs, and career paths and bias towards young, smart workers.

Drawbacks: As huge companies, they can have lots of bureaucracy, politics, and lame management policies. As a young trainee, you often have to slog through years of totally insane hours in sometimes less-than-ideal conditions (I have seen many young consultants smashed together in a conference room like sardines pouring over reams of paper). (Unrelated trivia fact: John Legend worked for BCG before launching his music career.)

“Boutique” consulting firms
A handful of specialized experts in particular industries or business problems. These firms are much smaller than the Big 5, but often have interesting work.

Advantages: More direct access to the senior consultants, which provides great mentoring opportunities, more client contact, less bureaucracy.

Drawbacks: Less infrastructure, fewer opportunities for broad exposure to many different businesses. This article, written by someone who works for a boutique firm, gives more specific examples.

Consulting divisions of product or service companies
IBM or Oracle are examples of these. These tend to supplement and hawk the products of their parent company, but do involve some more broad-based consulting projects.

Advantages: Similar to their Big 5 counterparts, they have well-developed methodologies, training programs, and career paths.

Drawbacks: Ditto on bureaucracy, politics, and lame policies. You also may not feel comfortable force-fitting products in a consulting solution if they are not the right solution for the customer.

Freelance consultants
This option is where you hang out your own shingle and go after clients yourself. You can specialize in specific things like web strategy or marketing advice or human resources.

Advantages: Total creative control, ground-up learning about all aspects of starting a business, direct work with clients, great learning opportunities, all the profits for yourself.

Drawbacks: Having to create everything yourself can be overwhelming. If you don’t have much experience, even if you are really talented, you may have trouble convincing people to hire you. You have to constantly market and sell your services at the same time as delivering the work.

Thanks for the breakdown, Pamela.

What do you notice about the options available to you?

Hint: Only one of them allows you to be your own boss.

While working with a consultant firm or within a company offers many advantages, we recommend becoming a freelance consultant. Not only can you control your own hours and workload, but you can also scale your hustle to earn you even more money.

If you want information on how to snag your dream job within a consulting company though, here are some of our best resources on career development:

• How to find your dream job. This is my three-week boot camp on applications, resumes, interviews, and negotiations (i.e., everything you need to know about getting your dream job).
• How to stand out to hiring managers. Learn how to decommoditize yourself with the Truffle Principle.
• The 80/20 guide to finding a job you love. My 46-minute video on using the 80/20 principle for your career growth. That’s right. It’s the length of an episode of Black Mirror.

At IWT, we’re all about freelancing though. That’s why I want to show you how you can get started consulting on the side — and that starts with:

Step 2: Choose your niche

Your niche is going to be your focus as a consultant. It will determine your clients, work, and even how much you can charge.

“But why would I want to limit myself? Wouldn’t I get more work if I open myself up to more people?”

That makes sense in theory. After all, if you’re too focused you might cut out some potential clients.

However, you’ll actually be able to find more clients and even charge more for the work you do if you’re niched down.

For example, which fitness coach do you think will earn more?

• The coach who says that he’ll help anyone feel and look better
• The coach who only works with middle-aged men to get six-pack abs

The second one is going to earn much more than the first coach. That’s because that coach is specialized. He knows who his clients are and offers a clear goal: To get six-pack abs. As such, he’ll attract more customers.

So think about what type of consultant you want to be. What do you know and know well? Some fields to consider:

• Social media
• Copywriting
• Sales funnels
• Emails
• Management
• Human resources
• IT

There’s no one answer to this question. The important thing is for you to pick a field you’re interested in and get started. You can always change it later.

Once you’ve picked a targeted area of interest, you’re going to niche it down even more by taking a look at your target market.

This will be your prospective clients. Ask yourself:

• What industry are they in?
• What are their services?
• How do they use copy / IT, manage their team, use social media, etc. currently?

Once you have the answer to those questions, you can come up with your niched-down role.

Here are a few examples:

• Management consultants for nursing homes
• Social media consultant for five-star restaurants
• Email funnel consultants for SaaS businesses

Spend some time coming up with a good niched-down target market. Once you’re done, it’ll be time to actually find your first client.

Step 3: Find your first 3 clients

Remember: A freelance “business” without paying clients is just a hobby.

A lot of freelancers get very intimidated at this notion. After all, you have to learn how to sell yourself and market your skills — something that can be very scary if you don’t have the right systems.

Thankfully, I have six proven systems to help you find those clients. Let me touch on them quickly now:

1. Craigslist. That’s right — the site where you can try and get live duck parties is a great place to find your first client by leveraging a proven psychological framework.
2. Networking events. Networking events don’t have to be awkward and scary mixers. They can be a solid place to find “connectors” (i.e. people who will connect you with leads).
3. Where your clients live. No, don’t go to their house. Instead, go to the places online and IRL where your clients might frequent (e.g. Facebook groups, subreddits, meetups).
4. Referrals. This is a great way to get higher-paying clients. Referrals can come from your connectors, friends, or even your family.
5. Cold email potential clients. With a proven script, you’ll be able to craft an email that’ll have your leads salivating for your work (more on this later).
6. Industry-specific job boards. These are listings that are specific to whatever industry you’re looking to work in.

If you want more on these areas — as well as the exact scripts to utilize to find clients — be sure to check out my article on how to get clients for more.

Step 4: Charge what you’re worth

There’s no one and only way to price yourself. That’s why new freelance consultants often get psyched out by pricing.

Charge too little and you’re undervaluing yourself.

Charge too much and you might lose out on potential clients.

Luckily, there are a few good rules-of-thumb on pricing if you’re a beginner:

1. Drop Three Zeros Method
   
   

   Simply take your ideal (read: realistic) salary, divide it by two, and then drop three zeros from it. Voila, you have your hourly rate!

   For example, say you’d really like to earn at least $80,000. Divide that by two, take out the three zeros from the end and you now have your rate: $40/hour.

2. Double your “resentment number”
   
   

   I love this one because it’s both really interesting and effective. Ask yourself: What’s the lowest rate you’ll work for that’ll leave you resentful of your work?

