2-1-1: On Optimization, Twitter Cold DM and Personal Brand in Blogging
And How to Write Powerful Cold Email As a Software Engineer
Welcome to 2023! Hope all of you had a wonderful start to the year.
In this edition, I talk about Optimization, Cold DM and What is personal branding in Blogging.
You can ask any question whatever you have in your mind, I will try my level best to mentor you.
If you like the content, please encourage your friends, family and colleagues to sign up here for 2-1-1
Let's get started :)
Optimize your career, not your salary!
Here’s a prioritised checklist to assess potential companies:
- Are you truly interested in your employer’s domain?
- Do you have a friendly and active mentor?
- Can you learn and do something new every quarter?
- Can you choose your tools?
- Do your bosses understand how your work is affecting the company?
If you check yes on four out of five bullets in your current workplace, I would say you are in a good environment that facilitates your growth.
After all, that is the most important quality in an employer.
Going for a substantially higher salary elsewhere quite often risks your further development as a professional (i.e. your value as an employee decreases).
Worst case scenario, you end up frustrated and hating what you are doing.
For your first 4-5 years, it’s much more important to develop your skills and seriously enjoy what you do than to aim for a fat wallet.
This will pay off with a fantastic interest in years to come.
Twitter Cold DM
A Cold DM on Twitter is a great tool to help you find a new job, apply for interesting programs and projects, appear on someone else’s podcast or show or invite them to be a guest on yours, ask questions, express gratitude for peoples’ work, share interesting findings, or even asking a discount on their products.
For e.g: When I was looking for writing contracts; I had set a goal to write for startups who are building interesting products for developers why; because by doing so I get a chance to work on new interesting products and build a writing portfolio and as a second order effect I get paid as well. So it’s a win-win for everyone!
Writing a cold DM on Twitter is a straightforward process.
It can take as little as 2-3 minutes, though I’ve spent hours on some.
Why because; I can’t guarantee success but my methods can help you avoid pitfalls.
Cold DM is a practice, not just an action.
Hot Tip: Behind everything that exists online, there is a person and you can contact that person and ask for what you want and tell them how you’re unique and help them.
Break down this cold DM art into simple steps.
1. Keep it short
2- Offer a solution
3- Establish credibility
4- Write compelling copy
5- Close with an action
Read my in-depth blog post here: How to Write Powerful Cold Email As a Software Engineer
Many people asked me what is the best time to send a cold email or cold DM to busy and interesting people on Twitter.
My simple advice: “The best time to send a cold DM is right now.”
Closing Tip
If your cold DMs have been falling flat, it might be time to shake things up.
Instead of sticking to the traditional approach, try thinking outside the box. Maybe consider using a different medium like video instead of a text message.
Don't be afraid to experiment and try new things – the worst that can happen is that you don't get a response, and you'll have learned something valuable in the process.
A Simple But Most Important Thing When You’re sending a Cold DM.
Never disrespect the person even though you didn’t get the reply because they don’t have any obligation to respond.
Small- Wins
1. My book “Getting Started in Technical Writing” has passed $1K in pre-order sales!
2. My writing is now making $2,500/month in revenue.
And if you like today’s newsletter; you’ll love the book. You can still pre-order.
Personal Brand in Blogging
When people reference each other in public, they can't possibly tell you everything about others. Instead, they tell you about their brand.
Your personal brand doesn't only impact others. If you're aware of your brand, it likely impacts how you act as well! Even more, your personal branding impacts how you talk about yourself to others.
Early in my writing days; I wasn’t aware of anything; I was just another developer.
But it did three things.
I told people in my team that I was good at writing, by offering to help, and suggesting this was my thing. This helped build my brand as a writer.
It reinforced in my mind that I was a writer. It encouraged me to volunteer for future writing and documentation and believe that I was a writer.
It gave me valuable experience in writing, which began to turn my assumption true (regardless of the initial truth).
The simplest strengths in life and career come from repetition. In a particular area, you might learn faster than others, but you learn through repetition.
QUOTES TO SHARE
Buying tutorials makes you poorer.
Watching tutorials makes you break even.
Applying tutorials makes you richer.
(Share this on Twitter)
That's it for today, the more I know about what you read & want, the easier I can help you do that. If you enjoyed this, please hit a reply if:
you care about a topic you'd like to see covered.
you just want to say hello 👋
Where to get more. if you want to get helpful tips that sharpen your mind & help you perform better then you can follow me on Twitter & LinkedIn.
At Last, You won't be getting these emails unless the list is warm enough.
This means Google, Yahoo, and other email providers want to make sure we are friends… But how do we do that?
Add me to your contacts (most email providers let you do so by hovering over my photo/email)
If this is in your spam folder, report it as "not spam"
If it's in your promotions tab on Gmail, move it to your main inbox
Lastly, please reply to this email with whatever you want. In fact, tell me what’s your biggest obstacle in software development and Blogging as a developer and I’ll be happy to reply back with advice.
Until next time,
Stay awesome,
Cheers!
- Ankur Tyagi
Your Mentor, Coach.