Want a way to gain new clients that doesn’t just rely on social media or paid ads?
You need to start cold emailing.
Cold emailing is the process of reaching out to someone via email when you don’t already have a connection with them. It involves taking a leap of faith, but when it pays off, it pays off big time.
My clients have had some incredible success using cold email, and I’ve worked with some people I’ve really admired just by reaching out.
Here’s a guide on how to get started with cold email, as well as some useful free coaching email templates you can personalize for your own coaching business.
Table of Contents
What Are the Benefits of Using Cold Email?
Cold email is just one of the ways you can market your business. But what are the benefits? Here are the main plus points for me:
- It’s cost-effective. It takes relatively little time and money to send cold emails, giving it a good advantage over, say, paying for ads on social media platforms.
- It’s good for building brand awareness. Getting your name out there will allow people to become familiar with you, and of course, you may find new clients who didn’t even know about the services you’re offering.
- They give you more reach. You can reach people across the globe using this strategy, perhaps connecting you with people who would have otherwise looked for local coaches.
Why Cold Email is Effective for Coaches
Cold emails are perfect for coaches for a few reasons:
- Show off your expertise. Cold emails allow you to show your potential clients why you’re so passionate about your coaching niche, and highlight your brand authority.
- Get across your personality. You can get your personality across well in email format: whether you want to come across as professional or informal, you can adjust the tone.
- Dig down into the clients’ pain points. This is the best one for me. You can use cold emails to draw attention to your clients’ pain points: what are they struggling with, and how can you solve those problems for them?
- Highlight your own successes. You can also use cold emails to talk about previous clients’ successes along with any qualifications you may have.
How to Plan Your Cold Email Strategy
You can’t just send out a bunch of emails and hope for success. (Well, you can, but I’m confident that having a plan will be better for you.) A little planning can go a long way, so now is the time to think about your strategy.
Defining your goals
Right up front, you need to think about your goals. Why are you sending these emails? Do you want people to:
- Sign up for one-on-one coaching.
- Attend a webinar, virtual workshop, or virtual summit.
- Join a group, like a private Facebook group
- Come to a real-life event you’re speaking about.
It’s also helpful to think of a numerical goal. How many new clients are you looking to acquire? How many sign-ups are you hoping for? This can help you focus on your goals.
Identifying your niche and ideal coaching clients
Now is the time to drill down into your niche. You may have a broader category for your coaching business, for example, ‘fitness’ or ‘career.’ But you can get more specific than that. For example, you may be a fitness coach specializing in injury recovery. Or a career coach focused on getting people into the tech industry.
Knowing your niche, you can then think about your ideal coaching clients. Who is it you’re looking for? Are you looking for new mothers who are trying to get fit? Are you looking for people searching for spiritual guidance? What is the demographic of your clientele? You can ask questions about your target audience, like:
- Where they live
- Their age range
- Their gender
- Their job role
- Their stage of life
Knowing this is important so you can focus clearly on creating emails that appeal to them.
Building a quality list
A common question I get is, ‘How do I build my email list?‘.
This is a hard question to answer, because it does take time. You can buy email lists. However, I’d advise you not to do this. Buying lists can harm your reputation, and it can put you on people’s block lists; the more people that block you, the more likely you are to get blacklisted, which is the opposite of what you want!
Building a list involves looking for the kind of people you want to reach. I find that LinkedIn is a real goldmine for this. You can just search within your niche: for example, if you’re targeting people in tech, you can look for trending keywords. You’ll be able to find people who are passionately engaged and interested in the subject; those are the people that may be in need of your services.
You can also use Facebook groups, Subreddits, or Discord channels to find your ideal clients. Just be aware that you will need to invest actual time and energy into these groups, and not just spam your content. Once you’re established, you can post a link (if allowed) to your landing page, which you can build with a tool like Carrd.co. People can then come to you, joining your list and giving you another influx of people to send cold emails.
Bonus tip: make sure to validate your email addresses. You can use tools like NeverBounce for this. This will ensure that all email addresses are correct, reducing your bounce rate.
Low Volume vs. High Volume Email Sends
There are some key advantages to sending low-volume emails, rather than high-volume ones. I prefer sending small batches of emails for a few reasons:
- Deliverability. This refers to the ability to deliver emails successfully. If your emails bounce too often, it will impact your sender reputation, your emails may become blacklisted, which means your emails may not be sent at all. The bigger the number of people you’re sending too, the more likely it is to contain dead email addresses.
