How to send DMs (that actually get a reply)

I got all my lucky breaks from just messaging people and helping people out   

But here's the thing - most people suck at asking for stuff 

If you're going to send someone a cold DM, don't just say 'hi' or 'I love your work'. Seriously, what are you expecting them to say to this?

Instead:

• Bring value 
• Start a conversation 
• Ask a good question 

It won't work every time, of course, but it increases your chances of success far beyond 0%

Study this picture. It's short, but shows initiative, high agency, passion, curiostiy and a lot more. Don't ask, don't get

Drop the “I understand your time is valuable…” otherwise pretty good.

when I was at Samsung, I was notorious for being tough on my org about written communication, be it emails or slides

slides: I need to understand this in 3 seconds like I would a bumper sticker

email: get to the point quickly. make liberal use of bullet points. avoid paragraphs

verbosity is a sin