How to write a (good) cold email

Unsolicited emails are the absolute worst, right?

But sometimes we just gotta send ’em.

Maybe you’re pitching for new business. Maybe you’re suggesting a collaboration. Or maybe you’re asking for feedback.

And I see a lot of chat on here about what not to do. We hate it when people do the casual preamble. But we also hate when people get straight to the point. We hate overly chummy. We hate vague. We hate long. We hate short.

Oof.

So when this lovely little email dropped in my inbox from Slick founder Edison, I knew I had to share it with you.

Now, I would never normally bother to reply to something like this. But this time, I did.

And here’s why (so you can steal it for your next cold email):

Hey Sally!

It’s been about a week since you signed up for Slick Inbox, the newsletter reader app. (If you need a primer, you can check out https://slickinbox.com).

I just wanted to send a quick email to check in with you, to see how you’re finding Slick.

Maybe you have been loving it, maybe hating it (😬), or well maybe you haven’t even used it much at all! But that’s precisely why I was hoping to have a conversation with you, to get to know you, so if you have a few minutes, I’d really appreciate that!

You can write me anything! And I promise you I’d reply to them, but if you don’t know where to start, here are some of the things that I’d love to learn about you!

• What do you do?

• How did you hear about Slick?

• How are you using Slick?

• What do you like, or not like about Slick?

• How would you describe Slick?

• Is there anything I can do to improve your experience?

• If you don’t really use Slick, could you tell me why?

Well, that’s a big list! But don’t feel obliged to answer them, they’re just suggestions. Just go ahead and say whatever is on your mind :)

That is all then, have a great day ahead, Sally!

Warmest regards,

Edison from Slick

Why it works

• Edison explains his intent in the first two sentences. Plus you get a thoughtful reminder of the product in case of signup amnesia (it happens)

• The voice is warm and friendly (the typed emoji, the exclamation points)

• He tells you precisely what he wants you to do next, no room for doubt

• The tone feels natural, authentic and like a real-life convo (“That is all then!”)

• It's enthusiastic. You sense Edison really wants to know about you (just look at how many times he uses the word “you”)

• It's polite and respectful. There’s no obligation (“If you have a few minutes”)

• You know what’s going to happen next (“I promise you I’ll reply”)

Edison also uses a pretty smart psychological trick. He asks for his best-case scenario (that you respond to each bullet point), a task that will take you the maximum time and effort. He then concedes that he’ll be happy to hear “whatever’s on your mind”. By prepping you for a big task before offering the get-out clause of a way smaller task, you’re much more likely to reply. A bit like if you weren’t planning to run at all, then someone asks you to run a marathon before quickly suggesting a 5k instead. Suddenly you’re running a 5k and thinking you’ve got the easy way out.

I know it won’t be to everyone’s tastes. But to me, something this warm, energetic and natural-sounding is a pretty top-tier way to send an unsolicited email.

What do you reckon?

If you’d like to chat more about writing emails for your business, I’d love to hear from you.