📬Cold email (why you should bother with it)

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If you’re not glad it’s Friday, you’re a better man than me. Even if you’re a woman.

And memo to Paramount+. Love Lioness, but please hire Peyton Manning or give up trying to run funny TV ads. 

So… today, I’ve got a quick note on how cold email should not be avoided as a marketing tactic. Two examples show how big a difference one email can make.

Then, we close the week with the Wrap-Up…

First, a word from these fine folks (I’m assuming they’re fine and not dolphin smugglers or anything).

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Power in Cold Email

I’ll drop 5 updated stats on cold email in a sec.

On the way home from Florida last week, I heard Theo Von (#11 podcast in the USA) talking about the first sponsor he got for his podcast early on.

Some dude cold emailed The Rat King (Theo) and said he wanted to sponsor Theo for $500 a month. But he wanted Theo to use that money to rent a quality studio.

The guy owned a pizza business and wanted Theo to pimp the business. However… he mainly wanted to help Theo grow his show by producing a better podcast by renting a legit recording studio.

The pizza guy had plenty of business sense because the show did grow like crazy and is a better product today as a result of getting Theo to upgrade and think harder about his podcast’s future.

It all started with a cold email at the right time. Not after Theo had millions of listeners. The pizza guy saw potential in the podcast from the start, when the show was not on the radar of big brands.

Another cold email example from the drive-home episode I heard is coming up after the stats I promised…

5 Cold Email Stats to Mull Over (& take action on in 2025) 

1. The average open rate for cold emails is 23.9% (Beehiiv)

2. Sending at least 3 follow-up emails can boost response rates by up to 28%

3. Segmented cold email campaigns have a 14.31% higher open rate compared to non-segmented campaigns (Sales Shandy)

4. 95% of emails that get a response receive one within first 24 hours of being sent - so, follow up fast if you don't hear back quick (Embryo)

5. The average sales representative spends 21% of their day writing cold emails (Beehiiv)

And if you’re worried about deliverability with cold emails - you should be… see this thick guide from Mailshake on cold email deliverability. 

That other cold email example?

Billion Dollar Cold Email

Mark Cuban was Theo’s guest on the episode where the pizza sponsor got mentioned.

The Shark Tank star could not have spoken more highly of cold email.

The billionaire said he had done a ton of deals that started with someone sending him a cold email.

Some space company emailed Cuban years back and he invested a few million with them - sight unseen. 

He said he still has never met the founders of that company!

It paid off for them and Cuban. He said the company is worth over two billion dollars now (if I recall correctly… may’ve been $4 BIL).

Rewards Outweigh the Risks of Cold Email

A lot can go wrong if you start blindly testing cold emails. So don’t do something crazy.

Invest some time reading Mailshake - they seem to be the best resource for cold email. There’s also a Sam Parr video where he talks about how successful this marketing tactic’s been for him. Know another good resource, reply to let me know about it. 

Have I had any luck with cold email?

Yeah. I just never had time to lean into it or set up a good system for being consistent with it. 

I was pitching my writing services. The brands that responded to my email pitches were ones that fit my writing style. They were already using personality or humor in their marketing messaging. 

Had I pitched brands that were stiff as a board in Iceland, I would’ve gotten zero responses. So, that’s my best tip - spend way more time finding the right people to pitch your unique offers to than you spend trying to write the perfect cold email. 

If you want help with a subject line for your cold email, hit me up for some help with it.

Thanks for reading Inbox Hacking. Please share it with your people… dogs too. We’re big in the K9 community.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

Bonus: Idaho leads nation in small business growth (2,776 new firms added) - see which state was dead last.