When the pipeline looks light, one short "How can I help?" email to a list built through years of networking can bring in real business.
The idea
Peter Corbett, founder of the agency iStrategyLabs, had collected an email list of about 30,000 people over years of networking and smart online marketing. One May his pipeline looked light. He emailed the whole list. The subject: "How can I help?" The body: a single line asking what people were up to. He wanted clients to reach out, but he didn't care whether it paid; asking that many people what they needed simply sounded fun.
How to do it
Build the list over time, through networking and being useful.
When the pipeline looks light, send a one-line offer of help.
Help everyone who replies, including the five-minute favors.
Example
Thousands of people replied, and Peter helped every one. Some were five-minute favors, like finding someone a node.js developer. Some were future customers, like someone starting a luxury hand soap business. And some were immediate projects, like a $250,000 website and campaign due in three months. About 10% of the year's revenue closed in the following month, and the local business paper wrote about it.
Script
Subject: How can I help? (adapted) "What are you working on, and how can I help? Your friend, [name]"
Relatable: If your list lives in Relatable, a split message sends it as separate personal emails so each reply comes back to you alone, though any email tool can do a simple version. How-to: Send one email to fifty people, personalized.
Related frameworks
Better Than "Anything I Can Help With?": Retire "How can I help?" and "What's up?" Ask about their biggest challenge, what you'll celebrate a year from now, or who they want to meet.
The Quarterly Personal Update: Email your network a short personal update every quarter on real work, real life and what you're into; nobody needs to reply.
The Helper Mindset: Before reaching out, ask whether the message just shares information or reminds them what you do, or whether it actually shows you care.
Broadcast Rules: Anything you broadcast must be valuable on its own and fit the relationship; then watch who engages and turn that into one-to-one outreach.