Cold Emails Make for Warm Calling

Cold Call-O-Phobia:
Cold Emails Make for Warm Calling

You know where I stand on cold calling, right?
I hate it.

I've written about here in this publication before.
I hate it.

I've done it only once and swore I'd never do it again.
Did I mention that I hate it?
                                                      --BWM

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Cold Call-O-Phobia: Cold Emails Make For Warm Calling
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Call me un-American.  Call me the ugly American.
Call me anti-business.

You can call me what you like, but you won't change my mind.

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Please don't Take Offense
---------------------------
I know, I know, I can hear the objections of
those who love to cold call.

"Oh, Barry. Grow up, will you?"

or

"Get over it already. Pick up the phone, you big baby!"

and

"Hey, it works for me. Go figure."

OK. "Uncle."
But before you decide to flame my email server and get me
kicked off my hosting site, hear me out.

I may have some strong personal feelings about cold calling
for business, but I know that there are many out there,
just like me, who would rather have a root canal without
anesthesia, than pick up a phone to call a stranger.

I'm not the only one. Pods are everywhere. :-)
We are lone reeds braving the winds in a storm of...
well, anyway, you get the idea.

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From Rainstorm ---> Brainstorm
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Recently, I took up the challenge from an associate, another
commercial writer, who loves to cold call for business.

It really wasn't a challenge but a success story about cold
calling that she posted on a writer's forum I frequent.

What she does is really research, but in her eyes it's
cold calling (and because I don't want a nasty phone call
later today, I'll go along with that idea).

Here's what she does.
She calls on different businesses and simply asks if they
use freelance writers. Simple right?

If they say yes, she asks for an email address to send them
a link to her web site. Perhaps they gab about her
background or their current needs and "voila", she's made
another successful cold call.

More importantly, she garnered an email address and
valuable contact information.

It doesn't sound hard. It doesn't sound like it would take
nerves of steel tempered by titanium grade resolve, does it?

But it does.
Take my word for it.

Yesterday, it rained.
All day, it just poured.

A storm came into Monterey Bay and it fell silently while
I worked at a few projects.

Rain makes me think. And while it was raining, I was thinking.
That was when the Rainstorm turned into a Brainstorm.

It was brilliant! Magic, even stupendous...
well for me anyway.

What was it?

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An e-Alternative to Cold Calling
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It occurred to my thick, gray cortical cells that my associate
was on to something in her neat little process cleverly
disguised as cold calling.

Maybe I could try it.
But that would mean picking up the phone and talking
to strangers.

My mother wouldn't like that.
"Don't talk to strangers, Barry Wayne."
I can that echo from decades back even now.

So this is what I decided to do.
And consequently did.

I typed up a draft email inquiry letter and then researched
the email addresses of ten hospital marketing / media
contacts within my local geographic area.

I sent each a polished version of the inquiry and sat
back to see what would happen.

What happened amazed me.

-------------------------
"Thanks for not calling."
-------------------------
Of the ten emails I sent, this morning I received four
replies.. all asking for my samples and rates:

"Yes, of course we use freelancers! How much do you charge?
Can you send me some clips and your rates?"

My jaw dropped open and my coffee ran out of my gaping
mouth and onto my black Logitech keyboard.

OK, I probably shouldn't have admitted that.
Gross. Messy.

But that's a 40% return!!
That's unheard of in cold calling circles.

Now, I know that this sample is no way near the marathon
cold calling numbers that some of my colleagues embrace.

Some of them will call 750 businesses in a single month
and get ten interviews. That's an infinitely minuscule
response percentage.
That's tough.

The kicker to this is based on a previous experience
with cold emails.

When I cold-emailed about a dozen web and graphic designers
in the Santa Cruz area about three months ago, I received
more than a few responses thanking me for "NOT CALLING."

Comments like...

"Thanks so much for not calling me on the phone.
I really hate the interruptions."

and...

"I'm glad you didn't call. I wouldn't have picked up."

and my favorite...

"What? A copywriter who doesn't cold-call? Dude!"

Like I said, I'm in Santa Cruz, AKA Surfer-Town, USA.

---------------
Final Thoughts
---------------
Cold Calling. It's a phenomenon.
It's a numbers game. "It's inexplicable."

Here's my take on this experience:

I believe freelancers and solo-preneurs must network within
their target market in a way that doesn't ultimately harm
their chances of landing a paying gig.

My associate can call all day and not get
anybody agitated enough to hang up on her.
I cannot.

But I *can* up pick the phone and talk to someone (even for
the first time) after I've received a warm response to an email
or after they've called me and convinced me that calling
them would not be cold, but warm.

Bottom line, warming up your targets make talking to them
easier and more effective. Whether you use an email,
a phone call (shudder), or a postcard mailer. Do it.

Take action and warm up those contacts. They need your
services more than you know. You'll get some and you'll
lose some.

But you won't get any, if don't warm them properly.
Happy Warming!

Thanks for reading,

Barry

P.S. As always, you can shoot me a response, a criticism,
even a compliment ;-) here: Barry@BarryMorris.com