There's More Than One Way To Skin A Link

I sit on the Linking Basics panel at SES along with Mike and Eric and cover Linking Myths and Mistakes. I jokingly call it the "Loch Ness Monster meets Bill Clinton" session and have a lot of fun showing photos of Presidents and flying pigs during the presentation.... ;)-

The Q&A is peppered with typical newbie linking questions but there's always a couple that are asked at each SES, one being what's the best way to contact people for a link. I answer by saying I have two ways I work:

If I'm buying links for a site or setting up an incentive program, I usually start out with an email and then depending on the site, pick up the phone and call. Since I look for organizations and associations when I link, I don't have to make many calls to net a lot of links.

If I'm working a larger niche or customer lists, I'll email and then follow-up with post cards. Yeah, that's right, snail mail post cards. They're an effective low cost way to get people's attention, reinforce the email previously sent and lend some credibility to it.

Closing the deal is the hardest part of any business transaction, linking included so I always try to offer multiple link options to the sites I approach. It's more difficult to say no when more than one offer is made no matter how you contact someone!

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