Actually, Cold Emailing Can Work for Small Businesses There is a right way and many, many wrong ways to do it.
By Jacky Chou
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Cold emailing has existed since the dawn of the internet. The notion of finding business prospects through email has been around for this long because it works. Huge, multimillion-dollar companies owe their success to cold emailing, at least in their beginning phases. It doesn't matter how big your business is, though, cold emailing is a method proven to increase sales leads and grow your network.
The idea of sending an email to another business can be daunting, especially for small ventures. It can be nerve-racking not knowing if that other business will consider your experience and solutions or just delete your email without a second thought. But, in reality, the only way you can get comfortable with cold emailing is to actually do it. You'll learn quickly that you won't care much about the responses you don't get and more about the ones you do.
Related: This is Why Email Marketing Still Outperforms Social Media
Plan it right.
You've probably noticed your email inbox puts the newest messages at the top, making them the first ones a person sees. Plan to send your emails between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. on a Monday morning. More likely than not, your potential business leads are just arriving to work from a peaceful weekend and have a little more time on their hands to read through a few emails.
Be specific in your subject line.
Make sure your subject line is short and specific. Don't promise things you don't intend to deliver on. If you're asking for a minute of their time, make sure all you need is a minute. Within the email, don't ramble on about a bunch of nonsense. Get to the point, and tell them why you're emailing. "When you want to grab the attention of someone important, scrap the entertaining subject lines and focus on utility," says Adam Grant, Linkedin influencer, in his article 6 Ways to Get Me to Email You Back. In the age of clickbait, when people are busy, they want to know if clicking on your email will be worth it.
Don't drag it out.
Caroline Webb, author of How to Have a Good Day, gave readers her secret to successful cold emailing. She describes the Solution + Problem or Pain + Future + Solution layout. With this method, you tell the person you're writing to what your solution is for a pain point or problem they might be having within their business. Then you show them what the future could look like with your solution. Remember, it's all about how you can help them with their business, not how their business will help your own.
Related: How to Write Cold Emails That Quickly Convert Sales
Make it personal.
The most important thing you can do when it comes to cold emailing is to make the email personal. This is much easier to do when you're a small business reaching out to other businesses in your own community. Tell them, specifically, why you want to do business with them. Let them know about other projects in town that you've been a part of, and if you've met them in the past, remind them -- don't assume they remember you. Try to say the word "you" instead of the word "I" as often as you can. If you make the email too much about you, you'll drown out the fact that you're offering a solution to their potential problem.
Always end with a call-to-action, or CTA.
Make sure each email ends with a request or a CTA, so that you can ensure you're building connections with your audience. If you don't tell people their next steps or what you want them to do, they won't know you are actually waiting on their response. An effective CTA is exciting, not generic and includes a question or link for them to click, such as asking their opinion and including a link to another blog post.
Related: 10 Tips for Writing Emails That Will Get You Tangible Results
Don't be afraid to follow up with another approach if you find that your email has gone unanswered -- and unopened.
One final piece of advice. Don't just put a link in your email asking them to click. If they have no idea who you are, they most likely won't do it. Make sure you say what you need to say within the email without requiring your potential clients and customers to go through a scavenger hunt of clicks to get there. Even though it's called cold emailing, by using the right planning and the above tips, you can build those warm, lasting connections with your current and potential audience and set your small business up for future success.
