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Cold emailing businesses and getting no respone

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

daftypunk

Bronze Contributor
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129%
Mar 29, 2020
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Asia
I have been learning copywriting and at the same time cold-emailing clients in my preffered niches- travel,fitness,food local businesses offering to write content for them - emails,social media content, and web copy. I dont have any experience writing copy- i am an 18 y/o highschool student whos only done a marketing internship. I directly emailed CEO's / top people in those companies . Out of around 15 companies only 3 got back to me, and after some back to back emailing and discussing stuff all of them passed- 1 didnt reply after i told him how he could cut down on costs, another asked for samples and the buzzed out and another was nice enough to tell me he would get back if he needed my service.

Its just the beginning, i know. Its a bit tiring and exhausting writing emails just to have people pass up on you but who tf cares you gotta do what you gotta do.
The problem i feel is that i am reading alot. Way too much. I read content specific to my problems but day after day coming back here and reading the same posts make me feel like i am coming here just to feel good, whe i am trying and i know that.

To the businesses in the travel industry- travel agencies, i emailed them regarding the importance of building customer relationships during this time and engaging with them through emails and social media so they can help 'show the world' to thier customers once this pandemic is over. I discussed them some of the problems and then went to offer my services. I thought i had written great emails- but well no response. No worries.

I moved on to the supplement producer in my country and tried to have a conversation with him- talked well about his brand then discussed how there could be problems and what does he think are the problems. He replied, told me what he feels are the issues that need to be addressed and one of them was 'high awareness campaign costs'. I went on to discuss further about that problem and how it could be damaging to the brand, and then offered my help in reducing costs. He asked and then never replied. I told him how emails and social media content/ ebooks - training manuals could be important but voila no reply.

This is pretty much what i have done yet. I am also reading cashvertising and plan to read a few more books on copywriting and also been reading on lex's threads on copy.

I just dont want to sit around learning something new and doing nothing for the next one month/ couple of weeks and want to start earning.
 
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Lex DeVille

Sweeping Shadows From Dreams
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I have been learning copywriting and at the same time cold-emailing clients in my preffered niches- travel,fitness,food local businesses offering to write content for them - emails,social media content, and web copy. I dont have any experience writing copy- i am an 18 y/o highschool student whos only done a marketing internship. I directly emailed CEO's / top people in those companies . Out of around 15 companies only 3 got back to me, and after some back to back emailing and discussing stuff all of them passed- 1 didnt reply after i told him how he could cut down on costs, another asked for samples and the buzzed out and another was nice enough to tell me he would get back if he needed my service.

Its just the beginning, i know. Its a bit tiring and exhausting writing emails just to have people pass up on you but who tf cares you gotta do what you gotta do.
The problem i feel is that i am reading alot. Way too much. I read content specific to my problems but day after day coming back here and reading the same posts make me feel like i am coming here just to feel good, whe i am trying and i know that.

To the businesses in the travel industry- travel agencies, i emailed them regarding the importance of building customer relationships during this time and engaging with them through emails and social media so they can help 'show the world' to thier customers once this pandemic is over. I discussed them some of the problems and then went to offer my services. I thought i had written great emails- but well no response. No worries.

I moved on to the supplement producer in my country and tried to have a conversation with him- talked well about his brand then discussed how there could be problems and what does he think are the problems. He replied, told me what he feels are the issues that need to be addressed and one of them was 'high awareness campaign costs'. I went on to discuss further about that problem and how it could be damaging to the brand, and then offered my help in reducing costs. He asked and then never replied. I told him how emails and social media content/ ebooks - training manuals could be important but voila no reply.

This is pretty much what i have done yet. I am also reading cashvertising and plan to read a few more books on copywriting and also been reading on lex's threads on copy.

I just dont want to sit around learning something new and doing nothing for the next one month/ couple of weeks and want to start earning.