- Personalization. Sending emails to smaller groups allows you to make them much more personal, tailoring them to suit their particular needs.
- CRM integration. If you want to validate your email addresses. Tools like NeverBounce can help with the delivery of your emails, and using a CRM platform, you can send small batches of emails to specific segments of your contacts: again, this is a great way to keep things personal, so your emails feel less ‘spammy’ to the recipients.
Key Elements of an Effective Cold Email
While I’ll give you a bunch of free email templates shortly, I do want to point out some key elements of a successful cold email.
- Subject lines. This should take up a good amount of your thought time. An eye-catching, non-spammy subject line will draw people in: they’ll be curious enough to click, which is obviously what you want.
- Personalization. Personalization really helps to draw people, so don’t be afraid to speak specifically to the needs of your specific ideal client.
- Great copywriting. Good copywriting can feel daunting, but once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll get better. Spend some time editing and polishing your writing so that it flows well and sounds exciting and professional.
Bonus tip: Get a trusted colleague or friend to read your emails before you send them. Another pair of eyes is useful for catching little errors and can give you an honest opinion on your emails.
A List of Cold Email Templates to Grow Your Coaching Business
Here are some free sample emails you can use to grow your own coaching business. Of course, you’ll need to edit them to suit your specific needs, but they contain everything you need to get started, including the email copy (which is the part some of my clients have struggled with).
You’ll notice most of these are short. People have short attention spans when they’re being shown a lot of content in a day – studies show that people concentrate on emails for roughly 12 seconds, so you’ve got a little chunk of time to grab their attention.
An important note: Make sure you have the adequate permission from your previous clients (if you have them!) if you’re going to use them as success stories. Asking them for testimonials is a pretty solid way of getting tangible evidence you can share freely, so I’d recommend that as a first step.
Initial prospecting email
This is the first email you want to send in your cold emailing campaign. This email has to tell the recipient who you are, what you stand for, what you’re aiming to do, and how you can help them. It’s a lot for one email, but you have a bit of space to sell yourself and your coaching sessions. This can be the first step in your high-ticket sales funnel.
If you’re sending out a greater number of emails, you can shorten the fourth paragraph about coming across their social media profile – it will still work if you want to send it to a broader audience, rather than a handful of specific people you’ve been looking at.
Hi [First Name]
I hope you are well!
My name is [Name], and I’m a coach specializing in [niche]. My mission is to help my clients to navigate the field of [niche] and to reach their goals.
I came across your profile on [social media platform], and I can see that you’ve done incredible work in the field of [insert field here – give a specific example if you like]. I wanted to reach out and see if you’d be interested in some one-to-one coaching with me.
I can help you with:
- Problem one
- Problem two
- Problem three
If you’re interested or you have any questions, let me know: we can hop on a call and get started. You can also check out my website if you want to know more.
Thanks for your time,
[Name]
Follow-up email for initial prospecting
This is the email you should send if you don’t get a response from the first email. It’s essentially a gentle nudge for the recipient to respond. Giving the reader two options to respond is a good idea if you’ve emailed someone who prefers emails to phone calls.
Hi [Name],
I hope you’re having a good week. I just wanted to follow-up on the last email I sent you. Are you interested in getting help with [problem 1], [problem 2] or [problem 3]?
If you have any questions at all, let me know – I’m happy to have a conversation via email, or hop on a call. Just let me know.
Just as a little reminder, here is what some of my coaching clients have achieved using my services:
- [Testimonial 1]
- [Testimonial 2]
- [Testimonial 3]
Thanks,
[Name]
Asking for a referral intro
If you want to build your coaching business, asking your current or former clients for referrals is an excellent way to do it. You want to be polite, friendly, and clear.
These need a little more personalization. I think it’s nice to address how you’ve helped them, and have a quick check-in on how they’re doing. For one thing, it reminds them of your coaching skills, making them more likely to pass on your contact details. But it also reminds them that you’re still invested in them. You never know – they may want a little more coaching, and this could provide them with the nudge they need.
Hi [First Name],
I remember you were [insert the issue they were coaching them through] – hope that you’re continuing to thrive!
I’m just reaching out to ask for a favor. I’m currently looking for a few more coaching clients to add to my roster. I wondered if you know anyone who could benefit from working with me, and if so, could you introduce me to them? I would love to help more people achieve their goals, too.
