How To Write A Networking Email (With Examples)

The word networking can be scary. It makes us think of stuffy professional events and awkward transactional interactions.

It’s time to change that perception. Have you considered that sending a follow-up email after an interview or connecting with an old colleague on LinkedIn can be an effective form of networking? We have access to so many digital channels that networking doesn’t have to be awkward cold calls or forced meetups.

If you’re looking to expand your network, whether you just need career advice or you want to ask around for a new job, there’s one trick that will get you noticed.

We’re going to look at some of the best networking email tips and share our one sure-fire secret. Read on for email writing tips and some email templates to make you stand out as you network.

Key Takeaways:

• Don’t immediately ask directly for a favor. While most people like to be helpful, they don’t like to feel like they’re being used.

• Make sure to offer to help them, too. Networking works both ways. Even if you can’t repay them right away, keep it in mind for a later date. Even from a purely mercenary point of view, helping someone makes them more likely to help you when the situations are reversed.

• Ask after their career and/or family, as applicable. Try to build a rapport with your network. Your relationship can still remain professional in nature, but people don’t like relationships based entirely on what they can do for someone else.

Tips for Writing a Networking Letter

Here it is. This is our number one tip for writing a great networking email: make it about the person you’re writing to instead of about yourself.

Now, there are several ways to go about this. Here are some tips to follow when composing your networking email.

• Get personal. If this is someone you know, be sure to bring up where you met and some positive aspect of them that caught your eye, career-wise. People like to remembered and thought of as experts at their jobs.

  If you’re reaching out to someone you don’t know, you should bring up things you have in common. Look for any connections, like you both worked at a company or attended the same school. Finding something you have in common can encourage someone to get back to you and continue the conversation.

• Be specific. When you’re reaching out to someone, even if you don’t know them personally, you should call out some details to let them know you’re paying attention. Feel free to highlight anything you admire about their work history or something that caught your attention and made you want to reach out. Letting them know that you’re invested in learning about their career will make them more likely to respond to you.

• Keep it short. Everyone gets a million emails a day, so keeping your message concise can work in your favor. Offer to continue the conversation over the phone or on a instant messenger to avoid a long email chain and save time.

• Ask for advice. Instead of jumping in and asking for a favor, ask your contact for advice. This leaves the conversation open-ended, and they can choose to help you instead of feeling like they must help you. This difference is crucial in making a good impression and leaving the conversation open-ended. Sometimes you can end up with better options or help from your contact if you let them decide how to help you instead of just asking for what you want.

• Offer something in return. You never want to just cold email someone and expect them to do you a favor. Think about ways in which your relationship could also benefit them. Can you offer to make an introduction in return? Can you suggest some advice? Find a way to make it a beneficial relationship for both of you.

• Use flattery. While you don’t want to go overboard with flattery, telling someone you admire them or love their work is an excellent way to boost their ego and get them to want to help you. Everyone loves feeling appreciated, so add something small to flatter them without being obvious.

• Work on building trust. This is what all of the other recommendations have been building towards. One of the reasons showing interest in your contact works so well is that it builds trust between both of you. If you ask for their advice and want to learn from them, they know that you’re interested in more than just what they can do for you.

  You want to build trust in a professional connection since your contact will be more willing to introduce you to their network or help you out if they can vouch for you. They don’t want to waste their friends’ time by referring someone who will leave a negative impression, so the more you let your contact get to know you, the better long term relationship you can have.

It’s also important not to be disingenuous when doing this. It doesn’t hurt to be a little more enthusiastic or complementary than you usually are, but don’t lay it on too thick. Most people will be turned off by excessive praise or flattery, as they’ll see it as either brown-nosing or a backdoor way to get something from them.

While it sounds manipulative, the trick is get them to want to help you. People are going to spend a lot more time and effort on something they want to do than something they feel forced or obligated to. This means that if you do offer to help someone in your network, make it genuine and put real effort in. Not only will you get the benefit of helping someone, they’re much more likely tot give it their all in return.

5 Networking and Email Letter Templates

It can be intimidating to write a networking email, but we’ve pulled together a few samples that you can use to write the perfect email with a great open rate. We’ll give you a few options for different scenarios so you can draft the best one for your needs.

Final Thoughts

Building a network is a lot like building a good relationship with your coworkers. You maintain a professional relationship while also helping one another out with your jobs. It may feel very transactional, but try not to get too caught up in that aspect of it.

Also, in terms of building your professional toolkit, being able to have positive professional relationships is a huge boon. Being able to get along with other people in a work environment makes you a very attractive candidate for most positions. Make sure to maintain contact with colleagues that you got along well with — they can be a huge asset to your network.

Author

Amanda Covaleski

Amanda is a writer with experience in various industries, including travel, real estate, and career advice. After taking on internships and entry-level jobs, she is familiar with the job search process and landing that crucial first job. Included in her experience is work at an employer/intern matching startup where she marketed an intern database to employers and supported college interns looking for work experience.

Expert

Matt Warzel, CPRW, CIR

Matt Warzel a President of a resume writing firm (MJW Careers, LLC) with 15+ years of recruitment, outplacement, career coaching and resume writing experience. Matt is also a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Internet Recruiter (CIR) with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Marketing Focus) from John Carroll University.