Why not sign up on the freelance platforms where people already want to hire copywriters? Take some low budget gigs. Get some experience and proof to back you up before reaching out with cold emails. Then you'll have something to show instead of empty claims. Until you prove your value to them they won't have a reason to talk with you.
 

Stargazer

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What Lex said.

Just wanted to add, if you still get a 20% response rate after 10,000 emails give me a buzz. :)

Dan

PS: I quite like your choice of Travel Agents
 

Zcott

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The people that replied to your email, did you speak to any of them on the phone after?
 
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ads0401

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Follow ups are key with cold emailing.

Set up a sequence of 4-5 follow ups for those that do not reply. 90% of sales come from the 4th or 5th follow up. I'm not just talking about the copywriting industry but cold emailing in general.

Trick is not to get disheartened.
 

daftypunk

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Why not sign up on the freelance platforms where people already want to hire copywriters? Take some low budget gigs. Get some experience and proof to back you up before reaching out with cold emails. Then you'll have something to show instead of empty claims. Until you prove your value to them they won't have a reason to talk with you.

Freelance platforms being too overcrowded i decided to cold-email businesses, and also because UpWork rejected me.
 

Chx

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Freelance platforms being too overcrowded i decided to cold-email businesses, and also because UpWork rejected me.

Try Freelancer.com. Frankly there are fewer copy jobs there than Upwork and clients tend to pay less. But if you can write coherent English you're already beating 75% of the 'copywriters' there.

I wouldn't recommend the platform to any seasoned copywriter. But when I was completely new to the game, I got my first jobs there and could point at it as 'experience' when talking with the actual clients I wanted to work with in the future.

One more thing — they have a 'contests' feature where people do the work for free and the client chooses the best one, awarding them the project money. You can view the other submissions and see if you'd be able to stand out. Great way to get a project under your belt if you've got some time to spare.

But unless you've got a killer phone sales script, I would not do cold emailing until you have some form of experience. It's not worth the time investment just to be rejected due to inexperience. Get a project or two first and you will be more confident in what you offer as well.
 
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Lex DeVille

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Freelance platforms being too overcrowded i decided to cold-email businesses, and also because UpWork rejected me.

The freelance platforms are crowded by millions of people who add no value. Without that part it makes no difference. Anyone who adds value gets hired. If Upwork didn't ban you forever, then try again. Or go to PeoplePerHour or one of the other 100+ freelance platforms.

I'm not saying your approach is wrong with cold email. It's a better route to build a business you control. But without proof of results it will be hard to get people to give you a chance.

As a client, I never hire without asking if I'm likely to waste money on someone, and that's as a warm lead. It's 10X harder when you're reaching out to those who don't know you, don't know they need help, and can't see any proof that you can help them anyway.

The freelance platforms give you an easy in.
 

cm86

New Contributor
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Nov 11, 2015
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3
37
I have been learning copywriting and at the same time cold-emailing clients in my preffered niches- travel,fitness,food local businesses offering to write content for them - emails,social media content, and web copy. I dont have any experience writing copy- i am an 18 y/o highschool student whos only done a marketing internship. I directly emailed CEO's / top people in those companies . Out of around 15 companies only 3 got back to me, and after some back to back emailing and discussing stuff all of them passed- 1 didnt reply after i told him how he could cut down on costs, another asked for samples and the buzzed out and another was nice enough to tell me he would get back if he needed my service.

Its just the beginning, i know. Its a bit tiring and exhausting writing emails just to have people pass up on you but who tf cares you gotta do what you gotta do.
The problem i feel is that i am reading alot. Way too much. I read content specific to my problems but day after day coming back here and reading the same posts make me feel like i am coming here just to feel good, whe i am trying and i know that.

To the businesses in the travel industry- travel agencies, i emailed them regarding the importance of building customer relationships during this time and engaging with them through emails and social media so they can help 'show the world' to thier customers once this pandemic is over. I discussed them some of the problems and then went to offer my services. I thought i had written great emails- but well no response. No worries.