Many thanks,
[Name]
Email to newly unresponsive prospects
If you’ve been nurturing some prospects and they’ve stopped responding, this is the email nudge to try – a gentle reminder that you’re still around. At this stage, you want the copy to be friendly, engaging, and kind. You can encourage questions and link them back to your website for more information.
Hi [First Name],
Since I haven’t heard from you in a little while, I wanted to address any questions you might have about my coaching services.
If there’s anything you want to know, send me an email (no question is too small!) or check out my website [insert link]. I’d love to be able to help you achieve your goals.
I’ve also got a ton of resources, training and templates that I can share with you.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Many thanks,
[Name]
Email to a recent event attendee you met
This is the first step in reaching out to someone you have met at an industry event. It is another email that requires a good amount of personalization and needs to be sent within a fairly short time frame afterward.
Hi [First Name],
I’m so glad we got to meet at [name of event]. I remember you telling me about your issues with [pain point]. I thought I’d reach out to see if you were interested in my coaching services. I have experience in [experience and how it relates to pain point], and I’d love to help you reach your goals.
Happy to send over a little more information if you’re interested.
It was nice to see you at [name of event]. Hope to see you around at other events in the future!
Thanks,
[Name]
Highlighting coaching benefits email
This is an email to remind your readers about the benefits of having a personal coach. This will require a bit of personalization for your niche and your experience, but aside from the name at the beginning, you can send it to a whole bunch of potential clients within your niche.
The key is to ensure you sell your achievements (and your clients’ achievements) clearly, so they can see tangible reasons why you’re the one to choose.
Bonus tip: If you’re writing a list, go for three entries. There is a principle in writing that three entries are more satisfying to read than other numbers. I also think three is just right to keep someone engaged without turning them off with a bunch of text.
Hi [First Name],
I hope you’re doing well! I just wanted to talk to you about the benefits of coaching. I’ve been a coach for [number of years] now, and I’ve helped many clients to meet their goals.
There are a few reasons why having a personal coach is so useful.
- [Reason 1]
- [Reason 2]
- [Reason 3]
[Insert stats here: number of clients you’ve helped to reach their goals, amount of revenue you’ve helped clients generate, and so on]. I’d love to help you to reach whatever goal you’re reaching for.
If you’re interested, I can send you more details.
Hope to hear from you soon!
[Name]
Free consultation offer email
Offering a free consultation is an excellent way to attract new coaching clients. I’ve had success this way, and I think there’s something about allowing a client to get to know you, to see if they click with you, that makes the possibility of working with you more ‘real’ to them. This is especially key if you work with clients across the globe and are unlikely to meet face-to-face.
This email can be sent to anyone in your niche, and doesn’t require too much personalization. Keeping the ‘free consultation call’ phrase bold draws attention to the offer, and stating that it’s a limited-time offer makes it more appealing: it encourages potential clients to make a faster decision.
Hi [First Name],
Many people are struggling with [topical pain point in your niche]. My coaching services are designed to give people the tools they need to overcome these obstacles and reach their goals in a rapidly changing world.
I’d love to be able to offer you a limited-time offer of a free consultation call. I’m offering [number of minutes/1 hour, whatever you want to offer] to chat through your needs and how I might be able to help.
I’m passionate about [niche], having worked in this area for [time period]. I’ve helped [number] clients over the years, and I’d love to help you, too.
If you’re interested, I can schedule a call so we can get started!
Thanks,
[Name]
Promoting your virtual summit
Virtual summits are a real passion of mine, but of course, marketing your summit is key. If you are promoting this through a cold email, , you’ll need a persuasive, engaging email to draw their attention.
You’ll want to sell people on a) the topics you’ll be covering and b) the speakers you have lined up.
Hi [First Name],
I’m beyond excited to announce my [name of the summit]! With some incredible speakers in [niche] like [name], [name], and [name], this summit is going to be packed with information, practical steps, and the opportunity to ask questions of some prominent figures in the industry.
Here’s what you can expect:
- [Feature 1]
- [Feature 2]
- [Feature 3]
Interested? If so, I’d love to invite you to join us. It’s going to be an incredibly exciting event, and I cannot wait to get started. You can sign up here or use the button below. Register now to avoid missing out!
