Some people still do old-fashioned link outreach, where they email other site owners and ask them to link to their sites. Done correctly, this can be an effective (and even efficient) way of acquiring backlinks to your site. I like to think I’m pretty good at this approach, in fact.
Some people have the wrong approach, and even if you try to help them improve their approach, they get mad. As my partner, Michael Martinez often tells me, “Don’t get mad. Get glad!”
When you’re asking for help from someone else, there are a couple of things you need to remember:
- Be courteous.
- Be nice.
Common courtesy dictates that when you contact someone on behalf of a business, you identify yourself. That’s just business 101.
Being nice dictates that when you’re talking with someone, you don’t argue with them over silly stuff. That just guarantees that the other person isn’t going to help you.
Normally, if I receive an anonymous email from someone asking for a link, I just ignore it, but for some reason, I decided to follow up with this particular person. I’ve redacted the person’s email address and a lot of other extraneous information, but I’ve included the entire exchange below. His emails are in maroon. Mine are in blue. My comments are in (parentheses).
This email exchange is one of the best examples I’ve ever seen of someone sabotaging their own goal, which was to get a link from my Website.
Hi,
I’m interested in advertising on your site example.com/example, just wondered if you have any text link advertising space available?
I’m after a small 2 word contextual text link (links within content) if possible.
If you have any other xxxxx/xxxxxxxx related websites, please also include them with advertising options / costs etc.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Many Thanks
xxxx
xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx
(Okay, so far, this isn’t the best email link request I’ve ever seen, but I was curious and feeling generous, so I wrote back.)
What site do you represent?
Hi Randy,
I run a small xx xxxxx review site, we offer information on the latest xxxxx available, xxxxx guides, and the latest xxxxx news.
(At this point, I should have just deleted the email and gone on with my life. Anyone who’s unwilling to share the name of their site with me is probably ashamed of the content there or something.)
You’ll have better luck with requests like this if you’re not coy about the site you wish to promote.
(I’m trying to be helpful without wasting a lot of time talking to this guy, but like I said, I should have just deleted it and moved on.)
Hi Randy,
I’m just looking for an advertising price.
Does price depend on different sites?
Many Thanks,
XXXX
(At this point, the person who wants the link is becoming argumentative. Most people would have stopped at this point, but then I thought that maybe I could get a blog post out of this.)
If I like the site, you can have a link for free. If I don’t, then I won’t link to it no matter how much you pay me.
(This is true, by the way. I link to sites all the time just because I like the owner and/or the content.)
I’m in business to make money.
You must never make money from advertising then.
(At this point, he’s become belligerent and insulting. How effective do you think this approach to requesting anything is?)
I thought you wanted a link?
I have a feeling you don’t want to take any more links.
(This isn’t insulting, but it’s a strange assumption to make since the only question I’ve asked is what site he represents. It’s not like I asked for some unusual piece of information.)
I don’t deal with people who won’t tell me what site they represent.
If I weren’t willing to consider linking out, I wouldn’t have replied to any of your emails. When someone refuses to identify the site they’re writing on behalf of, it makes them look suspicious. Honestly, I’ve never dealt with anyone who wouldn’t answer such an innocent question, and I’ve been operating websites, acquiring links, and linking to other sites since 2003.
Also, plenty of people link to websites they like without getting paid for it, and they make a fine living. I quit my day job and started doing full time webmaster work for myself in 2005, and I link to sites almost every day without getting a payment. Generally speaking, the webmasters for those sites are a little less argumentative and a little more forthcoming about the site(s) they represent.
The link acquisition business is a relationship business. Engaging in some silly “I’m not going to tell you what site I represent” argument isn’t really doing much to help build your relationship with this particular link source.
(Dig me giving free mentoring to a total stranger)
Hi Randy,
Seems strange that you first question to me was:
What site do you represent?
You could have said first off: If I like the site, you can have a link for free.
This leads me to believe that your price for advertising changes. If it were to be a brand e.g. xxx xxxxx wanting to advertise with you, I think you would look to charge more.
I feel the same engaging in some silly “I’m not going to give you an advertising price, until you tell me who you represent”
Good luck with the sites.
xxxx
(Here’s the funny thing about all of this. I didn’t contact him asking him to buy anything from me. I didn’t ask him for a favor. He contacted me. He initiated this exchange. I asked for a standard, minor piece of information–the name of the site he wanted a link to. He replied by being condescending, rude, and insulting. He didn’t achieve his goal, which was to get a link from my site to his.)
Good luck to you, too.
What lessons can you take away from this? I can find several.
One is that I shouldn’t bother replying to emails from people who ask for links but don’t want to share what site they represent. It’s almost always just a hassle. Reputable people will tell you right away who they’re with and what they want.
Another is that if you want a link from someone, just try being nice. I LOVE it when someone asks me for a link. I LIKE helping other people. It’s good karma.
For that matter, why would you assume that you need to pay for a link in the first place? I don’t want to get into the ethics of buying, renting, and/or selling links in this post, because that’s a whole other ball of wax, but the best links I’ve ever gotten have been from people I’ve developed relationships with, and I didn’t have to pay for them, either.
If you’re conducting a link acquisition and outreach campaign, identify yourself, identify the site you want a link to, and don’t insult the person on the other end by assuming that the only thing he’s interested in is money. You’ll see way more success with this approach, I promise.
There are lots of strategies for getting exposure from other Webmasters on the Internet. Being demanding and recalcitrant is a strategy that seldom works. If you want to discuss other strategies for getting more exposure and traffic to your site, please get in touch. Michael and I are both available for discussing such tactics.
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I have had similar exchanges, although nowhere so long. I have learnt my lesson. Whenever anybody asks if I have advertising space / do text links etc. my reply is generally short and swift, such as:
“yes, we can offer advertising in the form of banners, sponsored articles and text links within current articles. All links will have rel=”nofollow” applied and adverts will be published after payment has been received”.
Very rarely do they reply, which is a good thing.
One that got my goat was when I was asked to write an article containing a link on a client’s site in return for an agreed sum. So I wrote it and posted it and sent them the link to the post. They then replied: ‘Oh, we can’t have a link on that type of site, please take it down’
Did you not look at the site in the first place? And, more importantly, I’ve written an article that you’ve asked me to take down and are now refusing to pay for!
Lessons learned? Payment in advance. Check that they do understand there may be some personal body parts mentioned on other parts of this health related site.
Can I have a link, pretty please? 😛