The One Email (With a Typo!) That Got a YouTuber to Reply
Sometimes the best connections happen when you don't even try!
As part of the YouTube-themed training happening now, I wanted to share a quick personal experience that might encourage you to take a small but powerful action: reach out to creators you admire.
Recently, I emailed a YouTuber whose channel I’ve been watching almost daily. Honestly, I didn’t expect to hear back — they have a big audience, and I figured my message would just get buried. But to my surprise, they did respond. And the advice they gave me? Invaluable.
Here’s the funny part: I spent over an hour crafting the "perfect" email, only to end up sending one with a typo in the subject line:
“How do did you get to where you are?”
Cringe, right?
Too often, the focus is heavy on the email content that the subject line doesn't get a proofread. Guilty!
Immediately after hitting send, I fired off a quick follow-up joking about it ("Aye, (name), I'm a Scot (not a Highlander though) — "How do did", is a typo. No need for the snarky remarks bud lol).
- That only worked because I watch his videos and know his sense of humor.
And that was the email that got the conversation started.
In the reply, the fella even mentioned he had no intention of responding — until he read the humorous follow-up.
The lesson?
It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being real.
Sometimes we get caught up in trying to polish every word before we put ourselves out there. But often, it’s the simple, genuine connection that makes the biggest impact. People appreciate authenticity more than perfect grammar.
So if there’s a creator, expert, or influencer you admire — whether they’re on YouTube, in your niche, or elsewhere — don't be afraid to reach out. You never know where one genuine message might lead.
Take action. Be yourself. Mistakes and all.
If you watch YouTube, click on your "Subscriptions" tab, find the one channel you value the most, and ask them for advice. They influenced you — ask them how they did it.
(Not how much they make — keep money out of it.)
Recent Comments
13
Good morning Robert,
Thank you for your wise words, it's appreciated.
I think sometimes we can try far too hard to try and get everything right and overthink things. A good friend of mine was reaching out to companies and didn't receive any answers, apart from one! That one reply changed his and his family's life and got started and made successful!
I've always been told to reach out to people we admire or like, apparently, the results can be quite surprising as you found out.
Wishing you all the best.
Roy
Thanks Roy. Heard of a few successes with 'cold' outreach. The hardest part would be keeping going while not getting responses. Glad it worked out for them.
Thank you for your reply, Robert, it's appreciated.
Yes, I agree with you, it's difficult when you are not getting any positive responses, but I guess we have to just ignore that and keep pushing forward!
Have a fantastic day.
Roy
I like it, Robert. You can't get any more real than that; It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being real. I always use Typos in my text without proofreading it. Thanks, Robert, I'm not alone LOL!!
I didn't mean to deliberately put typos in lol. Just, be real (authentic). Less time polishing, more time resonating.
This is so true, I get a lot of comments on some of my YouTube videos, just because people are trying to "correct" me on something..
Yeah, as a comment reader, I find those comments annoying. Nothing of value to add. Just to make themselves appear smarter, only to come across as dumber lol.
A great message here, "It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being real.". So very true, and actually taking action to reach out in the first place, or do something. Many people refrain from action, because they are worried about being real...when in reality, that is the purest path to opening the doors of opportunity.
That's it. I regret the time I spent polishing the original outreach email. I could likely have done a much better one by being authentic in the first place instead of attempting to meet email etiquette (that's a thing, right?)
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Great message here Robert! People want to interact with other HUMANS and not all the AI created crap we come across on a daily basis absolutely everywhere now!
All the very best moving forward my friend and keep it real!!! :-)
So true. Spotting a.i. created content (inc. emails) has become second nature. A.i. assisted though, much harder to tell apart.
I just check the title, first couple of lines and then it's absolutely clear if it's AI written....
Then leave the page immediately!! :-)