How Many Emails Does It Take to Open a Door?

That’s not the start of a joke, but it has become something of a riddle to me. If you’re looking for work, scrambling for leads, or find yourself hunting for prospective sales and customers, I suspect it will resonate with you as well.

I’ve been reaching out to employers for a little over three weeks now. This is in addition to applying for jobs that I believe are a good fit for me (and even some that aren’t, but would perhaps challenge me in exciting, albeit it scary, new ways).

As a professional advertiser and writer, I thought a good way to approach my hunt for work would be to find agencies that I really wanted to work with and send them something fun. Something that says a little about me, and my personality, but also promotes my abilities and provides a link to my portfolio.

You may have seen some of these parody posters if you follow my account, or you may have stumbled upon them by accident. They’re not exactly pieces of masterful art and design, but I think they're fun and eye-catching.

As they tie directly to my experience with key art (if you’re not in the industry, that’s the given name for movie and TV posters), and my interest in writing taglines and creating “comps,” they seemed like a good approach. Indeed, I’ve had a few comments and messages from people who have enjoyed them, and look forward to seeing the next one. 

But when I tie it back to the question that starts this article, it’s beginning to look like this strategy may not be the best one.

So far, I’ve sent over 300 emails and messages in the space of those three weeks. 

These messages are going to the same seventy or so agencies week after week, each time with a different creative attachment and a brief introduction. I also use LinkedIn messages sent directly to contacts at agencies.

How many open doors to date?

Two. Maybe.

Let’s just say they answered, but I’m not at the stage where I can walk through it just yet.

Now, I certainly wasn’t expecting to be inundated with replies. I know the open rates and click-through rates of email campaigns, and they are abysmal. But the deafening sound of silence has been something of a wake-up call even to me.

In fact, I’m beginning to wonder…am I actually hurting my chances here? I thought I’d analyze this and figure it out.

There Are Two Opposing Schools of Thought to This Kind of Approach.

The first is the tried and true “never give up, never surrender.” (Thank you Galaxy Quest). You are in it to win it, and you will continue through thick and thin until you find a way to penetrate the defenses and achieve success.

Keep sending those emails. Keep writing those messages. Keep bombarding people until you eventually get noticed, or you get any kind of nugget that will lead to something bigger.

I’m a movie buff, so forgive another reference. In “The Shawshank Redemption” Andy Dufresne is appalled at the state of the prison library. So much so that he starts writing letters, one per week, to the state requesting funds and materials.

One day several boxes arrive filled with books and magazines, plus a check for $200. That's when Andy said,

“Wow. It only took six years. From now on I’ll write two letters a week instead of one.”

Six years. 52 weeks in a year. That was over 300 letters to get what he asked for. And of course, he did write those two letters a week until he got a real library with annual funds.

Now, of course, this is all fiction from the mind of Stephen King, but it happens often in real life. Whether people are searching for their ideal partner, a career, a new skill, or want to conquer the seemingly unconquerable, history is replete with stories of people failing many times until they succeed.

An ad agency I admire immensely, Wieden + Kennedy, has the words “fail harder” written in giant letters on a wall using over 100,000 push pins. Well, to be precise the lettering itself is blank, formed from the background of push pins. Why? “The easy way would have been to do the lettering as push pins and leave the wall blank. They chose the hard way. It’s a perfectly executed concept,” said David Kennedy.

This has been my approach to date. Keep on keeping on. Don’t quit. Fail, and fail so hard it knocks the wind out of you. Then, brush it off, remember why you’re doing it, and get back on that horse.

Now, the second approach comes right out of Seth Godin’s “Permission Marketing.”

The traditional method of interrupting someone with an advertising message, be it on TV, a magazine, or an email, is no longer working. Not only are people not interested, they’re increasingly annoyed with the messages bombarding them.

As the world becomes more saturated with marketing and advertising messages, and we are all working harder to balance work and our personal lives, our most precious commodity is time. Breaking into that time with selling messages when these people have expressed no interest in that service or product is annoying to the point of making people angry.

Instead, you want to reach out to individuals that have shown an interest in you, or your product or service. When the prospect has given you this kind of permission, or “in,” they are not annoyed by the messages you send. In fact, they appreciate them.

When I looked at my strategy, I was most definitely in the former camp. I have been bombarding agencies with ads they never asked for, and most likely didn’t want. Email after email, regardless of the fun attachment, was doing what I, as a consumer, find incredibly off-putting.

I have been harassing them.

Sure, it may lead to a few leads eventually, but that’s an awful lot of time and effort that results in far too much ill-will; and it’s being felt by the very people I want to work with.

That’s when I came to my senses.

The Conclusion – To Open More Doors, People Should Want You to Knock 

I had made the classic mistake many advertisers make day in, day out. I was not thinking like my target audience. And you could also say I was way more in love with my product – in this case me – than anyone else. (Well, other than my mum and dad, but they’re much like Seinfeld’s parents in that respect; “who couldn’t love Jerry, I mean look at him!”)

I haven’t laid the groundwork for the conversation. A cold-emailing campaign blasted at dozens of agencies, again, and again, and again, is not going to hold anyone in good stead.

The professionals the agencies want to hear from, or are actively reaching out to, have laid the foundation well.

They have a prior relationship, a body of work that speaks volumes, a reputation that is well-known and admired, and they have networked in the correct way.

They offer advice online through articles and blog posts. Some have won significant awards. Some speak at conferences like TED, HOW, and AIGA. Some have even published books, be it on paper or digitally.

So, to go back to my original question, what’s the correct answer?

Ideally, it’s one.

In this day and age, you shouldn’t expect anyone to open that door for you by knocking on it until your knuckles bleed.

You should be using every possible tool at your disposal to let people know about you through other avenues. Social media. YouTube. Reddit. Free eBooks. Articles on LinkedIn. A blog. A PR stunt. Create a body of work that people want to share.

Get yourself out there so that you’re not only easy to find, but employers are actively looking for someone just like you.

Then, when it comes time to work for a company that truly inspires you, you may not even have to knock. You’ll have already received an invitation to come in and talk about your future.