Chances are you've read bad cold emails and probably sent a few yourself. Don't you get frustrated when people don't respond to you? If you're ready to stop ticking recipients off then stop doing these four stupid things when you send them a cold email. I wish I could make these business jokes up, but I can't.

 

Misspell their name  

Come on home-slice! If you're emailing someone for the first time you need to spell their name right. Look, I realize your God's gift to the Universe, but have you thought that just maybe the recipient of your email wasn't waiting by the inbox for your email to arrive? You're inconveniencing someone with a cold-email so it's important to respect them as much as possible. I realize some names are harder to pronounce than others particularly in cultures foreign to you. Believe me, my name is Sajeel for pete's sake. However, spelling any name should be a simple copy-paste. It's right in front of you. If you can't copy and paste a name properly then why should anyone take you seriously? The most comical cop-out you can use in this scenario is the old 'I'm terrible with names' bit. Hey, at least you're right. You most certainly are terrible. So are your emails.

Writing like a robot  

Do you remember that amazing email marketing message you read? You know, the one that didn't address you by name, speak to any of your specific problems and included a button to order immediately? Of course you do. I know I taped mine to the ceiling of my bedroom so I could read it every night before bed. If your email list is small you are better off writing three to four one-off or personal notes that you can reuse with minor modifications. This works better than the one-size-fits nobody type of message you're probably sending out now.

Looking the part  

Sending a cold email from a Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo account says a lot about you. These are great email services for personal and emergency use, but it looks unprofessional. Kind of like running your business from a payphone. If you are just starting out and don't have money for a corporate email account then you should ditch one Starbucks latte per month and use that 'surplus' towards a corporate email account. The costs are similar. As an aside, if you must send an email from a free service the email needs to be in a polite and welcoming tone. You're not fooling anyone with the Gmail account so stop pretending to be the missing member of Shark Tank.

Not Quitting 

If you're sending cold emails make sure they are cleanly written. Length doesn't matter (from what we've tested) as much as content and relevance. Don't just shove a blog post as a cold-email. A blog post and a cold-email are things you should love, but are two totally different things. Pizza and ice cream are both great, but pizza-flavored ice cream? Doesn't sound like a profitable endeavor. Also, quit while you are ahead in a cold-email. Don't overwrite and save your life history for A&E Biographies.

 

If you're tired of getting your cold-emails deleted here is a template that has been used to reach CEOs of large companies and gets a 91 percent open-rate.

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