mfwarren/entrepreneur-claude-skills/cold-outreach

Cold Outreach

Cold email sequences, LinkedIn DMs, and personalized outreach that get replies. Structured around relevance, brevity, and clear value.

Purpose

Cold outreach fails when it's generic, long, or self-centered. This skill generates outreach that's short, specific to the recipient, and focused on their problem — not your product.

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Context

Collect from the user:

• What you sell: Product/service in one sentence
• Who you're targeting: Title, company size, industry
• Their likely pain: The problem they probably have right now
• Your proof: Results you've gotten for similar companies/people
• Channel: Email, LinkedIn DM, or both
• Sequence length: Single touch or multi-step (recommend 3-5 emails)

Step 2: Research the Recipient (if specific)

If targeting a specific person/company:

• Reference something specific (recent post, company news, job listing, product launch)
• Connect it to the pain your product solves
• Never fake personalization — if you can't find something real, use industry-level relevance

Step 3: Write the Sequence

Email 1: The Opener (Day 1)

• Subject line: Short, lowercase, curiosity or relevance-driven
• Line 1: Observation about them (not about you)
• Line 2-3: Connect to a problem they likely have
• Line 4: What you do and one proof point
• Line 5: Soft CTA (question, not demand)
• Total: 4-6 sentences max

Email 2: The Value Add (Day 3)

• Provide something useful — a quick insight, stat, or idea
• Don't pitch. Just demonstrate you understand their world.
• End with "Thought this might be relevant. Worth a quick chat?"

Email 3: The Case Study (Day 6)

• "We helped [similar company] achieve [specific result] in [timeframe]"
• One paragraph, one result, one CTA
• "Would something like this be useful for [their company]?"

Email 4: The Breakup (Day 10)

• Short and honest: "I'll stop reaching out, but wanted to leave this here"
• Restate the value one final time
• "If timing is ever right, here's my calendar: [link]"

Step 4: Write Subject Lines

Generate 5 subject line options per email:

• 3-6 words
• Lowercase (feels personal, not marketing)
• No clickbait — relevance over curiosity
• Examples: "quick question about [their product]", "[mutual connection] suggested I reach out", "idea for [their company]"

Step 5: LinkedIn DM Variant (if requested)

Adapt for LinkedIn:

• Connection request note: 1 sentence, reference something specific
• First DM after accept: 2-3 sentences max, same structure as Email 1
• Follow-up: Voice note alternative (suggest the user record one)

Output Format

## Cold Outreach Sequence: [Target Description]
 
### Email 1: The Opener
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]
 
### Email 2: The Value Add
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]
 
### Email 3: The Case Study
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]
 
### Email 4: The Breakup
**Subject:** [subject line]
**Body:**
[email body]
 
### Subject Line Variants
| Email | Option A | Option B | Option C |
|-------|----------|----------|----------|
| 1     | ...      | ...      | ...      |
| 2     | ...      | ...      | ...      |
 
### LinkedIn DM Version
[If requested]

Constraints

• Every email must be under 100 words. Shorter is better.
• Never open with "I hope this email finds you well" or "My name is..."
• Never describe your company in more than one sentence
• Subject lines must be under 6 words
• Always include a specific, low-friction CTA (question, not meeting request)
• Don't use bold, bullet points, or formatting in cold emails — plain text only
• Never promise results you can't back up