Cold Email for Interesting People

I just launched my second information product, Cold Email for Interesting People, available at https://philipkiely.com/cefip

Here are some excerpts from the handbook:

Writing a cold email is a straightforward process. It can take as little as five minutes, though I’ve spent hours on some. The process of researching, composing, and delivering your message follows a few simple steps. I can’t guarantee success but my methods can help you avoid pitfalls. Nothing in this guide is universally true, including this statement.

The first thing to realize is that sending a polite email to someone you don’t know is a totally reasonable and acceptable thing to do. The second thing to realize is that you don’t need to know any secret passwords or follow any fixed patterns to get a great response. There are best practices that can increase your chances of success and skills that you can practice to improve the quality of your outreach, but the only secret in cold email is how easy and approachable it is.

Cold email is a practice, not just an action. Sure, you can run through all of the steps and craft a great message, but compounding success comes from making cold email a regular part of your career. Some of it is mental; learn how to recognize opportunities and take them. Behind everything that exists online, there is a person and you can contact that person and ask for what you want. Some of the practice is skill-based; improving your writing and research skills will make your emails more effective and less time-consuming to write.

Sending a great cold email can be fun, but it isn’t done just for the sake of sending out a message. Cold email is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. It is a valuable tool, a great pair of jeans that goes with everything, a reliable ride from point A to point B. Writing cold email isn’t a pastime and it is not the only way to accomplish your goals. Like all writing, it only really works when you have something to write about.

Cold email is effective when it is purposeful. Interesting people tend to be busy doing interesting things. Don’t bother someone just because you are bored, but be confident in writing an email whenever you have a genuine reason to do so. Never lead by apologizing for contacting someone. Write cold emails that you believe are a valuable use of both yours and your recipient’s time.

So, never sit down at your computer thinking: “I’m going to write a cold email now.” Think about what you want to accomplish with your email instead.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear from you about successful cold email you've sent and how it affected your career.