Small Business Week gained some serious momentum in Lunenburg County this year thanks to Bernice Williams, a community and economic developer of Bernice Williams Consulting. I had the opportunity to attend one of the Business Builders’ events called Ask the Experts Breakfast. This networking event was designed to showcase the expertise we have in our own backyard by giving local business owners some one-on-one time with seasoned industry pros.
During the event, I caught some time with the owner of Mind’s Eye Creative, Ashton Rodenhiser. She uses her creativity as a powerful tool to graphically record and present ideas that flow out of workshops, meetings, seminars, conferences and more.
She opened up the conversation with the words, “how I tripled my income from last year,” and I was immediately hooked. I’ve heard of the term “cold email
pitching”
before, but I’m one of the many business owners that are guilty of underusing this effective growth strategy.
A cold email pitch refers to reaching out to someone at a business who doesn’t know you, making them a “cold” connection instead of a “warm” one, where someone is familiar with you.
According to HubSpot, 86 per cent of business professionals prefer to communicate by email and the goal of this type of email is to get in touch with the decision-maker and open the lines of communication to discuss opportunities.
Here are some tips Rodenhiser shared on how to send an effective cold email during our Ask the Experts session:
Make it personal
Personalizing your cold emails can double your reply rate. Use the recipient’s name and make specific references to the company, like a recent event you attended, an article you read or a new product they launched. Set up Google Alerts to get automatic updates on the companies you’re targeting.
Be informative
“Don’t be salesy; be informative,” says Rodenhiser. “People want to have conversations with real people.” Put your benefits in terms of value for the company, like mentioning past successes you’ve had with another client, including any numbers and statistics to make your pitch even more enticing.
Followup
There’s no magic number for how many followup emails to send, but businesses that send four to seven emails receive three times more responses compared to sending only one to three emails. Rodenhiser says, “We need to get away from the notion that we are bugging people, following up seems obsessive to us, but to a company, it’s familiar.” If you plan to include phone calls as part of your followup, Rodenhiser advises having a phone script prepared with questions and answers about what your business has to offer.
To learn more about Mind’s Eye Creative and the expert entrepreneurs involved in Small Business Week 2018, visit the Business Builders’ Facebook page.
Candice Reeves is a local copywriter and the owner of Reeves Creative Copy. Laptop and coffee cup in hand, her mission is to help small businesses turn their brilliant ideas into words that will build their brand and drive sales.
Candice Reeves is a local copywriter and the owner of Reeves Creative Copy. Laptop and coffee cup in hand, her mission is to help small businesses turn their brilliant ideas into words that will build their brand and drive sales.
