How to write cold outreach that gets replies

Most cold emails get deleted in the first line. Why? Because the first line is about the sender.

"We are a full-service agency offering..." Delete.

In March I had AI write cold outreach on camera, for a demo business that builds websites. The drafts were good enough that I said I was going to use some of them for my own business. Some of them were fire.

Here's how to get the same result, and what to fix before anything goes out.

The prompt

"Write three outreach emails for real estate agents who need a website. Make them personalized and short. Make them about them, not about us. Let me see the drafts first so I can edit them."

Every piece of that is doing a job:

• Three emails, not one. You want options, and different angles.
• A specific audience with a specific need. Real estate agents who need a website. Not "small businesses."
• Personalized and short. If it's long, they won't read it.
• About them, not about us. This is the one that matters most.
• Drafts first. You read before anything goes out.

The three angles it came back with

The listing angle. The subject: your listings deserve better than Zillow. It opened by saying it came across their listings and that they clearly know their market. Then it named the problem. On Zillow, you're competing with every other agent on the same page. Your own site puts your brand, your listings and your reputation front and center. Then a small ask. Worth a ten-minute conversation?

The referral angle. When someone gets your name from a referral, the first thing they do is Google you. What shows up? If it's a Zillow profile or a brokerage page with fifty other agents on it, that's a missed opportunity.

The compliment plus problem. Congrats on closing, that's a competitive area. One thing I noticed, though. When I searched your name, it took me a while to find you specifically. Your brokerage page came up. Zillow came up. Nothing that was just yours.

Three different doors into the same conversation. All short. All about them. As the AI put it: zero "we offer full stack development" agency energy.

And look at the asks. Ten minutes. Five minutes. Happy to show you a quick example. Small. Easy to say yes to.

Edit one before you send anything

The drafts were good. I still changed one.

"Make the second one more casual."

Here's how the referral email came back:

"Real talk. When someone hears your name and Googles you, what comes up? A Zillow page with fifty other agents on it. That's not doing you justice. A simple site with your listings, your reviews and a way to reach you is the difference between 'oh, she seems legit' and 'let me keep scrolling.' No pressure at all, but if you've ever thought about it, I'm happy to show you what it could look like. Takes like five minutes."

That sounds like a person. That's the bar.

One more thing to watch. The first draft opened with "Hi, blank." The AI gives you the frame. You still fill in the name, and the one real detail about their business that proves you actually looked. That's what makes it personal instead of a template.

Adapt it to a new industry

Then I asked for three more, for barbers, adapted to their world. Here's the opener it wrote:

"How many clients are you losing to Instagram DMs? I see your work on Instagram. Your cuts are clean. But here's what I notice with a lot of barbers. You're running your entire booking through DMs and texts. That works until you're busy. Then messages get buried and clients go somewhere else."

Same structure. Different pain. A real estate agent's problem is getting buried on Zillow. A barber's problem is getting buried in DMs. Tell the AI exactly who you're writing to, and ask it to find their specific problem.

Write down who got what

Last step. I had it add the leads to my customer list. At the time that list lived inside Kiyomi Max, the system I was running, but a spreadsheet works fine. Three agents, Sarah, Tom and Jane. Two barbers, Sly and Taiwan. Each one saved with the email angle they got.

That matters when it's time to follow up. You can't follow up well on an email you don't remember sending.

Your practice

Generate three outreach emails. Read them. Edit one. Send one if you're ready.

That's it. Don't overthink the first batch. The point is to get one real email out the door, written about them.

What this means for you

Cold outreach is a skill, and AI makes the first draft cheap. Your job is the judgment: who to write to, what their real problem is, and whether the email sounds like you.

If you want someone in your corner while you build that habit, that's the RMDW Program: a mentor every week, with your AI put to work alongside you on exactly this kind of thing.