   Say you’ll work for $15/hour at the VERY LEAST. Just double that number so now you’ll earn $30/hour.

3. Do what the next guy does
   
   

   This method is incredibly simple: Go to Google and search for the average hourly rate for whatever service you’re providing. You’ll get a good sense of where to start when you’re charging your clients.

Once you begin charging your clients, you can start to take on more or less work until you earn the amount you want and tune until you get the rate you want.

And after you earn your first $1,000, it’s incredibly easy to start dialing your prices up and charge even more money from your clients.

Start “tuning” your rates after your first few clients. Were you making $30/hour? Start charging $40 or even $50. There’s no hard and set rule for how much you should charge. Just start tuning until you find a rate you’re happy with.

There you have it: The four steps you need to become a freelance consultant.

Now, let’s go back to Pamela and take a look at the skills you need to become a good consultant — as well as look at mistakes you need to avoid.

What are key skills required to be a good consultant?

From Pamela:

Some people assume that you have to have many years of work experience to qualify as a consultant. If you have either very strong natural consulting skills or very specialized expertise, you can still act in a consulting role even if you can count the number of years you have been in the workforce on one hand.

Regardless of how you “choose your adventure,” you’re going to need to develop these skills:

• The ability to view the “big picture” of an organization and see how all the parts fit together. This is often described as “systems thinking” defined here with some resources.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to relate to people from all levels of an organization. Your ability to do meaningful work in an organization is based on the level of trust and credibility you have internally. If you are working on a large project, you often have to interact with extremely technical and detailed people who have a high level of skepticism, as well as present your findings in a professional and compelling way to impatient and time-crunched executives.
• Confidence to stand up for what you believe in and the grace to admit when you are wrong. If people are paying you hundreds of dollars an hour for your advice, you need to have confidence in your ideas. But you also have to be willing to make adjustments if you learn that you may be incorrect. A good attitude is summed up by my favorite “asshole busting” professor Bob Sutton from Stanford who promotes “strong opinions, weakly held.”
• The ability to synthesize a great amount of data in an effective presentation in a short period of time. When you walk into a new organization, information comes at you like water out of a fire hose. You have to learn how to read quickly, ask great questions, review the right data and synthesize information. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
• Knowledge of change management. Even if you are working on very technical projects (perhaps especially in this case), you need to understand how human beings in organizations react to change. Here is a quick primer to get started:

Now that you have an understanding of the different kinds of consulting roles you can play and some key skills required to be effective, I want to share some of the worst mistakes I have witnessed by consulting compadres over the years.

5 stupid mistakes of new (or sometimes very experienced!) consultants

From Pamela:

1. Acting like an arrogant colonist. I have seen consultants swagger into a new company with the sensitivity of insult comics. They view the existing employees as stupid and “backwards” and do little to hide their disdain.

   This attitude will make you more hated than “The Bobs” from Office Space and will guarantee that employees will do whatever they can to sabotage your project. You may disagree with the way the organization is run and get frustrated by the attitudes of resentful and complacent employees. But do not forget they are human beings, many with children and families that depend on them.

   There is nothing inherently evil with cutting staff (a very frequent recommendation of consultants); such a decision should never be taken lightly. Treat everyone you meet with dignity and respect and never, for a moment, think that you are superior by virtue of your role as an outside “expert.” You aren’t.

2. Selling your words by the pound. There is an infectious plague propagated by large consulting firms that compels new consultants to create huge, incomprehensible presentations and reports. Your executive sponsors love them because they justify the huge rates they spend to bring in you and your colleagues.

   The problem is that these 400-slide PowerPoint presentations are decks of death for the poor souls who have to view them. Many consultants see the creation of these presentations as their core work output. This misses the point!

   The key responsibility of a consultant is to offer clear, timely advice and help an organization implement it as quickly and efficiently as possible for the best business results.

   Smart people like Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen, Guy Kawasaki, Dan and Chip Heath and Seth Godin all argue for the simplification of business communication. You should take this advice from me with a huge caveat however: Following it will make you a better consultant but may get you fired.

   Much of the business world is not ready for this shift yet. So follow it at your own peril, knowing that a decade or so from now, it will be the “in” thing.

3. Thinking you know everything. A good consultant exhibits two behaviors: a constant focus on learning and an open, receptive, and questioning attitude.

   Instead of walking in the door and saying “Here is what you should do,” step back and ask a lot of questions. “What do you do?” “Why do you do it?” “How does it benefit you?” “What gets in your way?” “What are you trying to accomplish?”

   No matter how many different scenarios you are exposed to, none is exactly the same and you should always learn as much as you can about the company you are working with before jumping to recommendations.

4. Acting like a clone. My best friend Desiree, who used to work at both IBM and Accenture, would laugh with me at the “uniforms” we saw on young consultants. I don’t know if there was anything explicitly written in corporate policy, but everyone at Accenture seemed to wear the same black pants (or skirt) and purple-blue button-down collared shirt.

   What the outfit screamed was “no personality” and “member of consultant flock of sheep.” It made it easy for employees to spot them coming down the hall.

   Dress appropriately, but exhibit some personality. And don’t always cluster with fellow consultants like a high school clique at the cafeteria. Aim to mix with as many people as you can in your client organization: employees, other consultants from different firms, executives and rank and file service workers.

5. Tying yourself to the coattails of one client. Generally, consultants are brought into an organization and sponsored by a key manager or executive. But you have to be careful to not be seen as “Suzy or Bob’s consultant.”

   Organizational politics are swift and brutal. If your sponsor is laid off, reassigned or quits, your head will be chopped very quickly. A better strategy is to get to know as many people as you can (per the point above) and build multiple strong relationships with those that hold the purse strings.

I hope this primer has been useful to those of you considering consulting as a career path. I would love to hear your thoughts, challenges, and questions here in the comments section!

Earn more money today

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand more times: There’s a limit to how much you can save but no limit to how much you can earn.  

