New bloggers that did not start out 10 years ago now face a harsh reality, building up a website and a solid brand from the ground up is harder than bending a spoon without touching it (ie. almost impossible).

Some of us that dare to tread that path amidst the odds, including me, need to look for different ways to create that brand and build genuine relationships. Part of that includes reaching out to new sites and collaborating on a piece of content, also called cold email outreach.

By chance, I stumbled across Bonjoro.com, which I had the intention of pitching my cold outreach to in the usual fashion, expecting the usual cold email outreach response rate of a slim 10%. 

Mind you, this rate comes from a highly personalized and manual outreach attempt, so no bulk emails here.

But as I researched what Bonjoro was all about, I decided to try something different, which changed the game entirely!

How to instantly build massive trust and skyrocket response rates

As I stated in the intro, my own response rates are usually around 10%, sometimes higher, and sometimes lower, which is entirely understandable. 

How often do you yourself interact with random emails from strangers, and what usually comes to mind?

• What is this spam, let me delete this as fast as possible.

• Who is this random stranger and why do they email me lol, delete.

• Oh, I didn’t even see this email, I receive hundreds each week, bulk delete!

• Seriously, stop cluttering my inbox.

• Is this legit or is someone trying to scam me? Better delete and be safe than sorry.

We literally have just a few seconds to build massive trust with someone or be consigned to the dustbin of cold outreach, along with everyone else.

This is why, when I learned more about Bonjoro, I immediately saw a massive opportunity, and decided to try it myself. The basic idea behind Bonjoro is this:

• Send a highly personalized video through email.

• Get the attention of the receiver and get the chance to make a first impression.

• Immediately build massive trust and authority by connecting human to human.

The chances of someone responding, even if they are not interested, are massively elevated due to a simple thing called reciprocity. If someone took the time of their day to record a personalized video to make an impression, you feel much more obliged to reply, or you'll feel guilty!

Source: Wyzowl

In fact, according to an article by Inc.com, trust is the biggest factor for driving conversions in digital marketing, and what better way to convey trust than showing up on a personalized video!

The cold video outreach attempt that landed this very article!

Now, reaching out to Bonjoro without using their own service to make the pitch would have been weird right? When you're pitching a tool built on personalization, at least make it personal - it's a no-brainer, right?

Well, crazy as it seems, according to the CMO of Bonjoro I was the very first blogger to actually pitch him with a personalized video in the 5 years since they launched, and this was his response:

I was blown away by this and it literally made my day, as it did for him! This is the beauty of personalized approaches - they can build real relationships, which would be impossible to replicate with regular cold email outreach.

With video, not only do you receive a face, a voice, and a name, but you also get to connect with another real human being, which in today’s world is honestly becoming a rarity!

The results you ask? I’ll let the response to the outreach do the talking:

How to do cold video outreach with Bonjoro

Bonjoro makes it extremely easy and intuitive to do your cold video outreach. Simply add your contact’s email address and a name to the task list, which you most likely already have if you’re doing outreach already.

It’s ok for the email part to be a bit generic since the video will do the talking, so unless you need a specific email template (which you can easily set up), simply hit the record button and start talking.

One thing that I would recommend here is to use a good quality microphone when creating content, the camera quality is not as important as the sound of the message but both convey professionalism. Remember it’s all about that first impression.

But of course, this is not required and you can literally just grab your phone and start recording with the Bonjoro app.

Once you’re satisfied with the message, look and feel of your outreach, send it away.

Checking in on the results tab once in a while will let you know if the emails have been delivered, opened, watched, and more. You also get an email (or push notification if you're using the mobile app) from Bonjoro once someone has watched your videos as well.

What I did specifically for my own outreach attempt was to include a CTA button (Call To Action) in the landing page that directs to one of my other live guest posts, which serves as a great reference, all built into the landing page!

Oli told me that this idea blew him away and that it wasn't only my personalized approach that won him over, but the fact he could see the quality of my writing in just a few seconds using the CTA link!

How to overcome camera shyness and the devil on your shoulder

For some, the thought of hopping on camera, recording a video, and sending it off to complete strangers on the internet seems way too scary, and I get it.

What’s happening here is that your own doubts and fears kick in, which essentially is your mind playing tricks on you:

• OMG I can’t be on camera, I look like a zombie today

• I hate my voice and how it sounds

• What if I make a mistake?

• I don’t even have a professional setup at home

• What if they don’t like me?

• What will they think of me?

If you can relate and struggle with any of the scenarios, let me fix this by a very simple yet powerful quote:

“No...one...cares”

Yes no one cares, this is not something harsh or to put anyone down, not at all. This is simply the reality that we operate in, just think about it.

How many times a day do you think about someone else, let alone a complete stranger in your inbox?

You might have a thought about it, until something else comes your way, like what you're going to eat for dinner, that Instagram notification, or what your spouse said yesterday.

People are literally too busy doing themselves that they simply don’t think or care about your outreach attempt, it’s not that big of a deal.

It’s all in your mindset, and once you recognize that you’ll crank out videos like it’s nothing.

What’s the worst-case scenario? You won’t hear anything, and that’s it.

And the best case? They’ll be delighted, like Oli was, and come back to you with a warm and human response!

Video is the next natural progression to the cold outreach game

Even though results may vary when it comes to reaching out to websites and people, one thing that surely will help you stand out from the crowd is a highly personalized video outreach in a sea of emails.

At least you’ll make a genuine first impression, and each time you hit that record button and send it away, you’ll create an opportunity for wonderful things to happen to your business.

And best of all, and I never thought I’d say this, but cold outreach can even become… fun!

About the author

Chris Starkhagen is an engineer turned entrepreneur, bringing tech expertise to digital marketing. On ChrisStarkhagen.com he writes about the best tools for content creation, tech, and raw marketing advice that works.