Find an audience of least resistance. You know who the influencers are in your industry. You know that they start the trends. Those who follow them will be more receptive to your message. Similarly while you look for a link from a top Blogger or mainstream Media Outlet, you’ll have improved chances of success if your link is something that they have a history of linking to.

All you have to do is pay attention to the blogs written in your industry. Let’s say you provide a web-related service and you want me to link to you from my blog. What could you do? Well, you’ll notice that my most Popular blogs are my ad reviews and I often call for ad submissions. You could send me an ad to Review (which I probably would). Then I’d post the review on my blog with a link to your site.

Advertising techniques are a popular subject on my blog. Crafting Catchy Titles is one of my most popular posts. You could consider Sending me a proposal to guestblog on my blog. If you are a sign company or billboard marketer this would be a great venue for you. You could also suggest I link to a similar Article on your site.

In my article on using influencers to increase sales I make suggestions such as sending over a free product for them to test and review or buying them dinner. (Food always wins people over. And I almost never say no to lunch or coffee. –Hint-Hint-)

Want to get a link from my website or blog? Work on building a relationship first. Follow me (or whoever is your influencer) on Twitter. Bonus points for saying nice things and tagging me. Link to my site. Chances are, I’ll notice it. (I do check my Alexa links regularly. And I get Twitter notifications right on my smartphone.) Although this in itself is not a guarantee of link back, it’s a start.

A link is like a gesture most people are inclined to reciprocate where realistic and appropriate (sorry porn and gaming sites need not apply.) 

So you’ve got something linkworthy, you’ve started conversing with your top blogger or media outlet, and you’ve sweetened the deal. Perhaps they’ve seen your blog post and link on their WordPress dashboard, maybe you’ve tweeted. Now’s the hard part. Ask. What are you waiting for? The worst you could get is a no.

Send your blogger target an email. Make it something they want to read. Tony from ATailoredSuit.com suggested sending a private video directly to them. Mention that you liked their article on (your topic) on (the date it was published). Tell them you think they’ll like this link. If possible, also communicate the link on Twitter. Look for them to be active on the network and send them an @ reply. Tell them you just sent an email they might be interested in.

Have you had success in getting a powerful link? We’d love to hear it. Please share in the comments below.