Whether you’re trying to scale your consulting business — or make more money at your day job — I want to help you. That’s why my team and I have worked hard to create a guide to help you earn more today:

The Ultimate Guide to Making Money

In it, I’ve included my best strategies to:

• Create multiple income streams so you always have a consistent source of revenue.
• Start your own business and escape the 9-to-5 for good.
• Increase your income by thousands of dollars a year through side hustles like freelancing.

Download a FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide today by entering your name and email below — and start earning more money today.

Pamela Slim is a recovering management consultant who now helps corporate employees leave their jobs to start their own business. She writes at Escape from Cubicle Nation.

How to get into consulting (with advice from a consultant) is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

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The Importance of Grit in Financial Success

What’s the difference between the fraction of people who end up wildly successful, and everyone else who falls short of their dreams? It’s not necessarily talent, skill, or luck. For many, all that stands between success and failure is an intangible concept that has gone by many names through the years: stick-to-it-iveness, moxie, gumption. In [...]

The post The Importance of Grit in Financial Success appeared first on Money After Graduation.

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How to negotiate a raise you deserve (in 3 months)

I LOVE salary negotiations — and it’s not because I’m just a big weirdo who loves negotiation systems.

Learning how to negotiate a raise can earn you a Big Win and help you earn thousands more a year, which adds up over your lifetime.

Check out how much a $5,000 increase in salary can add up over the years:

Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to negotiating salary.

That’s why I decided to update my article on how to negotiate a raise for 2018.

I want to detail the exact steps to nail a negotiation, show you exactly what to say when negotiating a raise, and bust a few of the myths out there.

• How to negotiate a raise you deserve in 3 months
  • 3 months before you ask for a raise
  • 2 months before you ask for a raise
  • 1 month before you ask for a raise
  • 2 weeks before you ask for a raise
• Perks to ask for beyond salary
• 5 salary negotiation myths to bust
• Hack your day job

Bonus: If you just can’t wait and want to learn all you can about salary negotiations, download my Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Salary.

How to negotiate a raise you deserve (in 3 months)

These principles will help you prepare to negotiate your raise, allowing you to talk to the boss confidently and be ready to earn more money.

3 months before you ask for a raise

The key to getting a raise is remembering that it’s not about you. It’s about what you can do for your employer.

You can’t tell them you need more money because your expenses are high. Nobody cares. BUT you can show how your work has clearly been contributing to the company’s success and ask to be compensated fairly.

That’s why three months before you ask for a raise, you’re going to start tracking everything you do at work and the results you get.

That last part is crucial. It’s not enough to say what you’ve been doing. You also have to show your employer the fruits of your labor.

For example: If you were on a team that sold 25,000 widgets, figure out what you did to help make that happen, and as much as possible, quantify it.

If you can’t figure out the exact results you’re causing, ask someone at work who’s more experienced and can help you. This is a classic question that new employees have, and many experienced coworkers would be happy to help you.

Plus the work ethic will showcase to your coworkers and company why you’re a person who deserves a raise.

At the same time, ask your boss if you can sit down and discuss ways you can excel at work. Make it clear you want to exceed expectations and ask what that would entail. If you’re really clever, you can hint about discussing compensation in the future.

ACTION STEPS:

• Track your results — and use hard numbers.
• Discuss how you can improve your work with your boss.

2 months before you ask for a raise

Now it’s time to meet with your boss again and show her what you’ve been tracking. Ask what you could do better.

You want to make sure you’re on the right track with your work. More importantly, you want to communicate that to your boss.

Also during this time, find a goal salary you want to hit.

You need to know your exact salary goal if you want to crush your raise negotiations.

If you don’t have a hard number, you’re going to be at the mercy of your boss, who will simply control the conversation. That’s what they do for a living.

When you know what you want, though, not only can you communicate crisply to the other person, you can also demonstrate why you deserve that much.

That’s why you can’t just go in and say, “I want to make $100,000 a year!!!”

Instead, you have to show them your value — I’ll go into this more later with the Briefcase Technique.

Before you even speak to your boss to negotiate a raise, you should have done as much research as you could about what the average industry pay is for your job. Only then can you properly apply the tactics in this article to effectively negotiate salary.

To that end, there are a few great resources for you to find a good place to start:

• Salary.com: This is a great website for both employers and job seekers to compare compensation rates for specific jobs across a huge variety of companies.
• Glassdoor.com: Though this site primarily acts as a “Yelp for jobs,” it also includes an incredibly handy salary tool that allows you to look at the national average salary for your job as well as the average rate of compensation in your city.
• PayScale.com: This website sends you a personalized salary report based on a questionnaire you fill out regarding your career history. It’s especially great for recent college grads.
• Ask a friend: Do you know anyone who has worked in this field before? Maybe a friend of yours has been in the industry for a few years. Ask them how much they were paid — as well as advice on how much you should ask as well.  
• Google it: A search as simple as “average digital marketer salary” will give you a wealth of information that you can use.

Only with sound research can you ever expect to negotiate well.

ACTION STEPS:

• Show your boss that you’ve been taking initiative and tracking your results. Ask her what you can improve.
• Find an exact salary goal you want to hit. Only then will you be able to negotiate effectively.

1 month before you ask for a raise

Now it’s time to directly mention to your boss that — because you’ve been a Top Performer — you’d like to discuss compensation in a meeting the next month.

Ask what you’ll need to bring to make it a fruitful discussion. Listen very carefully to what he has to say.

Now is also the perfect time to identify issues in the company and figure out ways you can solve them.

I once had a guy I interviewed for a job. He negotiated with me — but he kept offering things I didn’t care about.

He said things like, “I can also do [X skill that doesn’t matter] for you, and [Y work that’s already getting done by others], and [Z value that I’m already doing better myself].”

If he had taken the time to find out what I REALLY wanted — which was reliability — he would have been able to offer specific examples, like a weekly digest of everything that he accomplished and what he was working on the next week.

If he did THAT, I would have been more than happy to pay him thousands more for the peace of mind.

