They say it’s not what you know but who you know that counts. Drew’s journey from serving just two very small clients to landing an impressive and influential group of authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs proves it. Read on to see how Drew Hitchcock got hired by five big name clients, even though “nobody” knew his name just two years ago.
Sometimes just one connection opens up an entire world where it’s easy to connect with influencers, thought leaders, and experts. You know this guy who knows that girl, who knows that guy. Before you know it, you’re having conversations with people you previously only dreamed of meeting.
For Drew, that one connection was a guy named Derick. Through a string of conversations, give-first gestures, and solid results, Drew has come to work for an impressive roster of clients.
Here’s how he did it.
First, Drew Made a List
In early 2018, Drew decided to go full-force into his consulting and marketing support business. As anyone in a service-based business knows, you don’t have a business until you have clients. They also know the chicken-and-egg reality that it can be hard to get clients... until you have clients.
So, Drew made a list of five people he could have conversations with to see if there was anything he could help them with. In particular, he reached out to people he’d done business with who were trying to grow their business online.
“On that list was a Derick, a Cash Flow Banking Specialist I met through Garrett Gunderson’s program. At the time, I wasn’t even thinking about networking. I was focused solely on how I could serve him so well he’d become a raving fan.”
Drew Hitchcock
Drew consulted with Derick for a month. Then he noticed something odd. Garrett was the best-selling author of Killing Sacred Cows and What Would Billionaires Do? But his YouTube channel was a ghost town with just 57 subscribers. Drew knew he could fix that problem; and he knew he could ask Derick for an introduction.
“Long story short, the conversation happened. I added massive value, growing his audience to over 56,600. Garrett and I still work together. The question you should ask yourself is, ‘Does anyone in my network have a direct relationship with an influencer who could help me move my business forward?’”
Drew Hitchcock
You undoubtedly have influential connections in your social media networks right now. In fact, if you were to look on LinkedIn, you might see you’re already reasonably-closely connected with the people you’d like to serve. Drew noticed he had six different direct connections who had working relationships with Garrett.
Next, Drew Leveraged His Connections
As he says, “Once you have established a great working relationship with one influencer, they may connect you with others you might be able to help. It can also give you an easy introduction if you have applied connecting with their content as well.
“I am a member of Benjamin Hardy’s program, AMP. Ben is the author of Willpower Doesn’t Work, Personality Isn’t Permanent, and Who, Not How. Late last year in his program, he mentioned his plan to pivot his content strategy away from writing and onto creating YouTube videos.”
By then, Drew had increased Garrett’s subscriber base by 99,298%. Knowing that Garrett and Ben were both members of the Genius Network, he saw an opportunity to make something great happen.
Through AMP’s support, he emailed an offer to meet with Ben to share advice on how Ben should approach YouTube. He knew he could share some lessons learned over the years in serving Garrett. It worked. The meeting was on the calendar.
Drew says his only goal for the meeting was to introduce himself and add value. Obviously, landing Ben as a client would be a bonus. But that was not the intent of the meeting.
However, as often happens when we come from a give-first position, the opportunity to work together presented itself. Drew says he hates selling, so it’s a lot more comfortable to come from a place of service rather than feeling compelled to convince anyone to hire him.
That’s the long and short of how he’s gotten to work with Garrett Gunderson, Ryan Daniel Moran, Benjamin Hardy, and Evan Charmichael.
Finally, Drew Connected Where It Counted
If you really want to get onto someone’s radar, one of the easiest ways is to engage with their work. When they post, leave a meaningful comment. If they have a group, participate. By providing value to their community, you are bound to catch their attention, too.
Drew did this after one of his favorite photographers launched a book. Chase Jarvis, founder of Creative Live, gave the world a behind the scenes look at the world of photography. Chase also happens to be good friends with Tim Ferriss. (Everyone’s connected!)
In his community, Chase mentioned that he was working to donate a book to every teacher in the Seattle Public School District. That meant donating about 4,000 books. Part of Chase’s strategy was to make an offer to people who’d buy 100 books or more. If you did so, you could ask Chase to collaborate with you on a project of your own.
Drew says, “This gave me an idea. I could buy 100 books and donate half to Chase’s cause. As my ask from Chase, maybe I could get Garrett on as a Creative Live Speaker to teach a class. This would get Garrett in front of a new audience that could use his message. It would give me the opportunity to connect with Chase. And the book donation would help some teachers. While I haven’t been able to get Garrett on Creative Live (yet), Chase did offer to have six coaching calls with me where we could discuss projects I’m working on and he could coach me.”
Relationships take time and tending. The benefits of collaboration extend past the people immediately involved and ripple out to build entirely new relationships. Taking a longer-term view of the connections you’re creating will help you build something solid.
Some Final Thoughts
It’s not as hard to connect with influencers as people make it out to be. That is, as long as you approach this relationship AS a relationship. Come from a place of service and adding value, and you’ll be surprised by what happens next.
That’s what Drew did. You can do the same, even if you don’t think you have any connections at all. Just imagine what you could create, just by taking the first step.
About Drew Hitchcock
Drew Hitchcock is the owner of Digital Traffic Flow, a digital marketing agency. He helps authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs grow their audience and vision on YouTube. He’s also in the process of writing his upcoming book, How To Meet Your Heroes: A Practical Guide To Creating Relationships with the Influencers You Follow. If you’d like a free sneak peek at Chapter 1, visit: https://howtomeetyourheroes.com
