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In cold approach emails, don't put the onus on the receiver, but frontload your value (email example)
Look at this example of cold reach out:
The problem with this approach is that she does not give me any information to make a first assessment.
She puts the onus of doing the work on the receiver -me-.
Based on her email, it's me who should take the time to do all the background information gathering work, such as:
- What's your expertise
- What you want to write about
- Can I see something you've written already
- Are you ready to go through a few iterations of reviews to make that post top-notch?
But since most people writing do not have great expertise, chances are that if I wrote that email, I will only be wasting time.
And that's why, when you put the onus of work on the receiver, you are less likely to get an answer -and more likely to come across as a lazy F-.
Finally, from a power dynamics perspective, it's the wrong approach towards this type of interaction.
She approaches me as if she had the power: the power of making me do the work for her.
But cold approaches are pure transaction-based interactions. Without any interpersonal goodwill yet, the power in cold-approaches is based on the value people bring to the table.
And what happens if you don't show any value?
Well, if you're not showing value, then you're showing entitled mentality: the entitlement of believing you are owed an answer without even proving you can bring something to the table.
How She Should Have Phrased It
Alright, done with what was wrong with that.
How could she have done it better?
Consider the following:
Hi Lucio,
I recently discovered ThePowerMoves.com and man, what a great website! I love your work! (standard shit, but you never go wrong with that).
You have already written on topic X (balance the "you" and "I", make sure you start some sentences with "you" so it doesn't seem like a "me, me, me fest"), and done so very well, for example your article X, Y (shows she has taken some time to assess the publication, and she doens't seek random writing opportunities)
As a psychologist/attorney/sociologist/whatever, I have 20 years of in-field experience on X, and my latest research has expanded on Z, Y.Do you think that could add value to your readers (pitch as adding value to the readers first, or, a distant second, to me. Don't make it about money right away: the best websites seek quality, not a few dollars) ?
Let me know if you think so (puts the power back on me, so it doesn't feel like pushing stuff on my plate) as I would love to share my expertise with your audience.
I look forward to hearing from you!Best Regards,
V
By the way, sending an email like this takes pretty much the same time it takes you to send a poor, generic one.
You can build the template and then just change the details.
But the ROI on this type of email is 10x greater. Possibly more.
Another person that I follow, Ramit Sethi, also espouses this. When you want something from someone, "Don't make the busy person do all the work".
Even if the power dynamics were flipped (someone with more power that wants something from me), I find it in particular bad taste when they very obviously order me to do something. I also find that most people in power who exploit it as much as possible (ordering people around, abusing position of power), are usually the least powerful of the powerful (low level managers or supervisors).
An example of this occurred in my Instagram DM recently:
I always like it when people reach out because it shows a level of proactiveness in going after what one wants (which is part of why I write my books, it's in the hope that people will actually take action on them).
However, I also always prefer it when people reach out following the social exchange (as Lucio said above):
- What's your expertise
- What would you want to write about
- Can I see something you've written already
Even in checking out the profile of this person, there are only nine random photos (and by random, I mean, for example, a photo of him in a barbershop chair with a new haircut) and a bio that says, "King 👑" and nothing else.
LOL, that last jump... Spectacular :D.
He was doing everything great, and then... BANG!
Just like a guy who introduces himself to a girl, makes a good first impression, smiles... And then in his third sentence he blurts "can we f*ck?" :D
Reading now Content-Based Networking by James Carbary and in his chapter, "Master the Art of Cold Emails," he says this:
Carbary: "Another critical element with outreach emails is to write like you talk. Far too often we try to sound overly professional in our writing. But here’s the thing: you’re not drafting the Declaration of Independence. You’re a human being living in the twenty-first century. Forget the flowery language and get right to the point—and again, always err on the side of brevity.
I like to use the “buddy across the table” test. This helps ensure I’m actually remembering to write like I talk. I read through my email and ask [myself] if that’s how I’d talk to my friend sitting across the table from me at lunch. Try it.
...To prove you’re not a scam, you can simply place links to your social profiles in your email signature.
Here's an example cold email he shares. This is the email before:
Dear Jim,
I host a well-known, celebrated, and award-winning podcast that gets 160,000 downloads a month, which we’re very proud of. We’ve even had the privilege and honor of interviewing Gary Vaynerchuk and Simon Sinek. I thought this may pique your interest in the show, since you’re a subject-matter expert in your field. Would you be interested in joining me?
[Email Signature]
And this is the revised email after:
Hey Jim,
I saw the article you wrote on LinkedIn about additive manufacturing a few weeks ago. Would love to have you share some insights from that article on our podcast. Up for it?
[Email Signature]
I actually like the "before" email better.
It gives me more information to know if the podcast is worth my time, rather than me having to dig for information by checking out all the social media links.
Carbary says that withholding all that information is what makes the reach-out effective because it piques their interest (and your initial goal is only to get them to respond).
But, honestly, I'm not even sure an email like that would make it past my spam filters into my inbox.
And while that "before" email is far from perfect, I'd still consider it more of a WIIFT win.
Happy to read any thoughts and feedback.
