link request letters & perfectionism

[Makaveli2007]

I have no trouble typing 2 page forum replies within 5 minutes, however Im just about to finish this link request letter that Ive been typing out for...9 days.

Please, believe me..I wouldnt make that effort if I didn't have the content to justify this kind of effort. However, I "feel" (of course this could be wrong!) that getting the point across and into the heads of the webmasters Im targeting is crucial....making them realize that they have a certain (big) problem on their site which theyre not aware of, and that my piece of content solves (I saw another webmaster act on it once he realized he had that problem).

Now 9 days seems WAY too long for this, anyway lol. However, Ive heard about copywriters (online and/or offline) who it takes hours or days to get the headline, right.

How long do you usually spend on a link request e-mail if you consider it extremely important to get the point across (and in less than a page rather than 5+ pages e-mail many people wouldnt read through)?

[FranticFish]

If it's that important, then I'd call them. If they are receptive, you can then send a personalised email referencing the conversation. If they aren't interested, then they'd have binned the email without reading it anyway.

[cnvi]

I keep it fairly short, concise, and sincere. I try to make the request obviously relevant such as

"I am a wedding photographer in City, State and noticed you have a wedding floral business in the same city. We target the same market. Would you like to my site? I would be willing to link back to your site" and then I include a URL which is a simple link request form where the other site can fill out the information and request the link back. I use editor based software to confirm the link back.

I have noticed if I dont include the URL, the letter is more likely to not be responded to. I dont think its the other party ignoring me I think in alot of cases the other party just gets busy and then thinks the opportunity is gone.

The link request URL causes the other party to see a way to respond or "act" on my request. It's like fishing.. you might send out 20 and get 3 to respond but thats a typical response rate.

I will call sometimes but I prefer other sites requesting links with me to use my published suggest link form instead of tying me up on the phone.

[ken_b]

9 Days? I suspect that you are over thinking this thing.

Look, if your content really supports the link request, writing the request email should take all of maybe 5 minutes, at the most.

Hi (addressee)
My name is ..... and I own/operate/work-for/etc a business/website that (activity that relates to the target website).

I wonder if you would consider linking to our website at: Business URL.

Thanks
Persons name
Persons position
Business name
Business Address
City
State & Zip
Phone

At least those are the link requests I look at.

[I don't send link requests, but I review a fair number]

[Makaveli2007]

@ken_b: I've come to the same conclusion (overthinking this thing hehe).

I had done a couple of link requests before and always got them done within a few hours...not 9 friggin days like in this case lol

The funny thing is - I had been thinking lately...about how....link building & Word-of-Mouth marketing is basically like...letting a stone fall into water. if you do that it creates waves....and that my strategy really is to find a big stone to throw into the water, rather than throwin a tiny stone into it and trying to blow against (exp?) the waves to make them bigger.

Turned out that in this link request case I was doing exactly that...............I just didnt have a big enough stone (e.g. ONE compelling reason to get the link), I wasnt really convinced of the reason myself, which is why my unhealthy perfectionism kicks in.

If you got that compelling reason to get the link (or well links, as you might want to get more than just a few (unless those are extremely high quality))..if you got that one compelling reason, wording the link request e-mail and keeping it short is rather easy (and not something youd want to take more than a few hours for at the most - still saying a few hours, because for the latest one I still had to do some more research on the topic while wording the link request, so I wouldnt say something blatantly wrong, that would piss the person off...as its a sophisticated topic, that Im not exactly an expert on)

PS:

if you dont send link requests how do you go about getting links to a completely new site? Ive done a few link requests in the past (and if I had a compelling reason to get the link, which i always seemed to have until this time hehe, they still worked well).

[Demaestro]

Just as an FYI.

I never even entertain those letters. I think it is because I have gotten so many irrelevant ones I don't take any of them serious.

I think making initial contact via a more personal method may be a better way of doing 'cold calls'

You can always use your letter as a script as well for phone calls.

Good luck

[Makaveli2007]

Thanks demaestro - I hear that a lot..that link requests generally don't work anymore.

The last guy I remember who said he didnt even read them just deleted them right away was someone whose sites are mostly(maybe only?) in IT niches. In this niche and the last niche I worked in, link request e-mails seem to be working just fine, though.

I suspect it has a lot to do with the niche you're in...and also if you have content that is truly compelling to link to (I mean not the "yeah this would be cool for my visitors to see" kind of content, but the "oh yeah...if Im not linking to this, Id do my visitors a disservice(exp?!)" kind of content).

I have focussed my time on finding truly great opportunities for content - the kind where I can answer the "Would I link to this if I was part of the demographic of webmasters to who I send this link request?" wiht a "Yup!". I think this is why it's still working for me (probably in combination with having been in the right niches so far).

I do track my success records of course...and if everyone ends up doing what y ou do and just deleting them Ill have to grab the phone, too, I guess :-), but so far im still satisfied with the results

PS: what I did with this one e-mail...that gave me the reason to start this thread was completely silly, of course. good reminder for the future, though...