Justin Beard is CEO and founder of SnapYeti, a photo contest platform and marketplace. SnapYeti is based at HQ Raleigh.

Fellow Startups,

I wanted to share something with you that has been working for me. Over the past year, I have been making connections with potential investors, advisors, mentors and people who can connect me with people I need to connect with. I am sure you all have been doing the same.

When GROUNDFLOOR launched, Brian Dally sent out a great email to his network about the company, where it was heading and how his network could help. At the GROUNDFLOOR launch party, I was chatting with CED’s Jay Bigelow and I brought it up. He had received the same email. He said something that stuck with me… “That was a veteran move.”

I decided I would create a monthly update for my network. I stumbled along the first few months, but now I think I have a winning template that has been getting me a ton of support.

Regardless of how large your network is or how far along you are with your startup, I think this could help you leverage your startup network by:

– Keeping them ‘connected’

– Giving them small ways they can support you each month

– Creating a monthly game plan and getting your network to hold you accountable

Here is the template:

Subject Line: SnapYeti Update (Keep it simple)

Hello friends,
Here is a quick SnapYeti update:

Previous Month Recap:
– Tell them about 3-5 great things that happened the previous month
– Make them brief bullet points
– Keep it to one line if you can
– because they are coming from mobile

Lessons Learned
– This is a very important section.
– If you don’t learn a few things each month…you aren’t doing something right
– Tell them in a short sentence what happened and how you learned from that
– This section gives you credibility and its just a veteran move

This Month’s Focus
– Tell them 3-5 things you want to accomplish this month
– Tell them what your focusing on (new market, more business, finding an intern… whatever)
– The next month they can see you knocked them out of the park in the recap section
– This section shows you are focused and on a mission. It’s a veteran move.

How You Can Help SnapYeti This Month
Intros Needed:
– Tell them 3-4 things they can do to help you accomplish your monthly focus bullets
– Keep it brief and something they can easily do within 5 minutes of reading the email
– You will mainly be asking for connections for various people or resources
– Always end the last bullet with a big heart felt THANK YOU.

Best,
Justin Beard
Founder/CEO
www.snapyeti.com
Justin@snapyeti.com

I hope this helps! Make it clean, short and to the point!