What's the most unique or memorable outreach you've ever received?
The most memorable outreach I’ve received came from my current Instagram editor. After I made a casual comment about anime, he sent me a two‑page email detailing various anime series he likes and even pitched the idea of running an Instagram account by showing me his anime channel, which was performing well at the time. He’s now absolutely outstanding in his work. The outreach doesn’t need to be flashy or a hook; its value lies in the research he put into understanding me, which takes considerable time and isn’t scalable—perhaps limiting such personalized outreach to about ten people a day instead of two hundred. Despite that, it worked: we collaborated, and the effort likely improved his material situation significantly.
I’d suggest creating a short Loom video that you send directly to the prospect. Start by finding a post on my Instagram, then record a quick 30‑second video in the bottom‑left corner of the screen. Introduce yourself, explain that you’re a real person, and show the value you can provide—how you could save them money or generate revenue. Keep it concise, make it feel personalized, and end by saying you’d love to work together because your values align. Ask them to respond with a thumbs‑up or a quick "yes," and include a link to your calendar so they can schedule a call. The key is to appear authentic, respectful of their time, and to avoid sounding like a generic robot or spammy outreach.
The goal with personalization is to keep it informal and incidental—basically as human as possible. You don’t want a long, generic intro like “Hello, I’ve been following your agency for a while…”. Instead, keep it super short: a one‑liner that mentions you’ve been following them for a hot minute, a quick compliment, and a reference to a specific post that resonated with you. Combine that with a subject line that feels like a personal teaser, e.g., “Nick, how’s it going?” or “Nick, loved your post on paraphrase”. The idea is to make the email feel like a casual, familiar note so the recipient is compelled to click, even if they get hundreds of pitches a day. In short, aim for ultra‑casual, concise, and context‑specific personalization.
Both approaches have value, so you should do them simultaneously. If you’re planning to send 30‑40 emails a day, aim for 30 rather than 40 to stay sustainable. Start with a manageable number—20 emails per day for the first week, then increase to 30. Build systems that let you work faster: split your daily volume between two types of outreach. Send about half of the emails (15) with deep personalization and the other half (15) with a custom asset, like a sample or a strategy document. Create two or three reusable custom‑asset templates so you can quickly generate them for each prospect, and also develop two or three deep‑personalized email templates where you can swap in variables. This hybrid approach lets you showcase value up front while still tailoring each message, increasing the chances of landing a call and eventually a client.
Even with zero credibility you can still get traction by using a conversational tone in your outreach. Write longer, personalized emails that give context about who you are, what you’re building, and why you’re reaching out. Make it sound like a genuine conversation rather than a sales pitch. This approach works well for beginners because it feels authentic and helps you stand out from the generic offers flooding inboxes. Give it a try – the personal, story‑driven style often lands the first leads when you don’t have a brand reputation yet.