But because he didn’t take the time to find out what I wanted as the employer, I didn’t hire him.

Which is why it’s so important to identify the main issues the employer is currently facing so you can later find out how to solve them.

Once you recognize all of the areas where you can add value to the company, you’re going to use one of my favorite tactics: The Briefcase Technique.

This is one of my absolute favorite techniques to utilize in interviews, salary negotiations, client proposals — whatever! And the beauty of it is that you’ve already done 90% of the work before you started speaking to your boss.

Here’s how it works:

First, you’re going to leverage the information you found when researching issues your employer is facing. Then you’re going to create a 1-5 page proposal document showcasing the specific areas in the company wherein you can add value.

Then, you’re going to bring the proposal with you when you negotiate your salary. When the question of compensation inevitably arises, you’re going to pull out this document and outline exactly how you’re going to solve the challenges of the company.

Boss: So what do you want for a raise?

You: Actually, before we discuss compensation, I’d love to show you something I put together.

And then you literally pull out your proposal document detailing the pain points of the company and EXACTLY how you can help them. IWT bonus points if you actually use a briefcase.

By identifying the pain points the company is experiencing, you can show the boss where specifically you’re going to add value — making you a very valuable hire.

Approach the proposal as the most compelling menu they’ve ever received — complete with issues that they know about and how YOU are the person to solve those problems.

I go into even more detail on the Briefcase Technique in this two-minute video. Check it out below.

ACTION STEPS:

• Schedule a meeting with your boss to discuss compensation. Make it clear to her that you’re a Top Performer. As such, you want your salary to reflect that.
• Find the issues in your company and figure out ways to solve them.

2 weeks before you ask for a raise

Most people will lose tens of thousands of dollars over their lives due to their failure to practice negotiations. Actually, most people won’t negotiate at all. Even when people DO negotiate, they won’t practice.

They’ll say things like:

• “It feels weird.”
• “Who would I practice with?”
• “What do I say?”

It doesn’t matter though. That’s why you’re practicing.

As I always say: Don’t shoot your first basket in the NBA. After all, if you don’t practice, you’ll be going into negotiations cold, with your boss whose job it is to negotiate all day.

So find a friend or family member to run through tactics with. You can even go to your local farmer’s market and haggle for small items or try negotiating on Craigslist. Every little bit helps.

Here are a few question scripts you should prepare responses for — and have your practice partner run through with you:

• “What is your salary expectation?”
  By the time you walk into negotiations, you should already have a firm number or range in mind.
• “There’s no room in our budget. We can’t possibly give you more money.” 
  LIE!!! If they tell you something like this, make sure you DON’T FALL INTO THIS TRAP. This is a scare tactic companies often use to make us settle for less than we deserve . . . and pocket the money that should’ve been ours.
• “What are you making now?”
  This question is asked by employers to see if you’re making the industry average. After all, if you’re NOT making the average, they’re going to wonder why. And this greatly affects what they’re going to offer you.

  That’s why it’s so imperative you showcase how you’re going to add value to the company with the Briefcase Technique before the question of salary comes up — so that you’ll look incredible once it does.

This 6-minute video shows you strategies — including word-for-word scripts — that’ll help you command their respect and make them excited to pay you what you’re worth.

ACTION STEPS:

• Find 1-3 friends to practice the raise negotiations with you. Make sure they give you honest feedback, and don’t let them pull any punches with the questions they ask.
• Prepare good answers to basic questions a boss might ask you.

Perks to ask for beyond salary

Salary is just the first step of what you can negotiate in the process. In fact, there is a large number of benefits you can negotiate if you’re a Top Performer.

They include:

• Telecommuting. That’s right — you can actually negotiate with your boss to convince them to let you work from home.  
  
• Stock options. Some companies offer options for their employees to incentivize their work. Though there are often times a fixed number for all employees to receive, you can actually negotiate for more stock options with the understanding that you are a top candidate.
• Vacation days. Paid time off and vacation time are benefits most every company offers — but not many people realize that you can actually negotiate your vacation days too.

For each of these, it helps to simply remember the ARMS technique. An example using telecommuting:

• Agree. This is a nice psychological trick of giving your employer something they agree with first — so they’re more apt to go along with the rest of your pitch.

• Reframe. Instead of showing your employer how much telecommuting will benefit you, you’re going to show them how great it would be for the company to embrace it.
• Make your case. Here you make your pitch: Sell them on the idea of you working from home — but give them an out by saying you’ll work in an office if it affects your work output.
• Shut up. When you’re done, you’re done. Yield the floor and let the employer speak.

Here’s a great script you can use to negotiate remote work.

You: This is great news. I’m thrilled to be invited to join your company and look forward to adding great value to the organization.

That being said, I’m afraid the commute time will affect both my workflow and focus. It would make a world of difference if I could work from home a day or two each week.

Boss: I’m sorry. We don’t do that here.

You: [Agree] I understand that your company hasn’t done it in the past — but this could be a great opportunity. We have the technology to make everything possible.

[Reframe] If it works out, we can find candidates in other states for XYZ roles.

[Make your case] And given my credentials and background, testing it out with me on a small scale is low risk. If it doesn’t work out, we can always go back to the old way.

[Shut up] So what do you think?

And if they agree, good job on the Big Win! If not, that’s fine too. You can always go back during your review period and pitch again after you’ve really shown your value to the company.

In this video, I interviewed my friend Justin Wilson, a former management consultant and an absolute MASTER at negotiations. We ran through a mock negotiation wherein he expertly negotiated for benefits outside of salary.

Check the video out at the 2:52 mark.

5 negotiation myths to bust

Now that we’ve covered the crunchy tactics, let’s take a look at the mindsets that stop us from getting what we want.

You’re your own worst enemy when it comes to salary negotiations. Once you get past your mental barriers, you’ll be ready to tackle your raise.

Let’s take a look at the five most persistent myths out there when it comes to salary negotiations.