Hope to see you there,
[Name]
Promoting your virtual workshop
A virtual workshop is smaller than a summit, although a cold email for workshops requires a similar approach. You want to sell the features of the workshop, including the interactivity. Think from the reader’s perspective: How can I trust that this person knows what they’re talking about, and what exactly are they offering me?
Using a CTA button really helps here, as it makes it super easy for people to click through to your sign-up page.
Hi [First Name],
I’m so excited to announce my upcoming workshop, [name of workshop]. This workshop is designed to give you everything you need to [get started with/overcome] [topic/pain point]. I’ve been working on this for months, so I’m really stoked to share it with you!
Here’s what you can expect from the workshop:
- [Feature 1]
- [Feature 2]
- [Feature 3]
You’ll have a chance to ask me questions, too. In my career as a [niche] coach, I’ve learned [relevant experience – practical pain points you’ve had to overcome]. I can’t wait to share my experience and get to know others at different points in the journey.
Interested? The workshop is on [date and time], and I’d love for you to join us by clicking the button below.
[CTA button]
Hope to see you there!
[Name]
Asking someone to speak at your virtual summit
Your virtual summit will be much more engaging and useful if you have a range of expert voices. If you’ve found your dream speakers, here’s the email you need to get the conversation started.
The tone here is clear, keen, and professional. This is the first step in what will hopefully evolve into a call later on.
Dear [First Name],
My name is [name], and I’m excited to be hosting [Event Name], an online event for [niche/topic]. We’ll be talking about [insert three topics].
I’ve been following your work for a while: I love the [insert something you admire about the speaker].
I wondered if you wanted to share your expertise as a speaker on [Topic]. I’d love to have you on board. Are you open to a call to discuss it this week?
Here’s the link to the event so you can find out more.
Thanks for your time,
[Name]
Asking someone to be a guest on your podcast
The approach here is to be friendly, clear, and polite. Whether you use cold email or message them via a service like Talks.co, you want the potential guest to know that you’re approaching them specifically because you like their work, rather than just sending out a blanket email to everyone.
Dear [First Name],
I’ve been following your work on [insert their specialist topic here]. I especially enjoyed your [insert article, talk, or video here]. I think our listeners would love to hear more about this.
My name is [Name], and I’m the host of [Podcast Name], a podcast about [basic podcast premise]. I’d love to invite you to be a guest speaker on our podcast.
We launched [podcast name] in [date], and we’ve attracted over [number] listeners so far. Our listeners love everything to do with [insert the main topics you cover], and we would be honored if you would consider joining us in a guest spot on a future episode.
The podcasts tend to run around [number] minutes in length, and we conduct them through [insert method of recording here].
If you’re interested, let me know and we can hop on a call to discuss the details.
Thanks for your time,
[Name]
Cold email to prospects featuring success stories
This is very similar to a regular cold email to prospects, but the focus is on success stories from previous clients.
Hi [First Name]
I hope you are well!
My name is [Name], and I’m a coach specializing in [niche]. My mission is to help my clients navigate the field of [niche] and to reach their goals.
I came across your profile on [social media platform], and I can see that you’ve done incredible work in the field of [insert field here – give a specific example if you like]. I wanted to reach out and see if you’d be interested in some one-to-one coaching with me.
I’ve been coaching for [X] years, and I’m currently opening up my client roster. I’d love to have you on board. My clients have had success following my coaching. To give you some examples:
- [Testimonial 1]
- [Testimonial 2]
- [Testimonial 3]
If you’re interested or you have any questions, let me know: we can hop on a call and get started. You can also check out my website if you want to know more.
Thanks,
[Name]
Email for limited-time deals and discounts
Limited-time deals and discounts are excellent for drawing in new customers. The focus here is to explain the amount they’ll be saving, as well as the time-sensitive aspect of the offer.
Dear [First Name],
My name is [Name], and I’m so excited to be offering a limited-time deal on my [new way/program/coaching services]! For the month of [month], I’m taking on new clients at a discounted rate of [% off or flat rate]. If you’ve been looking for one-to-one coaching, now is the time to jump on board.
I’ve been a [niche] coach for [number of years] years now. My background is [insert credentials here – think career highs, certifications, etc]. My clients have seen great success from working with me. For example:
- [Testimonial 1]
- [Testimonial 2]
- [Testimonial 3]
If you’re interested in this limited-time deal, respond to this email and hop on a call, or click the button below to register:
[CTA button]
Hope to hear from you soon!
