Learn ‘The Way of the Networking Ninja’
Effortlessly connect with A-listers and “Experts” to seek much-needed advice, set up meetings, schedule shadowing opportunities, and even land your dream job!
*Without sounding desperate or bothering people. đ
*The live workshop full bundle is now available as a self-guided course with BONUS course materials.
Learn ‘The Way of the Networking Ninja’
Effortlessly connect with A-listers and “Experts” to seek much-needed advice, set up meetings, schedule shadowing opportunities, and even land your dream job!
*Without sounding desperate or bothering people. đ
*The live workshop full bundle is now available as a self-guided course with BONUS course materials.
VISIT OUR SUPPORTERS:
“I used the VSA strategy from your workshop to reach out to a contact, and it was so effective! He responded with an offer to schedule a Zoom call! On that call he volunteered to watch my film, introduce me to some high-level folks I’ve had on my vision board for a year, and even nominate me for an award! It feels like a real, burgeoning relationship. I love this framework as a way to demonstrate genuine appreciation for someone’s work while building a bridge to authentically connect!”
Emily Branham, Documentary Director
A single, well-written cold outreach message can change your entire career
Itâs absolutely true that:
Building your dream career is all about âWho you know.â
Thankfully learning how to network is a skill no different than learning any other
craft. So if itâs all about âwho you know,â then…
Itâs time to get to know people.
Hereâs the good news:
You donât need to go to endless (and pointless) networking events
You donât have to waste hours per day on Facebook groups
You donât have to randomly apply to 50 jobs online
You can learn to authentically connect with the right people
who can open doors in your career you never imagined!*
*And you can do it all from your laptopâŠin your pajamas.
Hey Zack, thank you so much for all your help with my outreach email to the “directing duo.” After editing it with your suggestions, I sent the email and got a response 2 days later!
Chloe Lipman, DP & Director
“I got a gig editing a low budget indie feature from an 85% cold outreach email I sent out last Friday! Thank you to everyone in the Optimizer community for all the help, feedback, and support.” đ
Chris Patterson, Feature Film Editor
“I just got of the phone with a person I reached out to via email just last week! We’ll be keeping in touch for sure. I love this class man, I know it’s saved me from screwing myself over with bad outreach.”
Jonathan Hodges, Editor & AE
Each of these students was convinced networking via cold outreach couldnât possibly work for them (because theyâre too introverted, they hate bothering people, theyâre not good at selling, blah blah blah).
These techniques work for anyone (willing to do their homework) who wants to build genuine relationships with the right people.
Even if you donât have any industry experience.
Even if youâre not already working (or living) in Hollywood.
Even if you DONâT want to work in Hollywood at all.
(These methods work in any industry!)
ALL YOU NEED IS A SIMPLE-TO-FOLLOW SYSTEM THAT GETS RESULTS.
IntroducingâŠ
âThe Way of the Networking Ninjaâ
A Product Bundle that includes:
THE NETWORKING NINJA âšWORKSHOP
BUILD YOUR âšNETWORK âšMASTERCLASS
DEEP-DIVE âšCASE STUDY
This package includes three of my most popular, successful, and most importantly immediately-actionable products for building a world-class network using cold outreach
All bundled together for one low price.
HERE’S WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE FULL BUNDLE:
Workshop: The Way Of The Networking Ninja
Now available as a self-study course!
In this self-guided online course (recorded from a live workshop), youâll learn how to get the most out of my favorite networking strategy – cold outreach – in less than 3 hours. (It usually takes me 8 weeks or more to cover all this stuff with my advanced coaching studentsâŠyouâll learn the essential steps in a single afternoon.)
Weâll go step-by-step so by the end of the course you have a first draft of an amazing cold outreach message youâre excited to send!
