Step 1: Keep Your Sequence Concise
- Limit your cold email sequence to three emails total (initial email + two follow-ups)
- Response rates typically "fall off a cliff" after the third email
Step 2: Repurpose Your Initial Email Content
- Don't reinvent the wheel for follow-ups
- Reuse the core offer and value proposition from your first email
- Think of follow-ups as pieces of the same puzzle—not new messages
Step 3: Create Your First Follow-Up (Email #2)
- Keep the same core offer as the initial email
- Consider offering a tangible asset like:
- A strategy document
- A selection of resumes/CVs
- A list of ideas specific to their business
- Make the request simple and direct
- Example: "I outlined a full YouTube strategy for you with ten video topics, thumbnail ideas, and script outlines. You don't mind if I share the strategy doc with you here?"
Step 4: Create Your Second Follow-Up (Email #3)
- Focus on offering a video explanation of your solution
- Keep it extremely short and direct
- Make it easy to say "yes" to viewing your content
- Example: "I recorded a quick video going over a YouTube strategy you can use to sign five high-ticket clients in the next 90 days. Mind if I share the video here?"
Step 5: Develop A/B Test Variations
- For each email in your sequence, create at least one alternative version
- Test significantly different approaches:
- Ultra-short (one sentence) emails
- Bullet-point formatting
- Different opening styles
- Varying levels of directness