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Does "Cold Emailing" Work? What are my Options

Marketing, social media, advertising

Connor_Motivasis

Contributor
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Apr 15, 2019
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Tucson, AZ
Just as the title says, I'm curious about forum-goers thoughts about cold emails and their effectiveness.

Currently, I'm looking for a way to fill up my freelance pipeline. I've been a web developer for around 6 years and have a senior level dev on my team with twice that experience. Upwork is nice, and we get work that way but it doesn't really have the same potential for profit as direct contact with clients has (both because of the 20% cut taken by upwork as well as the type of clients that tend to post there). I'd also like as many avenues for clients as possible and feel using just one strategy is a waste.

I've been trying cold emails, but already see many flaws in doing so. Cold calls are another option, but i haven't tried them extensively as of yet.

Any suggestions on marketing methods? Are ads really the best option? What forms of outreach have you tried that worked in the past?
 
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Solid Snake

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Jan 23, 2019
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cold emails work in b2b but its super hard and you have to do a lot of testing.

cold calls are still the fastest way to generate revenue, but you also have to do testing with that.

the cool thing about cold calls is that you can get instant feedback if you ask them and figure out what the prospect cares about, to get a better idea of what and how to pitch in your outbound system.

cold calling and cold emailing are both good but you gotta increase your skills. check out saleshacker for guidance, but if you don't have a sales trainer like they do at SaaS companies, i wouldnt give up so early.

steep learning curve.

im currently still tweaking my cold email outreach. my open rates are super high, above industry average.

my response rates are low. today i had ZERO response rates despite a high open rate, because i decided to try a different value proposition to pitch. so now i have to change it up again.
 

Connor_Motivasis

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
143%
Apr 15, 2019
46
66
26
Tucson, AZ
cold emails work in b2b but its super hard and you have to do a lot of testing.

cold calls are still the fastest way to generate revenue, but you also have to do testing with that.

the cool thing about cold calls is that you can get instant feedback if you ask them and figure out what the prospect cares about, to get a better idea of what and how to pitch in your outbound system.

cold calling and cold emailing are both good but you gotta increase your skills. check out saleshacker for guidance, but if you don't have a sales trainer like they do at SaaS companies, i wouldnt give up so early.

steep learning curve.

im currently still tweaking my cold email outreach. my open rates are super high, above industry average.

my response rates are low. today i had ZERO response rates despite a high open rate, because i decided to try a different value proposition to pitch. so now i have to change it up again.

Thank you very much for the detailed response. I'm focused on B2B so its good to hear it works. Knowing that it just takes time and learning makes it a bit easier to persist through the rejection.

I'll have to give cold calls a try.
 

Solid Snake

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
117%
Jan 23, 2019
75
88
USA
Thank you very much for the detailed response. I'm focused on B2B so its good to hear it works. Knowing that it just takes time and learning makes it a bit easier to persist through the rejection.

I'll have to give cold calls a try.

try and go through the resources, it will really help. do both at the same time, and iterate as you go.
 
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SD Entrepreneur

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Jul 12, 2019
86
194
San Diego, CA
Just as the title says, I'm curious about forum-goers thoughts about cold emails and their effectiveness.

Currently, I'm looking for a way to fill up my freelance pipeline. I've been a web developer for around 6 years and have a senior level dev on my team with twice that experience. Upwork is nice, and we get work that way but it doesn't really have the same potential for profit as direct contact with clients has (both because of the 20% cut taken by upwork as well as the type of clients that tend to post there). I'd also like as many avenues for clients as possible and feel using just one strategy is a waste.

I've been trying cold emails, but already see many flaws in doing so. Cold calls are another option, but i haven't tried them extensively as of yet.

Any suggestions on marketing methods? Are ads really the best option? What forms of outreach have you tried that worked in the past?
Yes they work, your options are to start sending them or don't... search for other cold email threads in the forum, here's a recent one I posted with some tips: How We Landed $100,000 In Business From A Cold Email . TAKE ACTION
 

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