I made a concentrated effort to get better calling people when I had to interview a Broadway star appearing in The Color Purple. I stammered so much explaining why I was calling her that she asked me what my problem was. Yikes!
So I’m not great on the phone. I can certainly fake being great at it to near perfection where the person never knows, but I prefer the advantage of carefully selecting my words, creating a good flow and cadence and shooting it off. When I get a response to a pitch, I get a good idea of what worked in my email and what didn’t.
Luckily I’ve found cold emailing to be a very effective way of landing freelance work and that cold calling doesn’t do much for me. I do think there are numerous advantages to cold calling. It’s not as common for a freelance writer, designer or anyone else to simply call up a company for a chat. So you’re more likely to have their attention and not get lost in a sea of email.
But in my experience, a cold email is easier to control. I’ve also found that many companies work exclusively email and rarely answer their phones. And as a writer, the person on the other end gets a glimpse of my personality. I try to infuse a little humor or thread of personality in there to show I’m a human.
FIND ANYONE’S EMAIL ADDRESS
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To get started, you need to know who you’re emailing and what their address is. This may sound obvious, but hunting down an editor or manager can take a little sleuthing. It’s also not uncommon for freelancer seekers to get a little lazy on this step and just send an email to the HR or hiring manager because it’s easier.
I admit I have done this once or twice, but only when I exhausted all research on trying to figure out who to contact. Some companies keep their emails and contact info under the vest to ensure prospective customers sign-up for more information through a central database to then be sorted out later.
You could also opt to skip the traditional email and go straight to LinkedIn. See who you’re connected with and either ask for an introduction or sign-up for InMail at a cost. The upside is people are on LinkedIn to connect and network and cold emails are the norm. The other benefit is LinkedIn guarantees InMail delivery. The downside is some smaller companies and individual managers you want to contact may not aggressively use LinkedIn. Your premium InMail could end up being discarded.
If you decide to forgo LinkedIn and want to stick to email, use a Chrome extension like Rapportive or Tout to verify email addresses and other company info. If you don’t want to use apps, you can find email addresses the old school way. Let’s say you want to email Shannon Lambert at Xmagazine.com. Throw these key phrases into Google and use quotations:
1) “Email Xmagazine.com” – See if a naming convention comes up like [email protected]. Then you’ll know how to configure Shannon’s email.
2) “Email [email protected]”
3) “Email [email protected]”
4) “Email [email protected]”
5) “Email [email protected]”
Nine times out of ten, you should be able to find the correct email address by using these search phrases. If you come up with nothing, you send out the email to one address at a time and see what bounces back and what doesn’t.
Let’s move on to what a cold email should look like. Unlike a cold call, you’re simply popping into someone’s inbox unexpectedly. Remember there’s a fine line between spamming someone and cold emailing them. Spamming means you’re blasting out information, usually for sale, to unverified prospects who never gave you permission to email.
A cold email should simply be an inquiry and an introduction. In the world of social media and networking sites like LinkedIn, it’s not that uncommon to pop in someone’s inbox. But you need to do it with some finesse.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT A TERRIBLE COLD EMAIL
Dear Sirs,
I’m contacting you to inquire about upcoming projects at your office. I am a freelance writer with 15 years of experience and make a dynamic impact on my client’s business. I’ve written for hospitals’ communication department, newspapers like The LA Times and marketing firms and my clients all love my work. I give 110% to my work and am reliable with reasonable rates. I’m enclosing my resume and have references available upon request. Please contact me at your convenience.
Sincerely
A. Freelancer
This is just really terrible. You’ve done zero homework, not shown how you can help them or even identified who you’re writing. And I can tell you from both talking with hiring managers and editors (and being an editor myself) that “Dear Sirs” is the kiss of death.
Look at your cold email as a challenge. It’s your job to captivate a potential client, and entice them to respond and consider giving you an assignment in just four or five lines or less. You need to tell them why you’re a good fit for the job and offer a sense of your writing style in the span of a simple paragraph.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT AN EFFECTIVE COLD EMAIL
Dear Shannon,
I just wanted to touch base and introduce myself. I have over 10 years of experience in B2B marketing and grew my company 126% during my tenure as Marketing Director. I’m looking to make the leap into full-time freelance writing (I’m a glutton for deadlines) and noticed your business specifically caters to how B2B can grow and market themselves. I have experience writing company newsletters, marketing materials, ghost blogging and company brochures. Would you have 10 minutes to talk in the next week or two? If you’re free, I’m happy to call at 3pm on Monday or Wednesday. Email is also always fine if you would rather connect online.
Thanks so much for your time! I look forward to hearing from you.
best,
A. Freelancer
You need to give your cold email prospects a reason to want to connect with you. In this example, A. Freelancer is giving the company something juicy to consider with their marketing experience and impact. She also infuses a small bit of a humor with the deadline comment, and offers to call at a specific time. That offer isn’t demanding though, and gives Shannon an out to just email back or talk later. The email is direct, personable and is firm without pushing.
Keep the email to one or two paragraphs, and avoid pontificating about yourself for pages. It’s essential to let a company know you have relevant experience and are qualified, but going on and on about all your accolades and accomplishments only leads to their spam box.
People want to know how you can help them. It’s not about you. It’s about them. What are you offering them? How can you help?
Make it super easy for your prospect to say yes to a follow-up. If Shannon is interested, she’ll commit to a time or just email back quickly. The request is direct without being pushy, and Shannon is less likely to just set aside the email if you don’t tell her what you want. Being vague gets vague results. So be specific. If you want a meeting – say so. If you want an assignment to do a feature – say so. Don’t make them guess. That’s not their job.
Don’t forget about the follow-up. Cold and warm emails alike can get lost in the shuffle. It took a few years of my cold emailing people before I realized I needed to follow-up too. People forget to get back to you for all kinds of reasons from being out of town, stressed at work to wanting to think it over and then completely forgetting.
It’s not your prospects job to follow-up with you. If you want the work – go out and get it.
FOLLOW-UP EMAIL EXAMPLE
Hi Shannon,
Just wanted to circle back and say hello. I reached out about two weeks ago about freelance work regarding B2B marketing. I’m including the original correspondence below for a quick and easy reference. I would still love to chat at your convenience. Any chance you have a few minutes in the upcoming week?
best,
A. Freelancer
Another benefit to the cold email follow-up is you’ve already broken the ice. They may not quite remember you’re a newbie or they don’t really know you. Instead, they’ll think, “Marketing for B2B? Sounds like a good fit for an upcoming assignment.” They don’t really need to digest who are you if they realize you’ve already contacted them once.
