The ONLY Cold Email Guide You'll Ever Need To Read

Cold email can be a powerful outbound tool—if you do it right.

But here’s the thing: most people don’t.

Here are the biggest mistakes I see people making in their cold email campaigns:

The Opening Sentence​

This is where most people miss the mark.

Stop apologizing for emailing. No one cares.

And don't start by talking about who you are or what your business does.

The only thing that matters to your prospect is this: what can you do for them?

Make that your opening sentence.

Where’s the Proof?​

If you want your cold email to stand a chance, you need social proof, fast.

Lead with a one- or two-sentence case study showing who you've helped and what results you delivered.

Two common mistakes here:

• First, your results should be tied to a cost or timeline—ideally both.
• Second, ditch the percentages. No one cares if you grew traffic by 9,900% if it was from 2 to 200 visits over a year.
  Use metrics that matter: dollars, leads, or tangible outcomes that are hard to exaggerate.

The CTA​

Most cold emails fail because they end with an immediate call to action—“Let’s set up a meeting,” for example—and that’s exactly how they end up in the trash.

In the first email, I skip the CTA entirely. Instead, focus on answering these key questions:

• What can you do for the prospect?
• Why should they believe you?
• How will you deliver results for them?

Let your email signature take over. Mine always includes links to a recent case study, blog post, or podcast/video (the last one gets the most clicks).

To Sum Up:​

1. Start with what you can do for them.
2. Include a quick case study tied to real results.
3. Skip the CTA—let your signature do the work.

Am I missing anything? Cold email pros, drop your insights—what do you think? Would love to hear BHW's thoughts on this one.

I agree with all what you said!


I'll add some points:

Have an offer that is in demand and solves a real painful business problem.

Don't use your main domain, use other variations and extensions.

No fancy html....It's a business owner talking to another business owner.

Make sure to use personalization, compliment them on something they achieved or post...mention something on their website...or a problem they have, SHOW them that you did your own research and it's not a random standard email.

Mention a close competitor. when you can, something like XYZ competitor is doing...and he achieved....

As said by @Geasy, show case testimonials, case studies, success stories.

If you don't have case studies, testimonials...work for free for 2-3 clients to get them.

Great share mate

How would such an email look like? Can you write an example?
I tried coming up with some ideas and they all turned out to be super aggressive IMO.

Do the cold emails still work?

Maaan I missed your guide, appreciate

Algo said:

I agree with all what you said!


I'll add some points:

Have an offer that is in demand and solves a real painful business problem.

Don't use your main domain, use other variations and extensions.

No fancy html....It's a business owner talking to another business owner.

Make sure to use personalization, compliment them on something they achieved or post...mention something on their website...or a problem they have, SHOW them that you did your own research and it's not a random standard email.

Mention a close competitor. when you can, something like XYZ competitor is doing...and he achieved....

As said by @Geasy, show case testimonials, case studies, success stories.

If you don't have case studies, testimonials...work for free for 2-3 clients to get them.

Click to expand...

the thing with no HTML though is you cant embed a UNSUBSCRIBE link which is kind of mandatory no?

So the minute you embed an unsubscribe link the email becomes HTML and cannot be sent an plain text

or am I missing something?

Good knowledge.

whosethis said:

the thing with no HTML though is you cant embed a UNSUBSCRIBE link which is kind of mandatory no?

So the minute you embed an unsubscribe link the email becomes HTML and cannot be sent an plain text

or am I missing something?

Click to expand...

I think he's talking about using HTML to spice up the look of the email (graphics, effects, etc..). A hyperlink link to unsubscribe is normal.

tNK said:

I think he's talking about using HTML to spice up the look of the email (graphics, effects, etc..). A hyperlink link to unsubscribe is normal.

Click to expand...

hey thanks - yes I agree thats what he meant...

but I was hoping to get some thoughts on having to send HTML due to the unsubscribe link when the common advise seems to be to send plain text as first email when sending cold...

Wow people are still cold emailing successfully? May have to get back into it. It was a real money maker back in the day

can it still be done for affilate/cpa?

one of the best shares!

Geasy said:

Second, ditch the percentages. No one cares if you grew traffic by 9,900% if it was from 2 to 200 visits over a year.

Click to expand...

I went from 1 to 10k views in 1 day. I must be the most percentage rich man in babylon.

Algo said:

No fancy html....It's a business owner talking to another business owner.

Click to expand...

Personally I would like to receive short, to the point, no fluff mail.

If you're busy as hell, you try to use as many shortcuts and macros as possible.

It's like playing a game of Starcraft. You need to get more actions done quicker than everyone else.

That's how I separate true businessmen from workers. Workers write a lot. Businessmen get sh1t done.

Although long mails can work, for example you can share business process / formula behind your success. Sharing unique insight may convince many.