Write Cold Outreach Emails in 5 Minutes or Less

Estimated read time: 2 minutes

What’s in this letter 📧

Today, I’ll be covering how to write a short, 6-point email that potential referrals will actually respond to.

If you haven’t already done so, I recommend reading the following issues (in order), before reading today’s issue:

• Create a shortlist of targeted employers with the LAMP method - Issue #014

• How to use LinkedIn to find people of interest (i.e., potential referrals or informational interviewees) - Issue #008

• How to find your interviewees’ contact information (so you could actually message them) - Issue #015

How to create an outreach email that people will respond to…

This advice is based on guidance provided in Steve Dalton’s “The 2-Hour Job Search”. If you have the time, I highly recommend reading it. However, if you don’t, I’ve done the legwork for you.

This advice may seem counterintuitive, but the more you think about it, the more sense it makes.

Common job search advice dictates that you send a customized, well-researched email to those people that may potentially advocate on your behalf.

The problem with this method is that these emails are usually long (think 300 words plus). If a total stranger sent you a 300-word email, how likely would you be to respond? If you said not likely, you wouldn’t be the villain - those emails just demand too much.

Instead, go with a shorter, more succinct, and more direct email that hits 6 points:

1. It’s 75 words or less.

2. It doesn’t ask for a job or referral right off the bat (save that for when the contact actually responds and agrees to an informational interview).

3. It brings up your mutual connection with the person (i.e., you’re both alumni of the same school, belong to the same LinkedIn group, are both military vets etc.).

4. It’s more focused on the contact than on what you want.

5. It contains a call to action, usually in the form of a question.

6. It doesn’t target the contact’s employer specifically, but rather a family of companies within the same niche (i.e., SaaS medtech companies).

Here’s an example:

And another:

Keep reading to understand why this method works…

Dan Ariely, economist and author of ‘Predictably Irrational’, conducted a study where he asked passersby to help him move a couch. He tested 3 scenarios:

• He offered no money

• He offered a little money

• He offered a reasonable amount of money for the task

What he found was interesting. Offering people no money was just as effective as offering them a reasonable amount, and both of these were more effective than offering a small amount.

Why is this important?

Introducing compensation into the equation changes the game. When offering no money, it’s like asking for a favor, in which case, folks will help out of their sense of generosity. However, when you introduce money, you need to offer enough of it.

How does this tie into the 6-point email?

This forms the underlying principle behind the 6-point email. When reaching out to your contact, you’re asking for a favor, essentially appealing to someone’s sense of philanthropy, rather than offering something or trying to talk up how they’ll benefit from referring you, simply because the incentive is probably not going to be worthwhile.

A couple other notes about this method:

• There are people that will be likely to help because they want to, while others that will ignore you outright, or provide assistance that isn’t actually helpful. The 6-point email targets the former, and ignores the latter two.

• Only minimal customization is needed. Too much customization will ensure you spend time on emails that may not even get read (there will be people that don’t respond regardless of how well written your email is or how much thought you’ve put into it).

And that’s a wrap folks!

Did you find this week’s issue helpful? Let me know in the poll below.

About the Author

I’m James, Cofounder of Final Draft Resumes. I’ve been in the career consulting space for 13 years, and before that, I was a recruiter for AECOM.

I’ve helped thousands of job seekers, from industries like software engineering, IT, sales, marketing, manufacturing, and more generate job opportunities through well-written resumes that translate unique backgrounds into coherent narratives.

If you’re struggling with your resume for whatever reason, reach out - I just might be able to help!

If you’re more of a DIY person, then check out Resumatic, my free-to-try resume builder.