Negotiation myth #1: Salary negotiations need to be adversarial

Here are some common phrases of people who don’t want to negotiate their salary:

• “I don’t want to be mean.”
• “My boss is smart. I’ll just accept whatever he wants to pay me.”
• “I hate arguing with people.”

The first thing you need to realize is that you shouldn’t be mean while you negotiate — quite the opposite. You want to explore the situation with care and nuance. After all, both your boss and you want the exact same thing: For you to keep working there.

Negotiation myth #2: I need to read (and read, and read) a lot about negotiating before I do anything

This is one of the biggest pitfalls someone can get into when they’re trying anything new — studying instead of doing.

Don’t get me wrong, you do need to get educated. BUT you’ll learn 100x more from practicing five negotiations than from reading another blog post or watching another YouTube video about negotiating — and yes that includes THIS article.

Negotiation myth #3: You can negotiate everything

Unfortunately, sometimes you’re just going to have to accept that your boss won’t budge during negotiations.

After all, you’re not entitled to getting your way with everything (though there are still a lot of things you can get if you negotiate well).

Negotiation myth #4: Some people are born negotiators

Let’s make one thing clear: negotiating is a skill. And like any other skill, it can be learned, honed, and mastered.

Luckily, I learned from some of the best negotiation masters of all: my parents.

For example, my mom would show me how to negotiate at department stores when I was a little kid. Then, visiting India, I saw the game taken to a whole new level when they dealt with salespeople in stores and markets.

The point is, the people around you matter and practice matters. Sure, none of us may ever be the world’s top negotiator . . . but we don’t have to. If we just become marginally better than we currently are, we can reap disproportionate rewards.

Negotiation myth #5: I don’t know as much as my boss to “win” at negotiations

This kind of goes back to negotiation myth #1: Stop looking at negotiating as a zero-sum game.

People seem to think that someone has to get screwed over in a negotiation to get what you want — but that’s completely backward.

Of course, you can’t just make a demand and expect the other person to give it to you — you have to make a case for it. An employer is happy to give a raise to keep an employee who does fantastic work and provides value every day.

You’ll hear some people say “no,” but I promise you’ll be surprised by how many people say “yes!”

As long as you prepare and are ready to make your case, salary negotiation becomes a lot less scary.

Which brings us to . . .

Hack your day job

I want to offer you something that I’ve made to help you get the most money from your raise no matter what your work situation is.

It’s called Hack Your Day Job — a four video masterclass on how to negotiate a raise you deserve for FREE.

In it you’ll learn:

• How to get a $10,000+ raise if you’re good at your job. You’re already doing excellent work. It’s time to get an excellent salary. Learn how to turn your success into a $10,000 raise.
• Three bonus tips on becoming a master negotiator. Master negotiating DOs and DON’Ts. (And the fastest way to improve your negotiating skills.)
• How to show your boss you obviously deserve a raise. If you want to get paid like a Top Performer, you first have to be a Top Performer. Don’t worry. That doesn’t mean you need to work through the weekend. Use these three hacks to double how much you get done in a day and set yourself up for a huge raise.

Just enter your name and email below and get access to the videos for free today.

How to negotiate a raise you deserve (in 3 months) is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

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How to use the Envelope System to save hundreds per month

The Envelope System is a great method for saving money.

It works by allocating money for certain categories like eating out, shopping, movies, and so on in envelopes. Once you spend the money in the envelope, that’s it for the month. You can’t spend more.

It’s a great system to use if you’re in debt, because it forces you to be actively aware of your spending — but is it all it’s cracked up to be?

Let’s break down exactly how the Envelope System works, why it’s good, and some of the drawbacks from utilizing it.

• What is the Envelope System?
• • Step 1: Calculate your monthly discretionary spending
  • Step 2: Create your spending buckets
  • Step 3: Put money into physical envelopes
  • Step 4: Spend!
  • Still have money? Awesome!
• Why does the Envelope System work?
• What’s the catch?
• Own your personal finances
• • Negotiate a raise
  • Starting a side hustle

What is the Envelope System?

The Envelope System is all about one thing: Becoming more conscious about the way you spend.

It involves a simple four-step process:

Step 1: Calculate your monthly discretionary spending

Your discretionary spending is all the money that’s left over after you pay off the essentials (rent, utilities, etc.).

And it’s simple: Just take your net monthly pay (income after taxes) and subtract fixed payments like:

• Rent
• Mortgage
• Car payments
• Electric bill
• Water bill
• Gas bill
• Cell phone bill
• Any debt (e.g., credit card, student loans, mortgages)

Everything left over is the money you’re allowed to spend on whatever you want for the month.

For example, say your net monthly pay is $3,000. After accounting for your rent ($750 / month) and utilities ($150 / month), you find that you have $2,100 left. Awesome! This means that $2,100 can now be spent on things like eating out and movies.

Which brings us to …

Step 2: Create your spending buckets

So you know how much you can spend. Now it’s time to decide what to spend it on.

To do that, you’re going to create buckets for all discretionary spending you make in a month, such as:

• Eating out
• Going to bars
• Watching movies
• Paying for gas
• Shopping for groceries
• Buying books

There are a lot of different buckets you can create. That’s why I highly suggest you employ my Rich Life philosophy. This is the idea that you should only spend on the things that you love and help make your life rich — while ignoring everything else.

Love buying lattes each morning? Create a bucket for “coffee” or “drinks.”

Can’t help but catch new movies when they come out? Create a bucket for “movies” or “entertainment.”

Easily swayed by your local bar’s special on Jägerbombs? Create a bucket for “bad decisions.”

And if you’re not into any of those things, guess what? You don’t have to create a bucket for them!

Spend about half an hour writing down the buckets you want to devote your spending to. A few I suggest:

• Grocery shopping
• Transportation (e.g. bus, gas)
• Eating out
• Bars
• Entertainment (e.g., movies, concerts, theater)

Once you have your buckets, it’s time to move onto the next step:

Step 3: Put money into physical envelopes

Now it’s time to put the “envelope” in Envelope System.