I moved on to the supplement producer in my country and tried to have a conversation with him- talked well about his brand then discussed how there could be problems and what does he think are the problems. He replied, told me what he feels are the issues that need to be addressed and one of them was 'high awareness campaign costs'. I went on to discuss further about that problem and how it could be damaging to the brand, and then offered my help in reducing costs. He asked and then never replied. I told him how emails and social media content/ ebooks - training manuals could be important but voila no reply.

This is pretty much what i have done yet. I am also reading cashvertising and plan to read a few more books on copywriting and also been reading on lex's threads on copy.

I just dont want to sit around learning something new and doing nothing for the next one month/ couple of weeks and want to start earning.

As someone that's worked in marketing, copywriting, and now consulting I can safely say that you have to pick up the phone, plan in a (video) meeting to demonstrate why they need you and what you can do for them. You can't just expect someone to pay you a good sum of money, or to even engage with you properly; entertain anything you're trying to sell them - without actually having their undivided, focused attention for a good amount of time.

You need to take them on a "ladder" of engagement and they need to reciprocate and invest in this process themselves. (Email > Phone Call > Video meeting / consult > agree to terms / price > pay you money > etc. ) Actually, they need to want to invest their time and attention equally - if not more - than you. If they don't, your messaging isn't on point yet and they simply don't see the value.

Stop hiding behind email. Instead use email to communicate and GIVE value (i.e. use your copywriting skills to write a short value-giving report relevant to their industry - which will probably mean you should pick an industry niche to get started, to make such efforts scaleable) and keep your email short and to the point. Don't ASK for anything yet. Then follow up with another email, asking what they thought about the report. Your real goal is to get a PHONE number you can call, to setup a MEETING (or these days video meeting), to give a (free) consultation about how they should improve their already existing marketing / copy. ONLY THEN are you actually communicating the problem, plus solution properly. ... Don't expect a few emails to take care of this for you.

Hope it helps.
 
Last edited:

daftypunk

Bronze Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
129%
Mar 29, 2020
94
121
Asia
As someone that's worked in marketing, copywriting, and now consulting I can safely say that you have to pick up the phone, plan in a (video) meeting to demonstrate why they need you and what you can do for them. You can't just expect someone to pay you a good sum of money, or to even engage with you properly; entertain anything you're trying to sell them - without actually having their undivided, focused attention for a good amount of time.

You need to take them on a "ladder" of engagement and they need to reciprocate and invest in this process themselves. (Email > Phone Call > Video meeting / consult > agree to terms / price > pay you money > etc. ) Actually, they need to want to invest their time and attention equally - if not more - than you. If they don't, your messaging isn't on point yet and they simply don't see the value.

Stop hiding behind email. Instead use email to communicate and GIVE value (i.e. use your copywriting skills to write a short value-giving report relevant to their industry - which will probably mean you should pick an industry niche to get started, to make such efforts scaleable) and keep your email short and to the point. Don't ASK for anything yet. Then follow up with another email, asking what they thought about the report. Your real goal is to get a PHONE number you can call, to setup a MEETING (or these days video meeting), to give a (free) consultation about how they should improve their already existing marketing / copy. ONLY THEN are you actually communicating the problem, plus solution properly. ... Don't expect a few emails to take care of this for you.

Hope it helps.

That's what i will do, once I improve my copy and get better at it.
I think it's too early for me to start sending out emails to businesses, when i have no experience.Ngl in my desperation to get jobs, i became delusional that i will get them only after a couple of emails.
I plan on writing everyday for a few months atleast and reading books so i keep getting better, at the same time wil try to get some freelance jobs and make a blog to get some experience. And even work for free for others.
 
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daftypunk

Bronze Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
129%
Mar 29, 2020
94
121
Asia
What Lex said.

Just wanted to add, if you still get a 20% response rate after 10,000 emails give me a buzz. :)

Dan

PS: I quite like your choice of Travel Agents

Thanks man. That what i am onto- building my portfolio, getting better at it and even find some freelance jobs to get a bit of experience.
 

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