Cold Outreach

Cold email sequences, LinkedIn DMs, and personalized outreach that get replies. Structured around relevance, brevity, and clear value.

Purpose

Cold outreach fails when it's generic, long, or self-centered. This skill generates outreach that's short, specific to the recipient, and focused on their problem — not your product.

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Context

Collect from the user:

• What you sell: Product/service in one sentence
• Who you're targeting: Title, company size, industry
• Their likely pain: The problem they probably have right now
• Your proof: Results you've gotten for similar companies/people
• Channel: Email, LinkedIn DM, or both
• Sequence length: Single touch or multi-step (recommend 3-5 emails)

Step 2: Research the Recipient (if specific)

If targeting a specific person/company:

• Reference something specific (recent post, company news, job listing, product launch)
• Connect it to the pain your product solves
• Never fake personalization — if you can't find something real, use industry-level relevance

Step 3: Write the Sequence

Email 1: The Opener (Day 1)

• Subject line: Short, lowercase, curiosity or relevance-driven
• Line 1: Observation about them (not about you)
• Line 2-3: Connect to a problem they likely have
• Line 4: What you do and one proof point
• Line 5: Soft CTA (question, not demand)
• Total: 4-6 sentences max

Email 2: The Value Add (Day 3)

• Provide something useful — a quick insight, stat, or idea
• Don't pitch. Just demonstrate you understand their world.
• End with "Thought this might be relevant. Worth a quick chat?"

Email 3: The Case Study (Day 6)

• "We helped [similar company] achieve [specific result] in [timeframe]"
• One paragraph, one result, one CTA
• "Would something like this be useful for [their company]?"

Email 4: The Breakup (Day 10)

• Short and honest: "I'll stop reaching out, but wanted to leave this here"
• Restate the value one final time
• "If timing is ever right, here's my calendar: [link]"

Step 4: Write Subject Lines

Generate 5 subject line options per email:

• 3-6 words
• Lowercase (feels personal, not marketing)
• No clickbait — relevance over curiosity
• Examples: "quick question about [their product]", "[mutual connection] suggested I reach out", "idea for [their company]"

Step 5: LinkedIn DM Variant (if requested)

Adapt for LinkedIn:

• Connection request note: 1 sentence, reference something specific
• First DM after accept: 2-3 sentences max, same structure as Email 1
• Follow-up: Voice note alternative (suggest the user record one)

Output Format

## Cold Outreach Sequence: [Target Description]

### Email 1: The Opener
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]

### Email 2: The Value Add
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]

### Email 3: The Case Study
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]

### Email 4: The Breakup
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]

### Subject Line Variants
| Email | Option A | Option B | Option C |
|-------|----------|----------|----------|
| 1     | ...      | ...      | ...      |
| 2     | ...      | ...      | ...      |

### LinkedIn DM Version
[If requested]

Constraints

• Every email must be under 100 words. Shorter is better.
• Never open with "I hope this email finds you well" or "My name is..."
• Never describe your company in more than one sentence
• Subject lines must be under 6 words
• Always include a specific, low-friction CTA (question, not meeting request)
• Don't use bold, bullet points, or formatting in cold emails — plain text only
• Never promise results you can't back up