This means going to your bank or an ATM and getting your discretionary spending in cash. Once you do that, put the cash into physical envelopes dedicated to the buckets you came up with in the previous step.

If you have a bucket for movies, you’d have an envelope labeled “movies” with money inside of it.

You don’t need to use physical envelopes either. One of my friends who started tracking her spending a while back had a great system: She set up a separate bank account with a debit card.

At the beginning of each month, she transferred around $200 in it. So when she goes out, she spends that money. And when it’s gone, it’s gone. It’s a fantastic system that helps her be conscious of what she spends.

If you set up a debit account, be sure to call your bank and tell them you DON’T want them to allow you to spend more than you have in your account (this is known as overdraft protection). If you don’t do this, you might run into a ton of overdraft fees.

(By the way: If you do slip up and find yourself slapped with some fees, here’s a handy guide for getting them waived.)

Some of my nerdier friends (aka pretty much all of them) even get more detailed with their system. Here’s a table one of them created:

“Each month, I try to cut the quantity and amount I spend on something,” one friend told me. In less than eight months, he cut his spending by 43%.

Personally, that level of analysis is overkill for most people — BUT it’s a great example of how detailed you can get when you’re conscious with your spending.

Whatever system you decide to use, you just need to make sure to decide how much you’re willing to spend in each category (and that’s all up to you).

Step 4: Spend!

Now it’s time for the best part: Spend your money!

But remember: Once you’ve used all the money in an envelope, that’s it. You’re finished for the month.

The Envelope Method is flexible, though. You can dip into other envelopes if there’s an emergency. However, there will be less money to spend in those envelopes if you do so.

It might take 1 – 3 months of experimenting before you find an envelope mix that works for you — which is fine! Each person is different.

For example, you might find that you don’t use your car as much as you thought, so you have a ton of money left over from your “transportation” bucket. You can allocate that money to another bucket where you could use a little more spending.

After fine-tuning, you’ll eventually find a healthy asset mix that satisfies your Rich Life.

Still have money? Awesome!

So you’ve implemented the Envelope System, found the correct amount of money you want to spend in each bucket, and you still have money leftover?

First off, congrats for being conscious with your spending AND having money to spare. That’s an awesome accomplishment that puts you ahead of the vast majority of people.

Now, you can do a variety of things with that extra money.

If you’re in debt, use that extra cash to pay it down. With your interest rates, any amount of money going toward paying your debt is going to save you a lot more in the future. Be sure to check out our article on getting out of debt fast for more.

If you’re not in debt, you can save that money in a high-yielding savings account toward a money goal. Or you can put the money toward an investment like a Roth IRA.  

Why does the Envelope System work?

The Envelope System is great because it leverages a few crucial aspects of human psychology.

A big reason people overspend or don’t save each month is due to the pain of putting money away. This is why doing things like cutting out lattes or skipping out on lunch at your favorite deli is an awful way to save more.

We might do it once or twice — but if we have to make the decision EVERY paycheck, we set ourselves up to fail.

 

The Envelope System allows us to know exactly how much we have to spend each month. Because of that, we get to spend our money guilt-free.

The system also works well because of cash.

Using physical cash in your transactions forces you to be incredibly conscious with the way you spend. When you watch your dollars go away after buying a coffee, you’re going to be less inclined to spend more of it.

Don’t just take our word for it. We talked to financial therapist and social worker Colleen Lennon on the psychology behind this:

“There’s power in physical money — not just a credit card. I always tell [my clients] to take the money they’re going to spend in a month and put it in different envelopes.

“They’ll always come back the next week and tell me, “I don’t want to touch any of that money! I didn’t order food in. I didn’t go out drinking. I just wanted that money in my envelope. I saved the whole week!

“That’s because they started to respect the money once they can see it.”

So the Envelope System is great — but what are some of its drawbacks?

What’s the catch?

The Envelope System does have a few downsides to it.

If you’re using physical envelopes with cash to allocate your spending, you aren’t going to be able to directly pay for things that require a debit or credit card (e.g., Ubers, Lyfts, online purchases).

You also won’t be able to leverage credit card rewards, which are free perks and benefits such as plane tickets and cash back for spending on things you would have already spent money on.

If you’re using a debit card to track your spending, you’ll have to be much more diligent about your spending. You’ll be much more susceptible to overspending if you can’t see how much you’re spending. This means one weekend could blow your budget for the month.

That’s why the Envelope System is great for a temporary solution if you’re in debt or are working toward a savings goal. Once you’ve gotten out of debt or reached your goal, you can stop using the Envelope System.

Own your personal finances

The Envelope System is great if you want to:

• Be conscious of spending
• Get out of debt
• Save more money

If you want to earn more money so your envelopes get a bit bigger, I want to help you get there.

One of my favorite mantras is simple:

There’s a limit to how much you can save. There’s no limit to how much you can earn.

Once you realize your earning potential is limitless, you can start working towards your version of a Rich Life.

That’s because cutting more spending isn’t really feasible for some people — especially if you’re living paycheck to paycheck. However, you can circumvent this issue by earning more.

I want to show you two strategies you can use to earn more:

Negotiate a raise

If you already have a job, it’s a no-brainer to negotiate for a raise.

However, it does take some careful planning. Most importantly, you need to demonstrate your value to your employer.

That’s because getting a raise isn’t about you. It’s about what you can do for your boss.

To help you do exactly that, be sure to download my Ultimate Guide to Getting a Raise and Boosting Your Salary. In it, I’ve included my best systems on:

• How to get paid what you’re worth. Learn how to land a promotion and a raise that could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime, or more. Get the step-by-step process for negotiating a raise — plus word-for-word scripts you can use.
• Salary negotiation tactics. What are the signs that show you’re worthy of more respect, attention, and income? Learn these three salary negotiation tactics to multiply your chance of getting a raise and prevent social mistakes from holding you back.
• Beyond salary. I’ll share even more of my best material on establishing a salary range, getting additional vacation days or overcoming your boss’s most common objections.

