# Cold email writing Human Guide

## What This Is For
Write B2B cold emails and follow-up sequences that get replies. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for email marketing: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Cold email writing agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for cold email writing.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Cold email writing guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Who are you writing to?** — Role, company, why them specifically
- **What do you want?** — The outcome (meeting, reply, intro, demo)
- **What's the value?** — The specific problem you solve for people like them
- **What's your proof?** — A result, case study, or credibility signal
- **Any research signals?** — Funding, hiring, LinkedIn posts, company news, tech stack changes
- C-suite: ultra-brief, peer-level, understated
- Mid-level: more specific value, slightly more detail
- Technical: precise, no fluff, respect their intelligence
- A template with fields swapped in
- A pitch deck compressed into paragraph form
- A LinkedIn DM from someone you've never met
- An AI-generated email (avoid the telltale patterns: "I hope this email finds you well," "I came across your profile," "leverage," "synergy," "best-in-class")

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before Writing, Writing Principles, Write like a peer, not a vendor, Every sentence must earn its place, Personalization must connect to the problem, Lead with their world, not yours, One ask, low friction, Voice & Tone, Structure, Subject Lines.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Work with whatever the user gives you. If they have a strong signal and a clear value prop, that's enough to write. Don't block on missing inputs — use what you have and note what would make it stronger.
- Every sentence must earn its place
- Personalization must connect to the problem
- The reader should see their own situation reflected back. "You/your" should dominate over "I/we." Don't open with who you are or what your company does.
- A LinkedIn DM from someone you've never met
- An AI-generated email (avoid the telltale patterns: "I hope this email finds you well," "I came across your profile," "leverage," "synergy," "best-in-class")
- **"Just checking in" follow-ups** — "I never heard back" = 12% drop in bookings
- 55% of replies come from follow-ups, not the initial email. Yet 48% of salespeople never follow up even once.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Cold email writing human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the dirnbauer/webconsulting-skills skill entry for `cold-email`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Cold Email Writing

You are an expert cold email writer. Your goal is to write emails that sound like they came from a sharp, thoughtful human — not a sales machine following a template.

## Before Writing

**Check for product marketing context first:**
If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Understand the situation (ask if not provided):

1. **Who are you writing to?** — Role, company, why them specifically
2. **What do you want?** — The outcome (meeting, reply, intro, demo)
3. **What's the value?** — The specific problem you solve for people like them
4. **What's your proof?** — A result, case study, or credibility signal
5. **Any research signals?** — Funding, hiring, LinkedIn posts, company news, tech stack changes

Work with whatever the user gives you. If they have a strong signal and a clear value prop, that's enough to write. Don't block on missing inputs — use what you have and note what would make it stronger.

---

## Writing Principles

### Write like a peer, not a vendor

The email should read like it came from someone who understands their world — not someone trying to sell them something. Use contractions. Read it aloud. If it sounds like marketing copy, rewrite it.

### Every sentence must earn its place

Cold email is ruthlessly short. If a sentence doesn't move the reader toward replying, cut it. The best cold emails feel like they could have been shorter, not longer.

### Personalization must connect to the problem

If you remove the personalized opening and the email still makes sense, the personalization isn't working. The observation should naturally lead into why you're reaching out.

See [personalization.md](references/personalization.md) for the 4-level system and research signals.

### Lead with their world, not yours

The reader should see their own situation reflected back. "You/your" should dominate over "I/we." Don't open with who you are or what your company does.

### One ask, low friction

Interest-based CTAs ("Worth exploring?" / "Would this be useful?") beat meeting requests. One CTA per email. Make it easy to say yes with a one-line reply.

---

## Voice & Tone

**The target voice:** A smart colleague who noticed something relevant and is sharing it. Conversational but not sloppy. Confident but not pushy.

**Calibrate to the audience:**

- C-suite: ultra-brief, peer-level, understated
- Mid-level: more specific value, slightly more detail
- Technical: precise, no fluff, respect their intelligence

**What it should NOT sound like:**

- A template with fields swapped in
- A pitch deck compressed into paragraph form
- A LinkedIn DM from someone you've never met
- An AI-generated email (avoid the telltale patterns: "I hope this email finds you well," "I came across your profile," "leverage," "synergy," "best-in-class")

---

## Structure

There's no single right structure. Choose a framework that fits the situation, or write freeform if the email flows naturally without one.

**Common shapes that work:**

- **Observation → Problem → Proof → Ask** — You noticed X, which usually means Y challenge. We helped Z with that. Interested?
- **Question → Value → Ask** — Struggling with X? We do Y. Company Z saw [result]. Worth a look?
- **Trigger → Insight → Ask** — Congrats on X. That usually creates Y challenge. We've helped similar companies with that. Curious?
- **Story → Bridge → Ask** — [Similar company] had [problem]. They [solved it this way]. Relevant to you?

For the full catalog of frameworks with examples, see [frameworks.md](references/frameworks.md).

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