How to write a cold email from a prospect's website

Most cold emails fail in the first line. "I came across your company" tells the reader you came across nobody in particular. A line that names something real on their site does better, and it takes about five minutes if you let an assistant do the reading.

The rule that keeps this honest: the email may only use facts that are on the page you gave it. No guessed revenue, no invented pain, no "I noticed you are struggling with".

What you need

• The text of one or two pages from the prospect's site: the home page and the page for the service you care about. Copy and paste the text. Do not rely on an assistant to browse for you unless you check what it says it read.
• One sentence on what you offer and one proof point you can really back up, such as a past client result you have permission to mention.
• Your name and one thing you want them to do, such as a 15-minute call or a reply with yes or no.

The prompt

Paste this, then paste the site text under it.

You are helping me write one cold email to a business owner.

My offer: [one sentence on what I do]
My proof: [one real, checkable fact, or write "none"]
What I want: [for example, a reply saying whether a 15-minute call makes sense]

Below is text copied from the prospect's website. Use ONLY facts that appear in it. Do not guess at their problems, size, revenue or tools.

Do this:
1. List 3 specific things from the site text that are relevant to my offer, each with the exact phrase you took it from.
2. Choose the one that is most useful to mention and say why in one line.
3. Write the email: a subject line under 6 words, then a body under 90 words. First sentence refers to the specific thing from the site. Second sentence says what I do and how it relates. Third sentence gives my proof, or leave it out if I wrote "none". Last sentence is one clear ask.
4. List any claim in the email that is not directly supported by the site text or by what I told you. If there are none, say "none".

Rules: plain words, no flattery, no "I hope this finds you well", no fake urgency, no exclamation marks.

SITE TEXT:
[paste here]

How to check the result

Open the prospect's site next to the draft and tick each sentence against the page. This takes two minutes and it is the step that matters. Assistants sometimes blend a detail from a similar business into the draft, or round a vague line on the site into something more specific.

Look at the "unsupported claims" list from step 4. If it lists anything, delete that sentence or confirm it yourself.

Then read the email as the recipient. Does the first line show you read their site? Would you know what to answer? If the ask is vague, rewrite it as a question with a yes or no answer.

A short example of the shape

The first line might read: "Your page says you book installs two weeks out." Your second line says what you do. The email ends: "Worth a quick call this week, or should I stop here?" Nothing in it is a guess.

Limits

• It only knows what you paste. A thin site gives you a thin email, and the honest answer may be that you have nothing specific to say. Then do not send it.
• It does not find the right person or a working address. Find the contact on their own site or ask for the right person in your first line.
• It cannot judge whether your offer fits. That is your call.
• Check the rules where you send from. In the UK and EU, emailing a named person at a company is treated differently from emailing a generic address, and every message should say who you are and let people opt out. If you are unsure, take advice before you send in volume.
• Send a handful, read the replies, then change the prompt. Do not mail merge 500 of them.

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