Earning more money doesn’t have to happen inside of your job either — which brings us to …

Starting a side hustle

This is one of my favorite ways to earn more money.

In a week, you can start a freelance business that helps you generate cash outside of your normal work. Not only that, but you can scale your side hustle to earn as much as you want.

That’s why my team and I have worked hard to create a guide to help you earn more today:

The Ultimate Guide to Making Money

In it, I’ve included my best strategies to:

• Create multiple income streams so you always have a consistent source of revenue.
• Start your own business and escape the 9-to-5 for good.
• Increase your income by thousands of dollars a year through side hustles like freelancing.

Download a FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide today by entering your name and email below — and start earning more money today.

How to use the Envelope System to save hundreds per month is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

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How to Care for Mental Health On a Budget

Like many of us, I have struggled with mental health for most of my life. And unfortunately, it’s likely that this problem is bound to get worse. The Canadian Mental Health Association warns that the number of Canadians reporting stress in their day-to-day lives has risen 30% since last year. This means that the integration [...]

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Wealthsimple Review: Simple Investing on Autopilot

Wealthsimple is a roboadvisor. This is an automated investing tool for people who want to get into the stock market but aren’t sure where to start. Wealthsimple has been on the scene for a few years, but I only just signed up last month. I’ve been getting hundreds of requests for a Wealthsimple review so [...]

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3 steps to the perfect interview follow-up email

The days after you interview for a job can be stressful.

You’re constantly checking your emails to see if you got the offer.

You’re constantly running over what you did right and wrong during the interview in your head.

You’re stressed — to put it mildly.

Instead of stressing out, you should take action and do something that will increase your chances of landing the job: Sending an interview follow-up email.

This one:

Not only does it show you’re courteous, but also that you’re willing to take action for your job.

I want to show you a three-step system on how to craft the perfect interview follow-up email. When you do this right, it will instantly make you the clear favorite for any job you’re after.

The steps are:

• Step 1: Collect contact information
• Step 2: Craft the perfect follow-up (with scripts)
• Step 3: Follow up

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Collect contact information

After the interview and before you even consider rushing home to draft that perfect follow-up email, make sure you do one thing: Grab the business cards or contact information of everyone you spoke to.

And I. Mean. EVERYONE.

Was there someone who screened you on the phone before you got the interview? Get their email.

Was there a panel of interviewers? Get all of their contact info.

Did a receptionist escort you to a waiting area and grab you a glass of water before your interview? Grab her business card too.

I can’t think of a single employer who wouldn’t LOVE it if their receptionist told them about the awesome interviewee who emailed them to thank them for helping them that day. They could also be your future coworker, so it’s an easy way to start building a great relationship.

The little details go a long way when it comes to the follow-up.

Step 2: Craft the perfect follow-up (with scripts)

There are two ways you can approach your follow-up email and the pros and cons for each:

1. Send the hiring manager a physical card or letter
   
   

   Pros: Receiving a physical message is incredibly novel in this day and age — and this could set you apart even more from the rest of the applicants.

   Cons: It’s not as fast as sending an email — and you’re going to want to send the follow-up as soon as possible after the interview. If they are moving fast, your note may arrive too late.
    

2. Write an email to them
   
   

   Pros: It’s quick, easy, and allows you to send to multiple people with one message (pro-tip: write one really great follow-up, then copy and edit it for each person you spoke to).

   Cons: It’s more impersonal and there’s also the chance that your message is lost in their inbox or spam folder. Sending the exact same letter to everyone could backfire.

In the end though, it doesn’t matter which method you choose as long as you do it.

When you do, here’s the exact word-for-word script you can use to follow up with the interview manager:

Here’s the email written out so you can copy and paste the template:

Hi [NAME],

Thanks for taking the time to chat today. I especially enjoyed talking about [XYZ].

I really think this is a great fit for both of us. Hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

This example is for an email — but you can easily use it for a physical card.

Notice three key things about this email:

1. It’s a short, simple message. Your follow-up message doesn’t need to be fancy or complicated. In fact, making it too long will either bore the hiring manager or make them think you’re desperate.
2. It’s specific. Be sure to get specific about the details. Bring up something that you actually enjoyed talking about in the interview. These details will trigger the hiring manager’s memory and help make a great, lasting impression.
3. It should be sent as quickly as possible. Aim to send your email within two hours of your interview. This will show your enthusiasm, and it’ll be easier for you to remember all the details you should include.

Advanced tip: The best people in every field automate as many areas of their lives as possible. You can actually automate your interview follow-up email, if you want to save some time and ensure it gets sent. You can do this by creating a draft of your follow-up email before you even go to the interview. That way after it’s done, you can simply open the draft, fill in the missing details, and hit “send.” Boom. You’re done and can spend more time focusing on the Big Wins in your life.

Step 3: Follow up

Don’t sweat it and be patient. It may take the hiring manager several days or weeks to interview the other applicants and make a decision.

After a few days though, you can send another follow-up message to check in.

Use this gentle email template to nudge them along.

Here’s the email written out so you can copy and paste the template:

Hi [NAME],

I just wanted to follow up on the [XYZ] position we chatted about on [DAY OF WEEK]. 

You mentioned getting in touch about potential next steps. Is there anything I can do to help speed this process along?

Thanks,

[YOUR NAME]

Notice how this email is short and gets right to the point. It uses a light touch, but still lets them know you’re interested in the job.

It’s also important that this email doesn’t makes the recipient feel guilty for not replying sooner. If you make them feel that way, a follow-up will actually backfire on you and you could lose the opportunity altogether.

The most likely thing is that they’re just busy or your first message got lost in the inbox. This email will grab their attention and bring your interview back to the top of their mind.

After that, wait one more week before sending your next, and final, response.

Advanced tip: Be sure to download a tracking app, such as HubSpot’s email tracking tool, that lets you know exactly when your interviewer opens your follow-up message. The tool notifies you the moment they see your email, so you’ll be able to follow up right then while you’re fresh on their minds. Doing this is key because it’s not disruptive, since they’re already reading your email and saves both you and the interviewer time.

