6 steps to winning clients with cold emails
This is a post from a member of the Freelancers Union community. If you’re interested in sharing your expertise, your story, or some advice you think will help a fellow freelancer out, feel free to send your blog post to us here.
Email makes it possible to reach just about anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
As freelancers, this gives us the opportunity to reach out to a potential client with the right message, at exactly the right time. However, if you’re not doing something to stand out in a crowded inbox, your email will likely go unopened. In 2014, around 196.3 billion emails were sent and received every single day. That staggering number is set to explode further to 236.5 billion daily emails by 2019.
Email can be a powerful tool for building new relationships and landing new clients, but you need to learn how to capture their attention right off the bat.
With my own freelance business, I’ve consistently used very strategically crafted, cold emails to win new clients. This is of particular importance when you’re just getting started with your freelance business, or you’re actively seeking to bring on new clients.
In order to master the art of making great first impressions over email, it requires a deep understanding of how people interact with their inboxes, and what’s going to make them read (and respond) to you, before your competitor. To make things more challenging, you’ve got but a limited amount of time to make that stand-out first impression.
On average, it takes a person around 100 milliseconds to form an initial impression of someone. Email recipients take a similar amount of time to process whether your message is worth reading. If your email even remotely looks like spam, or comes off disingenuous, expect it to remain unread forever.
Here are my 6 steps to writing cold emails that make an incredible first impression.
**1. Use a Professional Email Address. **
You want to be taken seriously, right? Use your best judgement in selecting a professional and appropriately named email address, depending upon the type of industry you’re in.
If you use an email address like, “sk8rdude2003@hotmail.com,” I can all but guarantee your email going unread.
Not only will your messages be more likely to filter into the spam or promotions folders, but even if someone does open your message, they’ll very quickly form an opinion of you based on your memorable (for the wrong reasons) email alias.
I highly recommend using Gmail or your own domain-branded email address, and be sure you’ve set up your name and a professional headshot within your settings.
Setting a professional signature with your name, phone number, email address, and optimized portfolio site URL is also highly encouraged - that way your potential client can easily browse your works and decide if you’ll be a good fit for the job.
**2. Use Creative and Relevant Subject Lines. **
I can’t stress the importance of this rule, enough.
Aside from looking at the sender’s name and email address, your subject line serves as the largest determining factor to whether or not your email will be opened. Great subject lines are both enticing and genuine, while bad ones may be misconstrued as spam.
When I’m reaching out to a new potential client, I have a few different subject line templates I use, but my most successful one tends to be very straightforward; “Company Name’s Content Marketing Game Plan.”
This gives the recipient instant relevance as to what my email is regarding, and it establishes that I’ve already put together a plan for them.
Remember, most inboxes receive a high volume of unwanted daily emails, so if your subject line doesn't appeal to your recipient at first glance, then it’ll likely be ignored.
If you want some more subject line inspiration, here’s a list of 171 creative email subject lines on CreativeLive.
Cut down on the number of cold emails you send:
Grow your network by joining Freelancers Union (it's free!)
**3. Make it Personal. **
Before reaching out to a potential client, take some time to really do your homework on them.
Can you learn anything about their personal interests or advantageous details about their business from browsing through their websites and social media accounts?
One of my best long term client relationships started with the subject line, “A Mutual Love for Animals and Content Marketing.”
Because I took the time to research that client, and discovered that they post tons of dog pictures on Instagram (which I loved), I was able to reach out with a much more personal touch.
I also highly recommend using first names in your emails, as calling someone Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So instantly places a professional barrier between the two of you. Nothing shows relevance as much as personal connection.
4. Deliver on Your Expectations.
Having a potential client open your email is one thing, but sustaining their interest and actually delivering on your clever subject line is something entirely different. Be sure that the first sentences and paragraph of your email contain enough relevant details to keep them reading.
A quick mention of how you discovered them, reiteration that you’ve already put together a plan/strategy for them, and statistics or an example of a relevant project you’ve done in the past (include a link), are all imperative to building on your momentum.
**5. Keep it Short and Sweet. **
I never exceed 3 short paragraphs in my cold reach out emails. This goes back to having an understanding of how we all use email.
Most of us have very short attention spans, and clients often want to skip straight to the point when it comes to hiring on much needed help. Keeping your emails short and impactful will help you avoid overwhelming a potential client with content.
Structure your email for ease of readability using paragraphs no longer than 3-4 lines, clear sections, and bullet points. Avoid long sentences as much as possible, trimming your draft to the minimum number of words without losing quality and impact.
**6. Establish Trust and Credibility. **
First impressions generally stick. If you can establish trust early on, then you're off to a great start. Your email needs to clearly demonstrate that you’re a subject matter expert or thought leader in the topic you’re convincing them you’re qualified to help out with. Do that without being verbose or trying too hard to look authoritative. Let your previous work (that you already linked to in your email) speak for itself.
At the end of your client reach out emails, always include a call-to-action. What comes next? I always close out my cold emails with something along the lines of, “Please let me know when you have a moment to chat this week,” which shows that I’m ready to get this started right away.
For much more on my personal system for establishing meaningful client relationships, check out my course on Writing a Winning Freelance Proposal.
Ryan Robinson is an entrepreneur and content marketer, teaching people how to launch meaningful self-employed careers at ryrob.com.