Looking to grow your business? Cold emailing is still one of the best ways to generate leads for your business but it freaks a lot of people out (myself included) because it’s really putting yourself out there and invading someone else’s territory.
Growing your business requires you to do some reaching out to prospective clients. And if you never put anything out there then you’ll never get anything back. So, before you start tackling some cold emailing, here are some tips:
Personalize All Emails
Do not be that person who copies and pastes sales emails. No one wants to open up a generic email. That will entice no one to buy. If you want your cold emails to be effective, you need to truly personalize the content for your reader. And before you switch out the “Dear Kevin” to “Dear Sara” and call it personalization, know that that won’t cut it.
To create truly personalized emails, you’ll need to do some actual research into the company. Figure out where you can actually help them, then outline it in an email to let them know exactly what you can do for them and how they will benefit.
Provide Real Value
Every email that you send to a client or a prospective client needs to be about them. Forget about talking about you and your business, you want to focus strictly on them. And, you want to go above and beyond if you want to really start forging relationships.
When I send emails to my clients or prospective clients, I do my best to add just a little extra. Maybe I run an SEO report on their site and give them a few insights into how to improve it before talking about my proposal. Or perhaps I provide them with one of my eBooks or point them in the direction of a helpful post.
Be Clear and Honest
That means no misrepresenting yourself, your company, or your offer. If you are promoting something for someone else (i.e. an advertorial or advertisement) be open about it. At the end of the day, be very clear about what you’re offering.
I often end up receiving generic emails that look like one thing and are something else. I once asked someone if they could share one of my posts on Instagram, only to find out that they wanted over $500 for me to do so—if you’re clear and honest, you might have a few people tell you to get lost but the ones that are interested will stick around.
Are you a pro at cold emailing? Share your tips and tricks in the comments below!
Looking for More Small Business Insights?
- I Use These 4 Programs to Make Sure My Business Is Remote
- Here’s How I Handle a Financial Crisis With My Business
- How Can A Business Benefit From Blue Sky Thinking

Tae started out as a journalist before following the money into the corporate world. But it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener and now you can find her spending most of her time writing about all the things she loves. Namely, money, travel and business with a hefty dose of self-deprecating humor. She is a podcast fanatic, blogging aficionado and loves to find new ways to turn passions into cold hard cash!