When to call it quits on following up

If you still haven’t heard back a week later, reply to your previous interview follow-up email, saying this:

Here’s the email written out so you can copy and paste the template:

Hi [NAME],

I hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to float this email to the top of your inbox — in case you missed it.

Thanks,

[YOUR NAME]

If they’re interested, they’ll get back to you. If they still don’t reply, it’s probably safe to assume they’ve chosen someone else for the role.

If that’s the case, don’t beat yourself up. It happens to everyone at some point. Go back to the job search — and prepare even better next time.

BONUS: The Closing the Loop Technique

As an extra for you, I want to show you a fantastic system to help you:

• Stay in touch with VIPs
• Transform one-time meetings into long-term relationships
• Showcase your value to anyone

This goes beyond your typical follow-up “thanks for your time” email — and answers the question, “How do I make the person I just met want to help me?”

Introducing the Closing the Loop Technique.

This is a series of three emails you send to the person you just met with that’ll almost ensure they’ll want to keep in touch with you.

Here are the emails complete with my breakdown of why they work.

Email #1: Thank you (same day)

Hi Steve,

Just wanted to thank you again for meeting with me earlier. I’m definitely going to get in touch with Susan like you recommended. I’ll keep you in the loop, and of course, please let me know if there’s anything I can do to repay the favor!

John

A few things to note: First, the thank you is simple. No need to spill more ink than you need to.

It also references a specific action item you’re going to follow up on. This shows the person you’re emailing that you were paying attention during the interview.

The email ends with a solid offer from you to help in any way you can — while asking nothing of the recipient.

Email #2: Add value (1 – 2 weeks later)

Hey Steve,

Saw this article in the Wall Street Journal and it reminded me of what you said about productivity tests! No response needed, just thought you might find it interesting.

John

Now we start to shake things up. The person you’re emailing likely wasn’t expecting to ever hear back from you again. They especially weren’t expecting you to send something of value to them.

This can be anything — a blog post, email newsletter, YouTube video — as long as you know they will find it interesting.

How do you know this? Because during your meeting, you listened to what they said and noted the things that piqued their interest.

Pay close attention to the phrase used in the last sentence: “No response needed.” This is music to a busy person’s ears. Think about it: I get 600+ emails / day, and do you know what most of them want? They want something from me. When you can say “No response needed,” and send me something I find fascinating, you’re adding value to my life.

Email #3: Close the loop (2 – 3 weeks later)

Hi Steve,

Wanted to give you an update: I did end up talking to Susan, and you were right — Acme is definitely a fit for me. I’m reaching out to a friend there to learn all I can about Acme before I apply. If there’s anyone else you think I should speak to, please let me know.

Thanks again! I’ll let you know how it goes.

John

Now is when you separate yourself from 99.999% of people by showing the person you’re emailing that you actually took action on what they suggested.

If you give specific names of people and companies, that’ll show you were listening. It’ll also show the person you’re emailing that they were right — which is a major psychological boost for them.

Just like my Briefcase Technique, this system seems simple and obvious — until you use it. Then its true power is revealed.

And it’s incredibly effective. Check out this email I got from a reader who used the Closing the Loop Technique to help him get a job.

Hey Ramit,

One more testimonial to the Closing The Loop technique that you taught last night. I reached out to a prior boss I haven’t seen in 4 to 5 years about a position I heard about at that company. All I had asked for was if I could still use him as a reference and his up-to-date contact info. He responded in less than a half hour. By following up and offering to keep him in the loop, he then responded with an offer for a letter of recommendation and an offer to send a personal email to the hiring manager on my behalf. Holy Crap! It really works…

-Greg H.

For more on this, be sure to check out my five-minute video where I break down this technique.

Why sending a follow-up email is a critical step

It doesn’t matter how good your interview was — you STILL need to send a follow-up email for five reasons:

1. It leaves a good impression. And impressions are everything when it comes to getting a job.
2. The hiring manager will remember you. You were likely one of several interviews conducted by the company. Don’t get lost in the fray. There’s no better way to keep you on the hiring manager’s brain than by sending a follow-up email.
3. You show that you have initiative. When you go out of the way to send an after-interview email, it shows that you’re willing to go above and beyond to make a lasting impression.
4. The company will see that you’re genuinely interested. The follow-up email is a good way to separate you from the other interviewees who most likely didn’t even think to loop back with them.
5. Interview follow-up emails work. Your chances of getting the job go way up if you send a follow-up email. Especially if you are neck-and-neck with another candidate.

Imagine you’re in the process of hiring and you have two potential candidates. Both are equally qualified for the role and interviewed well — but only ONE of them sent you a follow-up message thanking you for your time and calling back to some points you made that really made an impact on them.

Who do you think you’re going to pick for the job?

Answer: THE PERSON WHO SENT YOU THE FOLLOW-UP MESSAGE!!

It’s important to also keep in mind that your interviewer’s reputation is on the line.

This is key, so I’m going to say it again.

Your interviewer’s reputation is on the line.

Based on the few minutes they interact with you, your interviewer has to make a lot of important assessments. Do you have the right skills? Will you fit with the company culture? Are you reliable and trustworthy? etc.

It’s like speed-dating on steroids — with one major exception. If they judge you incorrectly, they don’t just risk an awkward second date. They risk their boss questioning their judgment for the rest of their career. And if it doesn’t work out, they have wasted months of time and thousands of dollars. They need to get this right. Not just for YOU but for THEM.

It’s important to keep this in mind when you go into an interview.

Your success is in their best interest. And when you follow up correctly after an interview, you make their job easier by proving you’re a Top Performer who deserves the job.

Interview better than 99% of people

If you REALLY want to dominate your job search even more, I can help you with that.

I recorded a video on mastering the art of interviewing. In it, you’ll learn the mindset and tactics to be a world-class interviewee in just a few hours.

Yours for free, my gift to you. Just sign up below.

3 steps to the perfect interview follow-up email is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

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