Ask HN: How to land web development contracts through cold emails
I was wondering if any of you ever tried cold emailing companies and startups and how you made it work
If you absolutely need to do it, make the emails highly targeted and personalized. For example:
1. Find 10 companies that are very similar to your last client.
2. For each of those companies, find the person with authority and budget to hire developer contractors.
3. Study them and their company and make educated guesses about their current needs or problems. For instance, if they just launched a new product, maybe it needs an API. Or if their product only integrates with X and Y, maybe they could use an integration with Z.
4. Write a very short and direct email explaining that you can help them do [need/problem from step 3], what you did for [past client who resembles them], and what was the business outcome of that project.
5. Follow up once at most. Don't be annoying.
I printed The front of the envelope in color and the back in color with a pitch for web development/hosting services.
Each time I sent out a batch of 10, 1 or 2 would call or email and usually 1 would sign a contract for me to do their website.
On the flip side my best projects and clients have always been through relationships/recommendations. Way better projects, way better fees and longer term ongoing clients are almost always from your personal network.
This means working with local small businesses vs working with Fortune 500 companies and NFL teams in my case.
So feel free to reach out, I think physical mailings would work better for local businesses.
I see cold pitch emails come in to contact forms all the time, they aren't very polished though so if you craft them just right you might have success. Especially if you're a customer or met the owner at some point, include that in the email. Or send them a link to a mock up of their website and list off issues/improvements you would do for their site.
If you are at a visit in person and notice they need a new website that's a great time to ask who you could talk to about a new website or get their email/phone number to contact them when they aren't busy (you can't talk business during the busiest part of their day).
Cold email, it's possible, but difficult.
I can't tell if they're bots (I assume they are) and my websites are fine, so I don't respond to any of them.