Whenever you’re trying to get a meeting with someone (busy and important) for the first time, it’s common knowledge that you should get a warm introduction to that person instead of contacting them “cold”.  This usually involves the painstaking process of getting a mutual contact to introduce you through an email or LinkedIn.

However, on my recent trip to Toronto, I was able to arrange four meetings with important, busy people that I can only attribute to Twitter.

Although I had never communicated with any of these individuals on Twitter, I began by simply sending them a public tweet.  Here is what I wrote along with my rationale in brackets:

@EvanCarmichael Hi Evan, (got to have their name) I’m in T.O. for 10 days (create a sense of urgency) – could we meet up next week for coffee? (let them know what you’re asking for) I’m a Top 20 Under 20 and run @ImpactOrg. (build your credibility) Thanks! (be polite)

Voila – a 140 character warm introduction that is friendly, credible, and most importantly, short and to the point!

After I sent out the tweet, in each case, they quickly replied through a public reply or a direct message with their email address.  After one or two emails back and forth, the meeting was arranged. Here is my rationale for why this worked so well:

1) Email introductions can be long and wordy, while a Twitter reply is only 140 characters.
2) If you can make your Tweet memorable, it will be hard for someone not to reply to you.
3) Twitter reeks of credibility. The number of followers you have and what your bio says is a great way for someone to quickly evaluate your importance and decide if you are worth meeting with.

I’m going to be using this tactic a lot in the future to get more meetings with cool people.  Has anyone else experienced the same success? Is Twitter really a new way to create a warm introduction for yourself?

Oh, and thanks to @terrymslobodian, @aprildunford, @EvanCarmichael, @startupcfo for meeting with me in Toronto!