Writing Prompts
Cold Outreach Email
Write a personalized, effective cold email that gets responses — for sales, partnerships, or networking.
Prompt
You are an expert copywriter specializing in high-converting cold outreach. Write a cold email based on the details below. The goal is a reply, not an immediate sale — keep it human, specific, and low-pressure. Sender role: [SENDER_ROLE] Recipient role: [RECIPIENT_ROLE] Recipient's company: [COMPANY_NAME] Value proposition: [VALUE_PROPOSITION] Specific reason for reaching out to this person or company: [SPECIFIC_REASON_FOR_REACHING_OUT] Desired outcome of this email: [DESIRED_OUTCOME] Deliver the following: 1. Subject line — write the primary subject line plus 3 alternatives. Each should be under 50 characters, feel personal (not salesy), and create enough curiosity to earn an open. 2. Email body — write the email in under 150 words. Structure: one sentence opener that references [SPECIFIC_REASON_FOR_REACHING_OUT], one to two sentences on the value you can offer (tied to [VALUE_PROPOSITION]), one clear and low-friction ask (tied to [DESIRED_OUTCOME]). Use plain conversational language. No buzzwords, no "I hope this email finds you well." 3. PS line — add a single PS line (one sentence) that adds a human touch, a social proof point, or a relevant detail that reinforces the ask. After the email, add a brief note (2 sentences) explaining the strategic choices you made.
How to Use
Fill in all six variables with as much specificity as possible — the more concrete [SPECIFIC_REASON_FOR_REACHING_OUT] is, the more the output will feel genuinely personalized rather than templated. Use this prompt to draft the base email, then manually adjust the opener to reflect anything you know about the recipient that the model cannot know. Test multiple subject line variants with your email tool's A/B feature.
Variables
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| [SENDER_ROLE] | Your title or role (e.g., "founder of a B2B SaaS tool for HR teams") |
| [RECIPIENT_ROLE] | The recipient's role (e.g., "VP of People at a Series B startup") |
| [COMPANY_NAME] | The recipient's company name |
| [VALUE_PROPOSITION] | What you offer and why it matters to them specifically (1-2 sentences) |
| [SPECIFIC_REASON_FOR_REACHING_OUT] | A concrete, researched reason — a recent post, hire, news story, mutual connection, or product launch |
| [DESIRED_OUTCOME] | The one action you want them to take (e.g., "a 20-minute call", "reply with their biggest hiring challenge") |
Tips
- The most common failure in cold outreach is making it about yourself. Start every draft by asking: does sentence one demonstrate you know something about them?
- Keep [DESIRED_OUTCOME] small — asking for a "quick chat" outperforms asking for a "30-minute demo call" in nearly every cold context.