Outreach · Free template

Cold email outreach template

A short cold email for reaching out to potential clients directly — tight subject line, specific hook, soft ask. Works for SMB founders, agencies, and marketing leads.

When to use this

Send this when you're emailing someone who doesn't know you — a founder, an agency owner, a marketing lead. The rule I use: if I can't name one real thing about the person I'm writing to, I don't send it yet. And this is not a blast to 200 addresses a day; it goes out one at a time.

Why it works

Cold email usually dies the same way: a bland subject line, a body that shows you never looked at them, and a giant ask up front. This one sidesteps all three without getting clever. The subject references something specific from their world, the opening line proves you did a couple minutes of homework, and the ask is fifteen minutes to compare notes — not "hire me, here's my rate card."

How to customize

  • The subject line does most of the work. Point at a recent launch, a post, a hire, an announcement — anything but "Hi" or "Quick question."
  • The hook has to be true. If you read their blog, name the post and say what you thought of it. Skimming shows.
  • Keep it under 120 words. People don't archive short emails for later, they just reply.
  • Send from a real address with a real name and a real signature. On first contact, skip the tracking pixels.

The template

Subject: [Specific thing about them] — quick note

Hi [First name],

Saw [specific thing — a recent launch, post, hire, or announcement]. [One honest sentence about what stood out or what it makes you curious about].

I work with [their type of company] on [your one-sentence specialty — e.g., "landing pages that actually convert paid traffic" / "engineering content that ranks and reads well"]. Recent example: [one concrete result in one line].

Not pitching anything — just wondering if this is something you're already sorted on, or if it's on the radar for the next quarter. Happy to send over a 2-minute teardown of [something relevant to them] if it's useful.

Either way, appreciate what you're building.

— [Your first name]
[Your portfolio or one proof link]

Replace anything in [brackets] before sending. This template is provided as-is, free to use.

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