Are you keeping your business a secret?

You may think you are doing a great job on social media, networking, and marketing online to grow your business. But you may not be utilizing your very biggest asset… and that is your own personal network.

Most of us have established a network of at least 250 people. It’s important to keep in touch regularly with your network to stay top of mind.

And the best way to do this is with a warm letter.

Below are tips on what to write in a warm letter to send our to your personal network of friends and colleagues.

What Exactly is a Warm Letter?

If you haven’t heard of a warm letter you may be scratching your head wondering what this is.

A warm letter is a letter that you send in the mail to your friends, colleagues and even family members. It’s a letter you send to reconnect with people you know, updating them on what you are doing professionally.

This is especially effective when you are first starting your business too. It’s one of the first things I tell my new entrepreneur mentoring clients to do!

Benefits of Sending A Warm Letter

Reaching out to the people in your network gives you an opportunity to rekindle that relationship, ask for referrals, and help people better understand what you do.

Plus, it provides you with an opportunity to help them by sharing a tip, resource, referral and be a super hero in their world.

What Should You Include in a Warm Letter

When you write this letter, you’ll want to include:

• What you are currently doing now in your business

• A description of who your ideal client is and if they know of anyone like that

• What specific problems you solve and the benefits of working with you

• If you offer any referral rewards when they pass your name to a client who signs up

• That you’d like to get in touch soon to hear what they are up to and how you can help them

• How they can sign up for your newsletter

• Ways they can connect with you on social media

How Many Letters Should You Sent Out?

Before you go printing a thousand letters to mail out to your entire local database, consider how many letters you can realistically follow up with.

You will want to contact each of the individuals to see if they received the letter and set a time to connect via phone, Skype, or in person. So sending 5-10 letters a week is ideal.

Who Should You Send these Letters To?

Sometimes we forget all the wonderful connections we have in our network. One tool to use is FRANK list - Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbours, and Kids. Grab a pen and paper and make a list of people you know from all of these categories.

Think of all the people you know from your church, former jobs, networking events and colleagues. This can include who cuts your hair, your pastor, your real estate agent and so on.

When you list all the vendors you use for your business and personal life you’d be surprised how long the list is.

You can also go through your list of contacts in LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook and reach out with a message to get to know your social connections on a deeper level.

Using a CRM software can help you keep track of the marketing touches you do with people. Hubspot offers a free CRM. Another popular tool is Salesforce.

When Should You Send a Warm Letter

You may be wondering when the best time is to send a warm letter out. Ideal times are when you have something new an exciting to share.

Occasions to send out a warm letter include:

• Launching a new business

• Providing a new product or service

• Launching a new website or re-brand

• Receiving an award or accomplishment you have achieved

• Sharing a fun new personal piece of news (marriage, anniversary, travel, baby, etc)

• And just because... Periodically sent a note to people you haven't spoken to in a while saying "you crossed my mind the other day and I was wondering what you are up to".

Don’t Forget to Follow Up

Sending the warm letters is only half the work. The real power is in the follow-up.

Connect a week later with each of the people you sent letters to. Set up a time to do coffee, tea, or a virtual connect.

It’s important to make people feel special and show you are there to help them too!

Write, Connect, and Grow

Start sending warm letters today and you’ll be surprised at how fast your business grows.

You have a wonderful network of people who know you, think you are amazing, and would love to help you out.