As a freelancer, you have probably sent hundreds of cold pitches only to get a few responses that didn’t even seal you any deals. In fact, there is no faster way to end up in the spam folder than to send cold emails.

Here are top 5 cold email tips to save you the frustration of getting zero response rate.

Do Your Research

The first mistake many freelancers make is to blindly send cold emails to people they know nothing about. Nothing turns off a prospective client faster than you giving them the wrong information about themselves.

A little research will greatly boost the response rate. What is their name? Proper job title? What problem do they have that you have a solution for? Simply referring to clients as “Mr.” or using such generic salutations as “Do whoever it may concern” will get your email a spot on the spam folder faster than you can press send.

Don’t be too formal.

Forget about the correct email writing format you were taught in school. This is not a job application in some fortune 500 company. You are trying to get someone who doesn’t know you to first like you, then work with you.

Being too formal will make you come off as some serious job seeker. Chances are, you are looking to work with someone who is not after long-term commitment. Instead of the orthodox format i.e. header, address, subject etc., simply go with something like “Hi John–I hope you are doing great”.

This is likely to get you a better response than a formal email written using a business-like sales email template.

Make It Personal

You probably have your favorite cold email template which you fire up every time you want to send a cold pitch. There is nothing wrong with that, it saves you time and the effort of crafting a new email every time. But sending the same email with only a few modifications to hundreds of clients will do you no good.

That same person has probably received thousands of other emails like yours. With time, it becomes easy to identify generic cold email templates. Templates are great, but it is personalization that will get you that job. Let the person know that you understand them and their problems deeply and that you care about their business,

Be Patient

It is understandable that you are trying to get a job as quickly as possible. But with cold emails, patience is king. Otherwise, none of these cold email tips will be helpful.

The people you are trying to get to work with are busy. They have hundreds of other emails in their inbox to attend to and chances are, yours may be opened after a week or so. Don’t force them to reply as soon as possible. If you send a cold email and then follow up with another after two hours and then another after three hours, you would be more rude than ambitious. Be patient, wait for at least a week before following up.

Read below on how to do follow up probably.

Follow up.

There is a high chance that you will not get a response after your first cold email. Maybe your email has been seen, maybe it hasn’t. Or perhaps you used a weird sales email template. Whatever the case, do follow up and polish where you think you went wrong. Just don’t give up after the first trial.

A typical follow-up routine would be something like 3-7-7. That is, following up after three days, then seven days, then wait for seven days again…

If you don’t get any replies after the third follow up, it is better to move on and find other potential clients.

Cold emailing can be frustrating, but with patience, a smart introduction email template and follow-up, nothing is impossible. Hopefully, the above cold email tips will land you your first freelance client. But you can always Sign up with us at Get Prospects to ensure that you don’t miss out on any client.

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