Cold emailing doesn’t work. Cold emailing is spam. No one opens my emails. Wrong, wrong, and definitely wrong. Cold emailing can be incredibly powerful and effective — if you do it the right way. And it all starts with getting people to open your email. If they don’t open it, then the relationship ends right there. For so many people, this is why their cold emailing efforts never pay off. So, let’s go over three tips for how to write cold emails that get opened.

Psst! If you prefer video over text, check this out.

How to Write Emails That Get Opened

Tip #1: Write a subject line that reflects what’s in the email.

There are two scenarios when people don’t want to be surprised: when they’re naked, and when they’re checking their email.

Keep your subject line simple, and write it to reflect what you’re going to say when that person opens the email.

I’ve got a whole video on cold email subject lines, which you can watch below.

But for now, I’ll tell you one of my go-to subject lines:

Blogging for [company name]

Earth-shattering, I know.

Obvi, put in the service that you offer. I use blogging because I’m a writer. So you might put social media or graphic design or SEO or web design.

Simple pimple.

I can’t stress this enough: When it comes to getting recipients to open your email, the subject line can make or break it. Estimates vary but somewhere in the ballpark of 30% of your leads will determine if they want to open your email based on the subject line alone.

Take it seriously!

Tip #2: Send Emails in the Morning for the Recipient

Not for you.

When you do this, it ensures that when the lead checks their email first thing in the morning, you will be near the top of their inbox, instead of buried. You want their eyes to drift to you first.

This is really important. My clients are all over the world — they’re spread across the US, Australia, Denmark, India. So I always make things convenient for the client or the lead, not me.

Also, focus on sending cold emails Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, for the lead. Mondays, people are too busy. Fridays, they just want to go the heck home. Plus, if you send an email on a Friday, you’re about to lose that person for the next two days. No bueno.

(BTW, if you’re not pitching to prospects in other countries, you should be.)

Disclaimer: There might be cases where you don’t know for sure what time zone a lead is in. Give it your best-educated guess. If you at least know what country they’re in, then you’ll probably be fine. What we’re trying to avoid is emails landing in their inbox at 2am.

Tip #3: Follow up.

Follow up like a beast. You are not going to land clients on the first email. You might not even get a response. And that’s okay.

I wouldn’t have a good number of the clients I do if I didn’t follow up. People are busy, they forget to respond, bla bla bla. You’re going to need to give them a little nudge.

I suggest you follow up every two days. One day isn’t enough, and if you wait longer than two days, they’re going to start forgetting about you. You don’t want to pester them, but you do want to be fresh in their mind.

When I follow up, I keep it really simple, really casual. I’ll say something like, “Hi John, following up on my previous email regarding blogging for [company name]. I’d still love to chat more. Do you have time tomorrow for a quick call?”

Still include a call-to-action, like I did, asking them for a phone call, but be chill about it. We’re not trying to breathe down their necks or come across as pushy. We’re simply trying to gently move this relationship forward. And to do that, you need to (a) follow up and (b) get them to take action (read: schedule a call with you).

If you have a client-based business, you can benefit from cold emailing. Freelancers, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, digital nomads, coaches, and consultants. Anyone who depends on clients can bring in new ones using cold emailing.

Aside from clients I get through referrals and word of mouth, email outreach is my ONLY of client acquisition, and I used it to scale my online business to five figures a month. It’s no joke.

If you want to learn more about how you can copy my exact client acquisition process, go check out Revenue Spark.

If you’re not yet ready to commit to a full-blown course, check out my mini-course, The 7-Day Secret. This course is quick to digest and simple to apply. The goal is to get you several steps ahead of where you are right now, within the next week. Boom!