How NOT to solicit investors

Every successful entrepreneur knows that there are certain ways to reach out to investors and there are other ways that a successful entrepreneur would never solicit them. When it comes to raising capital, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, here are a couple of things that you should never do:

Mass Emails--A Big No No!

Never send out mass emails with an executive summary or your entire 30 page business plan attached. This is incredibly irritating to potential investors. You not very likely to land funding with this method because it shows investors that you haven't done your homework on their particular firm or that you don't have the courtesy to take a couple of minutes to write a personalized email to them.

Hype

If you start by saying "it's the deal of a lifetime", you might as well save the investor the trouble and delete your own message before you even send it. We see this all the time at Invstor.com and we know first hand that this is a pet peave for most investors. These messages have a multi-level marketing (MLM) feel to them and aren't usually received warmly. If your opportunity is truly the "deal of a lifetime", then you won't have to use hyped-up language to promote it. The opportunity will sell itself. Many entrepreneurs try to oversell their idea with this headlines, when in fact, these messages tend to immediately turn away legitimate investors; who likely will never even read your email or ad.

Trade shows

Going to "trade shows" for investors is probably not the best idea for a couple of reasons. These shows are usually attended by second rate investors that may be less than ideal partners for your business. Legitimate investors tend to receive their deals through trusted referrals (free of charge). They spend their time and money going to trade shows to find funding opportunities. Also, if your business is truly fundable, you shouldn't need to pay money to attend one of these shows. You'll often be able to contact an investor directly and work from there.