Do you cringe when you hear the words cold or pitch emails?
Do you naturally think of stagnant, dry salesy emails?
I chat with cold emails and pitch expert Laura Lopuch who will change your mind.
Whether you are pitching to gain guests for your podcast, pitching to be a guest or even collaborating or connecting, you’ll want the skills and tactics that Laura shares on this episode.
What is a cold email and why is it even relevant for podcasters?
There is a big misconception around what a cold email is. It’s basically an email to a stranger, where you’re asking them to take the action that you want them to take one specific action.
You may want them to hit reply, book a chat, partner on a project, say yes to being a guest on your show, etc.
What to do if the thought of cold emails makes you uncomfortable:
No one likes to put in the effort and not feeling like you’re getting it back.
If you’re a podcaster, wanting to book, guests on your podcast, cold emails are a really good way to do it. Because you can literally handpick the guests that you want to come on, as opposed to just opening up ‘roll call’ on social.
Think of it as a win win situation, that you’re doing them a favor, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. So it’s not like, Oh, I’m putting myself out there. It’s more like, Hey, I think you’d be awesome for my podcast. Are you interested? It’s more of like a solution to a problem.
Changing how you perceive cold emails will make a huge shift. As soon as that opens, it suddenly becomes a little bit fun, a little bit of a game like, oh, what could I say to this person to kind of get them energized about coming on my podcast? What kind of big names have I interviewed that I can put in that cold email to this potential guest.
What is the Relevancy Method?
It’s about how can you be ultra relevant to your cold email reader. And so that means tying into their dreams, their hopes, their motivations. How can you be relevant to those, motivations, those core driving forces in their life, as opposed to just dropping in personalization tags. You do not want to ‘copy and paste’ a template.
People really don’t care about you, they only care about themselves. And it’s just human nature across the board, you have to get your request to go through their filter of what’s in it for me. And once you are ultra relevant to your cold email reader, in your cold email, whether it’s a pitch, or another kind of cold email, suddenly, that answers that question for them what’s in it for me.
When can you use cold emails?
Yes you can pitch to get new guests on your show, and pitch to be a guest on a show but you can also simply ‘connect’ and see what synergy you both have. You may want to collaborate, or partner, or do a webinar together, maybe do a blog or lead magnet swap.
Think of people who are in similar industries than you, but not the exact industry. There’s a lot of different opportunities. And really, the sky’s the limit, you just got to be a little bit creative.
Before you can actually make a sale, you have to have a relationship with someone and your cold email should be designed to help you open up a conversation.
Some common mistakes you’ll want to avoid.
I think one of the big mistakes is that people take a template that works for someone else, simply change a few words and names and send. That might have worked 510 years ago, but now it doesn’t work.
And you also have to put yourself in that email. And that can be super scary. But it’s a chance for your reader to get to know you. So that means you have to put some of yourself in there.
You have to keep practicing and honing your craft – it’s like working a new muscle. It doesn’t feel ‘natural’ at first.
Should you use a template or script or ‘wing it’?
If you hate writing from a blank page you can use what Laura calls a themed plate (or framework).
What can I put in my opening? What kind of compliment can I give them? What kind of hook can I talk about? What kind of aha moment did I have? This needs research.
The next section should address the problem.
And THEN you can introduce yourself – and it’s key to wait until now to include the info about you. People want to know what’s in it for them first.
Three Priceless Pillars of Cold Emails
First, you have to have clarity, because whenever there’s any sort of confusion about what you’re talking about, like I can say marketing, and you can think creating a podcast, but I’m talking about posting on Twitter, right? You have to have clarity in order for someone to say yes, because any kind of confusion prevents them from saying yes, it immediately puts up roadblocks questions
The second pillar is micro yeses, which is where you want to embed little yeses in each sentence of your email. And this ties back to the relevancy method.
And then the last pillar is one goal. You want to have one destination, so to speak, for your cold email reader to end up at. So that doesn’t mean like, asking them tons of different questions, right? No, I did this at the beginning. It’s super hard for them to know what to respond to true. So have one goal, what’s the one outcome that you want your cold email to do?
“When crafting a cold email, you want to give them ONE action and ONE focus. In other words, ask them to do one thing – whether it’s hit reply and respond, book a call or say yes to one opportunity.”
Tips to follow up and increase your conversion
Laura has gotten lots more yeses off my follow ups than I have off of original, like initial cold emails. So the winning is in the follow up game. And it kind of goes back to that third priceless pillar of having one goal.
Do not send them other emails about other things, it’ll muddy the water and get them off track. Keep directing them to that original call to action, that one question that you asked in your original cold email.
Feel free to forward the original email to keep the thread open. It’ll make it easier for the reader.
Laura even uses an app called Boomerang to schedule the follow up emails. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Your follow ups can be super easy, but do it because it helps you stand out and get that reply.
What should your cold email goals be (how many should you send a week)?
Laura schedules blocks of time each week to do them. It’s also good to have a goal (whether it’s send 5 per week or 10). At the beginning, you do have to kind of get in the numbers and practice so you get in a groove.
If you don’t get a response, try finding them on Instagram or LinkedIn (perhaps they prefer that platform to have conversations). But the same rules apply to the content and info you are sharing.
About Laura
Laura Lopuch is a cold email and pitch expert who helps entrepreneurs, consultants, and freelancers make more sales naturally with emails.
Four months after launching her business, she grew it by 1400%, using only cold emails. Laura’s success continued when one of her cold emails brought in a $20,000 client. She has since helped her students get their next big $10k or $25k client with cold pitch emails, using her powerful ‘The Relevancy Method.’
Laura wrote a viral article on cold emails for Copyhackers and has been featured on highly ranked industry blogs and podcasts. Her words have appeared on CrazyEgg, KISSmetrics, Predictable Revenue, and Unbounce. She has also spoken at conferences like MicroConf and Shine Bootcamp.
She lives in Denver with her husband and two sons. Visit www.lauralopuch.com to get the only emails that help you sell more naturally.
Resources mentioned:
https://lauralopuch.com/leverageyourpodcast
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