Emails have gained so much prominence over the last two decades that it has become difficult to complete our daily tasks without it. Therefore, it is no surprise that email writing is one essential skill that every individual will need to improve and focus on. They serve different purposes based on the user’s need be it for personal use or official use. Cold emailing is one of the latest trends in email writing that has gained attention over the last few years.
Cold emails are emails that are sent to a receiver where there is typically no prior contact between the sender and the receiver. It usually aims at establishing a fresh connection between the two parties, both hoping to benefit from the interaction. Most of us would have already sent or thought about sending a cold email, sometimes looking for a job role or sometimes trying to establish a new connection.
Now the question arises on how one should go about writing a cold email. We will try to cover a few points that will get you up and running.
Establish a Connection
Always try to have a mutual connect with the receiver. Doing so would greatly increase your chance of getting a reply from the person. You can spend time connecting with them through LinkedIn or other social media websites and interacting with their posts and ideas. You could also have a mutual colleague or connection that ties you with the person. Typically, you can allot the first 1-2 lines of your email to build a connect.
K.I.S.S (Keep it short and simple)
It is extremely important to respect and value others’ time. So, it should come as first priority to keep your email short and simple. Ideally, a message should be no longer than the size of your mobile device and in terms of simplicity, it should not take the receiver more than 2-3 minutes to read AND respond to it.
Have a specific ask
It is very crucial that you have a clear idea of what kind of help you require from the person you are sending the cold email to. Have a specific ask and try to ensure that this will not take more than 2-3 minutes of their time. This information can be covered in the last 2 lines of your email.
Don’t include too many external links
The body of your email should give a quick summary of your work in the field that you are addressing. It is always recommended that you don’t include external references that the personal will have to manually surf to. Include your thoughts on the help that you need so that the receiver gets a clearer idea of your viewpoint.
Research beforehand
You need to have a good understanding of the receiver and how he will be able to help you. Further, you should also be well versed on the topic of discussion and whether the person has already addressed this issue in any of his previous posts or blogs. This would help establish and built trust between you and the other individual.
FAQs on cold emailing
- When to write a cold email?
Always consider the other person’s availability when drafting your email. Try to find out when they won’t be occupied with their work and try to reach them on their free time. Typically, the weekends could be a good time to do so, ideally in the evening. Try not to reach out on a Monday as most folks would be preoccupied at the start of the week.
- What to do if you do not get a response to your cold email?
It is very much possible that you draft a perfect cold email but still end up not receiving a reply. In this situation, you could send a very gentle follow up email after a couple of days as a reminder.
- Mistakes to avoid when writing a cold email?
Always research and educate yourself about the individual you are addressing. For e.g. Don’t use ‘Sir/Madam’ when addressing the person. This might send the message that you are not bothered about who you are sending the email to.
PAID MOBILE APPS/SUPPORT THAT CAN HELP YOU
Grammarly:
It is one of the leading typing assistants that help one iron out their grammatical and spelling errors while simultaneously providing tips to improve and learn. They provide free services which are limited to spelling, grammatical and punctuation suggestions. They also have a premium and business feature that provide additional helpful functionalities for a fixed fee every month.
How does it help you?
Grammarly gives prompt feedbacks about your statements, including the tone of the message, correction and modifications with explanations and customizations. These not only help you enhance your email but also helps you reflect on your mistakes and how you can resolve them.
Twitter:
Another social media platform where users come together to share their ideas and have a structured conversation with the public. They encourage a short form of content which is a great way for people to start being precise. They also have a method of sharing larger forms of content through threads to share your viewpoint in depth.
How does it help you?
Twitter helps and forces you to keep most of your thoughts short and concise. It helps your structure your ideas using the least number of words while simultaneously getting your point across. It also includes the option of interacting with other people’s posts, teaching you how to phrase your own arguments.