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independence5 unconnected
standing

contested · 3 claims against 2

applies to

b2b, no audience needed

assumes $100 and up

mixed results

confidence

high

evidence

5 claims · 5 articles · 3 receipts

window

2015-10-21 → 2025-09-19

5 builders who never spoke to each other · contested

Decide whether cold email is worth what it signals

For expensive service work the chance of reaching the right person in the right week is poor, and two authors argue the approach itself weakens you before any negotiation starts. Against that, a campaign of ten well-aimed messages produced five figures of work, and the replies from prospects who decline explain why people are not buying.

Where this splits

Some builders treat cold email as a signal of desperation to be avoided, while others built their whole client base on a small number of carefully aimed messages.

  1. side 01 · 3 claims

    Avoid cold email, it signals desperation and rarely lands

    Arvid Kahl · Greg Kogan · Paul Jarvis

    1. 1Avoid cold outreach for high-value service work: the odds of hitting the right person at the right moment are low and the email itself signals desperation, weakening you in any later negotiation.
    2. 2Do not cold email founders. They get too many and respond badly, so reach them through founder networks and peer recommendation instead.
    3. 3Bar partners from cold email and repeat follow-ups, and require them to disclose the commercial relationship.

  2. side 02 · 2 claims

    A handful of well aimed emails can win work

    Delia Monk · Justin Anyanwu

    1. 1Outreach that does not convert still earns something: the replies tell you why people will not buy and what would have changed their minds.
    2. 2Treat a cold campaign as a small number of well-aimed emails rather than a blast, because a single reply can cover the whole effort.

What it returned

  • Emailing planners was more rewarding than the paid ads because it surfaced the reasons prospects were declining.

  • Fathom's list of prohibited behaviour includes spamming, cold emailing with a referral link and failing to declare an affiliate relationship.

  • One of Monk's campaigns was ten emails, and the template she sent a design agency went on to produce multiple five figures of work.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in email

all email plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.