In this workshop youâll learn how to:
Overcome the #1 mindset barrier that keeps 99% of people from sending cold outreach
Stop wasting time with the shotgun approach (i.e. randomly sending your resume around town when you need work) and instead be absolutely surgical about who you connect with based on your career goals
Provide value in such a way you no longer sound âdesperateâ and can instead start a genuine relationship (as opposed to completing a transaction)
Connect with complete strangers in such a way they are absolutely DELIGHTED you reached out (no matter how much further they might be in their career than yours)
Use my âVSA Formulaâ to make it super easy for anyone to understand how they can help you (which makes it more likely theyâll respond to your message)
âVirtually Build Your Network with IMDb Proâ Masterclass
Youâve probably used IMDb before, but I bet youâve never used it the way I teach it to rapidly build your network. (PsstâŠthe same strategies work for LinkedIn if thatâs your jam.) In this bonus 3-hour masterclass, I share my âTornado Techniqueâ for strategically identifying leads and surrounding yourself with the RIGHT people in your target industry byâŠ
Helping you identify your dream projects & dream collaboratorsâŠand then building the âconcentric circleâ around that network
Coming up with a list of dozens (or even hundreds) of potential contacts who are doing now what you want to be doing next
Prioritizing who to actually reach out to first (Hint: You donât have to contact EVERYONE!)
No matter what job role or industry youâre in, taking the actions taught in this Masterclass ensures youâll never run out of people to connect withâŠand youâll never have to wonder âWho do I talk to?â ever again.
BONUS: This Masterclass even comes with this BADASS (my studentsâ words, not mine) Google Sheet Template to track it all.
Donât worryâŠitâs a lot easier to use than it looks. Iâll show you every simple step.
Deep Dive Student Case Study: From Corporate to Hollywood
With a Single Cold Email
Boy, do I have an amazing case study to share with you. One of my students Marian originally came to me with NO CLUE how to connect with the right people in the entertainment industry…yet it only took her 12 weeks to go from being totally clueless about what to do next (and who to reach out to) to landing her dream job at one of Hollywood’s top Visual Effects studios in the world.
With NO prior experience in the entertainment industry!*
*As if thatâs not enough, she was working in the corporate worldâŠin the Midwest.Â
For the first time ever, Marian has decided to share every single juicy detail (and walk you through step-by-step) how she used cold outreach to land the meeting that landed her the (two) interviews that led to her dream job.
In this case study youâll learn how Marian:
Went from blindly sending hundreds of applications to recruiters to finding the single most important person on the planet to help her achieve her goals
Drafted a single outreach message that led to a free 3-hr Zoom call (3 hours!!!)…without even asking for it.
Ultimately went from that Zoom call to two job interviews (one with the head of the studio for her dream job) and then being offered her dream gig AS THE ONLY APPLICANT.
Marian literally talked the head of a major studio into opening a position just for herâŠand they gave it to her. Marian has officially graduated to âNetworking Ninjaâ status.
“I’m not crying, you’re crying. đ Thank you so much Zack, I would not be here at all if it weren’t for you and this program and the Optimizer community! You are a treasure to this industry.This has been a life-changing experience!”
Marian Shammas, Junior VFX Coordinator (Crafty Apes)
LEARN âTHE WAY OF THE NETWORKING NINJAâ
Typically students pay me $2,000 (or more) to work with me privately or in small groups for 8-12 weeks to learn this entire system. But Iâve distilled the most important ideas & strategies into this single 3-hr workshop so you can take action and get immediate resultsâŠat a fraction of the price.
WORKSHOP
The workshop package includes the following:
Lifetime Access to the workshop recording
(edited into a self-guided learning course*)
BONUS: Lifetime Access to The IMDbPro Networking Masterclass
(includes the Google Sheet networking template)
BONUS: Lifetime Access to the Student Case Study Which contains 3+ hours of interviews and live coaching sessions about the following topics:
- Outreach email makeovers
- Résumé before & after teardown
- Prepping for a Zoom meeting
- Prepping for a job interview
FULL PRODUCT BUNDLE
The full product bundle includes the following:
Lifetime Access to the workshop recording
(edited into a self-guided learning course*)
BONUS: Lifetime Access to The IMDbPro Networking Masterclass
(includes the Google Sheet networking template)
BONUS: Lifetime Access to the Student Case Study Which contains 3+ hours of interviews and live coaching sessions about the following topics:
- Outreach email makeovers
- Résumé before & after teardown
- Prepping for a Zoom meeting
- Prepping for a job interview
Not convinced this is the right fit for you, or you have
questions about how this online workshop works?
Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!
“I received a response to my outreach email! The recipient said the email made her ‘tear up.’ What a great way to start the week. Plus the ‘Andy DuFresne Technique’ helped me land an upcoming coffee hangout with an editor I’ve been trying to do this with for over 3 YEARS.”
Matt Allen, Feature Film Editor & AE
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
You deserve to absolutely love what you do for a living, but not at the expense of your health, your relationships, or your sanity. Building a fulfilling creative career (that includes a life outside of your job) is not easy, and you’re not going to do it alone. Consider me your career sensei. Welcome to my dojo.
My name is Zack Arnold, and Iâm a podcaster, a writer, a father of 2, an American Ninja Warrior, and as your career sensei, consider me part coach, part therapist, and part ass-kicker. In a nutshell Iâm Tim Ferriss meets Ted Lasso (minus the mustache). Iâm both obsessed with learning everything I can about optimizing human potential as well as inspiring you to believe you can realize yours. Because you are destined for more. As a recently retired Hollywood film & television editor of 20+ years (notable credits include Cobra Kai, Glee, Empire, and Burn Notice), I specialize in helping creative professionals transform their careers and build the more fulfilling lives they deserve.
Where a traditional “career coach” will just help you focus on improving WHAT you do for a living, Iâm also here to help you optimize HOW you do what you doâŠand most importantly clarify your âWHY.â Because if you arenât working in the most effective manner possible – and even more importantly if you arenât clear on why you really get out of bed every morning – I can all but guarantee youâre on the road to burnout.
âEveryone deserves to love what they do for a living…but not at the expense of their health, their relationships, or their sanity.â
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Not sure if this workshop is the right fit for you?
See below for the most frequently asked questions.
This workshop was held LIVE on Zoom Saturday September 10th, 2022. The first two hours were the formal workshop, and I built in a full hour for both individual “Hot Seats” as well as additional Q&A. It is now available as a self-guided course you can complete in just a few hours (with hours of bonus materials for when you’re ready to dive deeper).
Immediately after purchase, you’ll have LIFETIME ACCESS to The Way of the Networking Ninja workshop online course, the IMDbPro Masterclass, and the Student Case Study with Marian.
I could write a book about all the things people do wrong in their cold outreach (waitâŠI already did that). In this workshop Iâll highlight the key areas where most people go wrong and provide simple strategies to drastically improve your cold outreach in a matter of hours to get you real results. Ask any of the hundreds of students who have used my programâŠnot only do these emails work, people are excited to receive them! (and they have a very high response rate)
Yes! Just because I used to be a film & tv editor by trade doesn’t mean what I teach is only for editors. These networking & relationship-building skills work across all crafts and industries. People are people, and networking is networking. The same applies to geography, there are no special skills I teach that only work in Hollywood. What you learn in this workshop has been used successfully by my students across six different continents.
Although I happen to work in the entertainment industry (and most of my students also work in entertainment), these strategies have NOTHING to do with Hollywood. This system teaches you how to provide value to ANYONE who is doing now what you want to be doing next so you can authentically connect with them, build a genuine relationship, and potentially land a mentor or even be referred for your dream job. People are people, relationships are relationships.
These strategies work for anyone in any industry.
Iâve heard fifty different times how ânetworking is different hereâ whether you work in Israel, South Africa, Ireland, Denmark, or [fill in the blank].
People are people, relationships are relationships. Iâve seen these strategies work for students on six different continents. However – full disclaimer – Iâve yet to help a student build genuine connections in Antarctica. Still working on cracking that codeâŠ
Because this is a live event I cannot grant refunds no-questions-asked. However, if after the workshop you can demonstrate that youâve followed the systems I teach yet youâre not getting any results (and youâve made an attempt to follow up using the methods I teach), I will grant refunds on a case-by-case basis within the first 30 days of registration.
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