A copywriter's cold email works when it names one line on the buyer's own page that could be better and shows one piece of proof. Below are three templates, one for each buyer who actually hires freelance copy: a founder whose site just changed, a marketing lead with a quiet blog, and an agency owner who is short on writers. Each has a one-sentence reason it works, a follow-up that adds a new fact, and a list of proof you can use if you have no famous clients.
Copywriters often write to the wrong person. A marketing director at a large company gets forty pitches a week from writers. A founder with a launch page and no writer gets almost none, and an agency owner with a client waiting is already looking for you. Aim at those two, and use the middle template for the marketing lead only when you have seen a real opening.
Where to find a reason to write
A good reason is visible from outside and recent. Four that work:
- A product that launched in the last two weeks. Product Hunt's daily launch lists are public, and each page links to the maker's site.
- A careers page with an open content or marketing writer role that has been up for a month. They need writing and have not found a hire.
- A blog whose last post is more than 90 days old, on a company that is otherwise active.
- A site whose headline says something different from its own social profile, or whose pricing page has no sentence about who it is for.
Write the reason down in one line per target before you write the email. If you cannot, skip the target.
The founder with a new site
Why it works: the founder knows the page is weak and has no time to fix it.
Subject: the Brightlane homepage headline
Hi Dara, I read the Brightlane homepage. The headline says "Smarter invoicing for modern teams," and the sub-line says the product is for freelancers, so a visitor has to guess which one it is. I write product pages for software founders. Here is a before and after of a homepage I rewrote for a tool in the same space: [link]. I can send you three headline options, built from your own customer emails, for a flat $250. Interested?
Corin Shaw, 555-0112, example.com, PO Box 8812, Denver CO 80201. Reply "no thanks" and I will not write again.
The email quotes the headline exactly, says what is wrong with it in one clause and offers a priced, small first job. The three options "built from your customer emails" tell the founder that you will do research, not guess. A flat price with no meeting is a small decision for someone who is busy.
The marketing lead with a quiet blog
Why it works: it speaks to a person with a content plan and no capacity, without criticizing the plan.
Subject: your last three posts
Hi Marisol, your last post was in June, and the three before it each ranked for something specific, like "ledger reconciliation checklist." I write long-form articles for finance software companies and work from an outline you approve. Here are two I wrote for similar firms: [link 1] and [link 2]. If you have a topic waiting, I can send a one-page outline and you decide if it is worth a draft. Which topic is next on your list?
Corin Shaw, 555-0112, example.com, PO Box 8812, Denver CO 80201. Reply "no thanks" and I will not write again.
Use this only when you have looked at the actual posts. A line like "I love your content" is the surest way to be deleted.
The agency owner with too much work
Why it works: agencies hire freelancers on short notice, and the owner makes the decision.
Subject: overflow copy for your clients
Hi Theo, I saw on your site that you run paid social and landing pages for dental practices. I write landing page and email copy for agencies, under your name, with two revision rounds. I can take a project within three days. Here is a sample for a similar client: [link]. If it helps, send me one brief and I will return a draft by Friday for a flat fee. What do you pay per landing page today?
Corin Shaw, 555-0112, example.com, PO Box 8812, Denver CO 80201. Reply "no thanks" and I will not write again.
Agencies are good repeat clients: one relationship can send ten projects. The closing question about price opens a negotiation they already know how to have.
The proof you can use if you have no famous clients
Proof is the part beginners worry about. You do not need a big name. Pick one:
- A before and after of a page you rewrote, even for a friend's business, with the real numbers if you have them and none if you do not.
- A sample rewrite of the buyer's own headline, three lines, sent in the follow-up and not the first email.
- A short list of the kinds of companies you have written for, without names if you are under contract: "two fintech startups and a dental software firm."
- A published article under your own byline in the buyer's field.
Do not invent clients or numbers. Buyers check, and a made-up result ends the conversation and your name with it.
The follow-up that adds a new fact
Subject: Re: the Brightlane homepage headline
Hi Dara, here is the rewrite I mentioned, in case it saves you time: "Invoices that get paid in 12 days, not 30." That line uses the figure from your own case study page. Feel free to use it, no strings. If you want the other two options, it is $250. Corin
Corin Shaw, 555-0112, example.com, PO Box 8812, Denver CO 80201. Reply "no thanks" and I will not write again.
Send it four to six days after the first email. Give something useful, and make the ask smaller than before. A second follow-up a week later with one more fact, and then stop. How to get clients as a copywriter covers where else to look, and follow-up email subject lines has wording for the subject.
Subject lines
- the Brightlane homepage headline
- your last three posts
- overflow copy for your clients
- a sharper line for your pricing page
- [their name for the page]: one fix
Use the company's or page's name, keep it under seven words and avoid capital letters in the middle. A subject that could be sent to anyone will be treated as sent to everyone.
What the law asks of a copywriter's cold email
Cold email to a business is still commercial email. The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide for businesses says the law "makes no exception for business-to-business email," and asks for accurate sender and subject lines, a valid postal address, a clear opt-out and a response to opt-outs within 10 business days. Put your address in the signature, send from your own domain, and keep the first days to a handful of emails, not hundreds. Is cold email legal goes through the rest.
Rocketship, which we make, does the finding and the follow-up for you. Describe the buyer, for example "founders of software companies with fewer than 20 employees," and it finds the people, reads each one's website before it writes, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up and books the call on your calendar. You read the replies and send the sample. Try it for 7 days (card required), or see the plans.