[Name]
Best Practices For Handling Responses and Follow-Ups
When it comes to handling responses (or sometimes, no responses at all), there are a few things I’ve learned over the years.
- Don’t be disheartened. Sometimes I’ve been anticipating working with a particular person for months, only to get a ‘no.’ Know that it might not be your services they’re rejecting specifically; it may be just the wrong time for them. So don’t give up if you don’t see tons of success right away.
- Don’t spam. Someone may respond, but then take longer to respond again. A gentle nudge is a good thing, but don’t email them every day demanding a response – that’s only going to turn them away from you.
- Set a schedule for follow-ups. Using a scheduling app, CRM software, or your cold email platform, you can schedule follow-up emails to be sent on specific days. This will stop you from forgetting, losing potential leads by accident. If you don’t have a specific platform for this, even setting a reminder on a Google Calendar is better than forgetting to follow up.
- Keep the momentum going. Don’t send out a bunch of emails and then stop: make it a regular habit to send new cold emails, so you don’t lose the momentum.
Common Cold Email Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Sending cold emails sounds straightforward, but there are some pitfalls I want to warn you about:
- Being too vague. People will pick up on this right away; get as specific as your time allows in terms of details in your emails, and people will feel that you genuinely want to work with them.
- Not properly segmenting your contacts. You should tag and segment your contacts properly, so you can target them with specific emails without having to double check who is who. A little work upfront that saves a ton of work later.
- Forgetting the unsubscribe link. You need to have a link to allow people to remove themselves from your mailing this. This is to comply with Gmail’s guidelines, and is considered best practice.
- Making your emails too long. People will start to lose concentration. You can pack in a lot of detail in a few words if you work at it. I’d recommend writing out your credentials, for example, and then go through and ruthlessly cut it down so the main point still stands, but the excess words are removed.
- Not making the CTA clear. Your email should always end with a CTA. Don’t forget to mention it!
- Getting the wrong timing. While opinions vary on this, it’s generally considered to be a no-no to send emails on weekends, at night, and on Mondays – people are bombarded with emails on Monday, so pick another weekday instead!
- Using spam trigger words. There are certain words that may accidentally trigger spam filters – ActiveCampaign has a good list of them you can check out.
- Not including your email signature. Have an email signature with your key contact details. It makes it easier if someone skips your CTA or wants to contact you in a different way. You can include details like your website and online profile, like your main social media account.
Measuring the Success of Your Cold Email Campaigns
Now you’ve started sending out emails, how can you measure your success rate?
Key metrics to track
As with any marketing you do online, you need to know how metrics work. Key metrics in email campaigns include:
- Open rate – this shows how many people have actually opened your emails
- Click-through rate – this shows how many people have clicked on a link
- Conversion rate – this shows how many people have bought a product or signed up via your emails
- Unsubscribe rate – this shows how many people have unsubscribed
- Bounce rate – the percentage of emails that couldn’t be delivered
- List growth rate – the rate at which your email list is growing
- Email forwarding rate – the percentage of emails that have been forwarded
- Overall ROI – your total revenue minus any money you’ve spent on your campaigns
The key thing to look for here, specifically in terms of coaching, is your conversion rate. This may be harder to track if you’ve hopped on a call with someone, rather than them clicking a link. I’d recommend separately making a note of how many new clients you’ve had from specific emails, so you can add them to the data provided by your email marketing platform. You may be able to update your CRM contacts after a call, which helps to keep everything in one place.
How to analyze open and reply rates
Open rates are interesting to analyze, because you can get a pretty low percentage, but that can actually be better than you think.
A good open rate is between 17-28%. That sounds low, but people receive so many emails now that this is a very solid percentage. So anything in this range is a good point to aim for.
As for reply rates? The industry standard is just 8.5%. This shows two things: 1) any responses you get are something to get excited about, and b) you need to be continually sending emails to new people to increase your chances of success.
Key Takeaways
You should have a ton of ideas and some templates for a jumping-off point. Now, all you need to do is build up your contact list and put yourself out there.
Remember to keep trying: Even if your first round of emails doesn’t get a response, that doesn’t mean you should give up. Keep trying, keep assessing your metrics, and be bold enough to reach out. It can really pay off in a big way.
Before you go, make sure you watch our free training on how to get coaching clients right here.