2 builders who never spoke to each other

Build each cold email around something you noticed

Reading the prospect's site, buying what they sell or spotting a gap you could fix gives you a first line nobody else could have written, which is what separates the message from the rest of the inbox. Two freelancers ran the same structure for years: name the person, say why you are writing, point at one specific thing, show how you help, close warmly.

The method

1. 01

   Build the prospect list by hand: search for the agencies in your area and your discipline, read each site, write down what you genuinely liked, then address it to whoever runs the department you want work from.

2. 02

   Structure every cold email the same five ways: greet the person by name, say who you are and why you are writing, give one specific reason you admire their work, state how you can help with a link to samples, then close warmly.

3. 03

   Choose prospects by a visible unmet need you can point at, an out-of-date website, a blog that has gone quiet, a bad Facebook ad, and lead with how you would fix that specific thing.

4. 04

   Research the prospect before writing a word of the pitch: buy or sign up for what they sell and read their customer reviews, so the email can name a problem they actually have.

5. 05

   Open the cold email with a line that connects and a specific compliment, show you understand their situation, include a testimonial, and state the same call to action twice.

What it returned

• 2015

  Maguire has used this structure since 2015 and shows the email that won one of her first clients.

• $100,000

  Monk's debut year as a freelance copywriter brought in more than $100,000, all sourced by cold outreach to agencies.

• Maguire credits this exact list-building routine with thousands of dollars in work plus meetings, interviews and projects across her freelance career.

• Monk credits pitches written in her real voice with attracting the clients she wanted.

Sources

• How to Get Clients Through Cold Outreach (Templates & Tools Included!) - Double Your FreelancingAnnie Maguire · doubleyourfreelancing.com · Who should I reach out to? · 2022-05-02
• Episode 88: How Delia Monk earned $100,000 in *Her First Year Freelancing* (!!) From Cold Agency Outreach - Double Your FreelancingDelia Monk · doubleyourfreelancing.com · AI-Generated Summary: · 2023-10-23