Cold Outreach Can Work
I recently sent out 15 cold outreach emails for a productized service that I’m putting together. Recipients were colleagues of mine who I haven’t talked to in a decade or so. The messages were quite short and each was personalized specifically for the recipient.
Email Template
Here’s the template I used for the initial email:
Hi [HIS/HER FIRST NAME],
Long time no talk! I hope all’s well with you and that [HIS/HER COMPANY] is going strong :)
Hey... I noticed that most of the pages on the [HIS/HER COMPANY] site are failing Google’s new mobile friendliness test. They announced that they’re starting to penalize sites for this, so you guys should fix it as soon as you can if search traffic is important to your business.
I know you probably have the chops to do this yourself, but “cobbler’s kids” and all... Would you be interested in having me take care of it for you? If so, just send back a ‘Yes!’ and we can set up a quick 20 minute call.
Cheers!
Jonathan
Results
- 12 people replied to the message
- 6 were interested and engaged in extended email conversations
- 1 said no based on my prices
- 3 asked me to follow up in a month because the timing was bad
- 1 scheduled a phone call
I had the scheduled phone call today (about 6 weeks after the initial email) and sold a $5k responsive site design roadmap. Once the roadmap is done, I’ll quote the build which will likely be in the range of $30k-$70k.
NOTE: I had not intended to sell a roadmap. It’s closely related to the subject of my original message, but is a much higher price point than the fix I was offering. IOW - I was looking to sell a bandaid and the prospect bought reconstructive surgery.
Time Investment
It took me about an hour to personalize and send the initial 15 messages. I didn’t track it, but I probably spent another 2 hours engaging in follow-up email conversations. The phone call took an hour. Total time invested was about 4 hours.
Key Takeaway
Cold emails can be very effective. If I did this once a month, I’d probably end up with a waiting list for a service that doesn’t even have a web page! And if this example is any indication, I’d potentially generate additional business in adjacent (and higher priced) areas.