I’ll tell you in just a second. But first, for greater impact, let me illustrate what I have to tell you with a little anecdote from this morning:
This morning, I prepared my usual breakfast — a can of sardines and some salad from a bag — and I sat down to my usual breakfast reading.
My usual breakfast reading is the latest New Yorker. Today, it happened to be an article abut the hottest restaurant in France, a €52.99/person, all-you-can-eat buffet called Les Grands Buffets.
Les Grands Buffets is in a town called Narbonne, in the south of France, less than 100km from the Spanish border, and a 2-hour drive from Barcelona, where I live.
“Interesting,” I said.
And without knowing what I was doing, I got out my phone.
I opened up the WhatsApp group I have with two friends who visited me in Barcelona two years ago. They both have some interest in the south of France. So I forwarded them the article and joked, “Maybe for the next time you visit.”
Then I thought of my ex-girlfriend.
After 9 months of cohabitation after our breakup, we finally stopped living together last month. But she’s still in Barcelona and we’re still on good terms.
Since she’s a big foodie, I also forwarded her the same article about Les Grands Buffets. (Immediately, she wrote back, “Maybe you would like to go for a road trip ?😂❤️”)
So the point I want to share with you is a simple two-step formula for getting referrals.
It’s right there in my experience from this morning, in the way I unthinkingly forwarded this New Yorker article to two sets of people. The formula:
1. Something interesting, potentially valuable, which I was willing to share
2. Specific details that made it easy to think of the right people to share it with
This is something you can do consciously, if you want to encourage me (or others) to refer you or your brand or content or offers.
Let me give you an example:
Last night, I sent out a very brief email to my list. The email asked my readers if they 1) write Facebook ads, and 2) have clients who pay them for it.
I promised my readers that if they satisfy these two conditions, I have something that might help them get paid more.
So far, I’ve had a few dozen people respond.
But… maybe you know somebody else? Somebody who fits the two criteria above? Somebody who writes Facebook ads… and who has paying clients?
If so, consider forwarding them this email. Maybe you can benefit this person, and they’ll be grateful to you.
And if somebody forwarded this email to you, and you fit the criteria above, and you’re interested in what I have, then hit reply.