So, you’ve finally built your prospect list, found the person to pitch to, and dug up their email address. It’s now time to send those cold emails. And if you’re like many freelance writers and copywriters, you spend an awfully long time writing and perfecting these cold emails.

After all, you need to personalise these emails and adjust them to each and every prospect, right? Perhaps you mention a specific article you read on their blog in the intro?  Maybe you even pitch a unique story idea to capture their attention?

While I fully understand the reason for adjusting and personalising your pitch for each prospect, I don’t agree that you need to put a huge amount of effort into each email.

Why You Should Spend Less Time Creating Your Cold Email

Think about it for a second: What is the ultimate goal of your cold email? It’s invariably to get the attention of your prospect and get into a conversation about how you can help their business, and ultimately get a freelance writing gig.

Maybe it’s just to get on a call (I know that’s what many writers advocate and it’s something I’ve been attempting in the last few weeks by including a Calendly link at the bottom of my cold emails to encourage prospects to jump on a call.)

If the sole purpose of a cold email is to get a conversation going, then is it really necessary to spend lots of time crafting this email? Surely it’s better to have a killer cold emailing template that you work from and tweak in a few simple steps to speed up the entire process, right?

I think so.

Send an Email in a Flash with a Winning Template and Mixmax

In fact, by using a template I’ve managed to create and send cold emails in record time (And no, my response rates haven’t suffered). What’s sped the process up, even more, is a nifty little tool that my friend Richard Rowlands introduced me to: Mixmax (by the way, I’m in no way affiliated to Mixmax, I just discovered a great tool and just thought I would share it with you guys)

With Mixmax I’m able to insert my cold emailing template directly from Gmail in a matter of seconds, without having to craft a mail from scratch and without having to copy and paste the template directly from notepad (yes, this was something I did in the past).

I’m now able to send compelling cold emails in less than two minutes (you didn’t really think the title was clickbait, did you?).

So, in this post, I’ll show you how you can too.  I’ll give you two winning templates you can “steal” (one template was the topic of my post How to Craft the Perfect Cold Pitch where I shared lessons from my $10,400 cold email), show you how to get started with Mixmax in no time, and share a video of me sending that email.

Let’s jump in.

Two Killer Cold Emailing Templates

Below are two templates you can use.

Template 1

Template 2

The first template was part of the “How to Craft the Perfect Pitch” article I just mentioned. The second template is a variation of the first with one notable difference: It includes a Calendly link at the bottom.

Calendly is an online tool that allows you to quickly setup and share your availability via a link (again there’s no affiliation here).

When a client clicks on that link they’re taken to a page where they can select their meeting length, the day they’re available to meet and the time slots that I have chosen to suit my schedule (these time slots sync to the clients time zone).

 

Indeed, that’s one of the main reasons I chose to include a Calendly link: I’m in control of my time. Admittedly the time slots don’t always work for the client and in those instances, I am flexible with my meeting times.

But, I try to as much as possible stick to these times as I don’t want meetings to ruin my day and affect my productive writing time.

The other reasons I include a Calendly link are:

• The client knows exactly what course of action to take and with the link, it’s only a click away (they don’t even have to reply to the mail). Cold emails without a clear call-to-action often don’t invoke the desired response.
• It immediately allows me to filter out clients who I don’t want to work with (if they “Um” and “Eh” about scheduling a call, they’re not clients I really want to work with). The start of any potential business relationship, for me, involves getting to know my clients better to see if we’re a fit and a call is the start of that process.

Both these templates do the job, so feel free to select either one as your standard template when cold emailing. And, if you find another template that works, by all means, use that.

The point is: Find a template that allows you to edit only a few important details for each client to save time (you’ll see I highlighted these in each pitch).

Armed with the template, it’s time to get started with Mixmax.

Getting Started with Mixmax

You first need to set up a Mixmax account. Don’t worry this is super easy and super fast.

Create Your Account

All you’ll have to do is follow a series of prompts. Head over to Mixmax.com, select Install for free in the header and click on Add Extension.

Now, to connect your Gmail account and Mixmax, open your Gmail and click Activate Mixmax.

Thereafter, you’ll need to give permission to Mixmax to work with your email.

After clicking Allow you’re all set and ready to send your first email.

If you need any help with anything head on over to the Help Center. One of the issues I had was that Google Chrome was blocking Mixmax from working.

If you’re using Google Chrome and experience the same issue, fix it by visiting chrome://settings/content/popups and click Add.

Then insert [*.]mixmax.com, click Add, once again.

Mixmax will now be displayed in the Allow popups section.

Add Your Template

Now, add your template. The dashboard may seem overwhelming at first, but you’ll get used to it. In your Mixmax Dashboard, click on Templates in the left sidebar, followed by New Template.

Now, paste the template of your choice. In the below example I’ve included the template with the Calendly link and named it Cold Pitching Template Calendly. I’ve also given my email a subject line: Content at (insert company name).

Once you’re happy, simply click Done. Now, let the fun begin.

Sending Your Cold Email in Record Time

In this video, you’ll see that I have a prospect list open with my name and email address (I’ll be sending the email to myself).

Usually, I’ll have a lengthy list of prospects with their name, the name of the company, their position, and their email addresses.

But, for obvious reasons, I won’t show this list. The point here is to simply show you how to easily and quickly send emails to prospects. Hit the play button to see this in action:

Mixmax can also help you when following-up with prospects (remember you can and should follow-up because prospects are busy and many won’t reply to your first email) by allowing you to set reminders so you don’t forget.

I am still exploring many other features that Mixmax offers, but for now, this one small change in how I send cold emails has saved me a ‘helluva lot of time.

And, it is my hope that it does the same for you. Why don’t you give it a try?