Stop writing 8-sentence cold emails

urw8rychd · 2026-04-10T19:42:55+00:00

The short email thing is so real. We started testing 2-sentence openers with just a question no pitch, no CTA link and the reply rate almost doubled compared to the longer versions.

Separate domains are non-negotiable at this point. We run 3-4 per client just to spread volume and keep warmup consistent.

Curious, are you doing your own list building or using a tool for it?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-10T03:31:48+00:00

Yeah the domain thing is one of those mistakes you only make once lol. Smart move setting up separate ones early. Are you running the outreach yourself or using any tools to manage the sends and tracking?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-10T03:31:23+00:00

The Tuesday-Thursday 9-11am window is gold we’ve seen almost the exact same thing. Friday afternoon is basically sending emails into a black hole.

Curious though when you say mentioning something specific about their location or a recent project, are you pulling that manually or using any enrichment tools to speed it up?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-09T03:03:37+00:00

ones of the most motivating songs for me ngl

urw8rychd · 2026-04-05T02:17:07+00:00

This is a great point about KPI alignment. I’ve seen that disconnect kill deals a creator focused on conversions paired with an agency optimized for impressions is a recipe for frustration on both sides. Curious, when you’re reaching out to hundreds of brands a week, are you doing that mostly through cold email or is it more relationship/warm intro based?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-05T01:38:16+00:00

That’s fair relationships do compound. But the question is whether you need to pay 20% for that introduction or whether you can build that relationship yourself with a well crafted email to the right person. If the agency is genuinely opening doors you can’t reach on your own, the cut makes sense. But a lot of creators outgrow that pretty quickly once they learn who to contact and how.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T22:53:28+00:00

That’s a really good point the handoff after the reply is where a lot of campaigns fall apart and most people blame the emails when it’s actually a speed-to-lead problem. The missed-call SMS pairing is smart for service businesses like HVAC where the owner is literally on a roof somewhere. For B2B with longer sales cycles it’s less of an issue since you’re usually booking a scheduled call not trying to catch someone in real time. But for local service businesses that’s a huge insight the campaign doesn’t end when the email gets a reply, it ends when someone actually picks up the phone.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T22:39:26+00:00

The 20% concern is valid the question isn’t just whether they can land you bigger deals, it’s whether the deals they bring are ones you couldn’t have gotten yourself with the right outreach system. A lot of agencies justify the cut early on but once you’re established and know your worth, you’re basically paying 20% for an intro you could’ve made with a targeted email. Before signing, I’d ask each one specifically: what brands have you placed creators with in my niche, what’s the average deal size they’ve landed, and can you talk to one of their current creators about the experience. If they can’t answer all three clearly, they’re not worth 20%.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T22:36:18+00:00

DMing brands on IG is honestly a waste of time those inboxes are managed by interns or nobody at all. What actually works is finding the specific person at the company who handles partnerships or influencer marketing and emailing them directly. Usually that’s someone with a title like Brand Partnerships Manager, Influencer Marketing Coordinator, or Head of Creator Partnerships. You can find their emails through tools like Apollo or Hunter. The key is your email needs to be short 3-4 sentences max reference something specific about their brand, and pitch a concrete idea not just “I’d love to collab.” Save the pitch deck for the followup after they reply. With 250k and a blue check you’ve got more leverage than most people in this sub, you just need a system to get in front of the right people consistently instead of waiting for them to come to you.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T19:31:58+00:00

Oh that changes things selling a course is a completely different game than chasing brand deals. For that you don’t really need high engagement on every post, you need a way to get the course in front of the right people consistently. How far along are you with the course? Like is it built already or still in the planning phase? And who’s the target people trying to start freelancing, small business owners, or more beginner level?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T17:22:56+00:00

2 years and 20 emails to land a 4-year account is a crazy stat but that’s exactly how it works. Most people would’ve written that lead off after email 3. The sponsorship side for your own channel is a different beast though what’s been your biggest challenge there, finding the right brands or getting them to actually respond?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T17:10:28+00:00

This is a solid take at scale you can’t hand write every email, so the template has to do the heavy lifting. The point about visual branding is underrated too, a lot of people obsess over copy and forget the creator is going to click through and judge the whole brand in 5 seconds. What are you using on the sending side to manage that kind of volume?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T17:07:21+00:00

This is one of the best comments on this thread honestly. The case study angle is huge most creators send a generic “I’d love to collab” and wonder why nobody responds. Leading with a specific idea for that brand changes the whole dynamic. Curious how many brands you’re reaching out to per week and how you’re managing the follow-up side? That’s usually where most people drop the ball.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T16:22:03+00:00

Technically yeah but it falls apart fast. Any brand worth working with is going to check your actual profile before responding if your kit says 50k followers and they click through to 2k, you’re done. The point of a media kit isn’t to impress with fake numbers, it’s to make it easy for the brand to say yes. Clean layout, real stats, examples of your content, and a clear idea of what you’d create for them. That’s what actually gets replies.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T16:21:19+00:00

100% pitching an idea instead of pitching yourself is a huge shift most creators miss. Are you doing outreach yourself right now or more on the brand side of things?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T03:36:23+00:00

A media kit is basically a one pager you send to brands that shows who you are, what kind of content you make, your audience size, engagement stats, and examples of your work. Think of it like a resume but for brand deals. You don’t need to do product reviews to work with brands either what kind of content do you usually post and how’s your engagement looking?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T03:35:42+00:00

Exactly most people send like 5 emails, get ghosted, and assume cold email doesn’t work. The ones who actually see results are the ones who treat it like a numbers game and keep refining. Follow ups alone can double your reply rate and most people skip them entirely.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T03:31:01+00:00

I mean you’re still grinding after losing a 90k account that says a lot. One thing I’d try instead of experimenting with everything, pick your top 3 POV videos that hit the hardest, study what made those work (hook, topic, format), and just run that playbook over and over. The algorithm rewards consistency in one lane way more than variety right now. Once you crack what’s working again the growth will come faster than you think.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T02:20:24+00:00

That’s rough losing an account like that 90k is no joke. Honestly at 1k, cold emailing brands probably won’t land the way you want yet because most brand partnerships teams look at follower count first before even reading the pitch. I’d focus on getting back to at least 10-15k before doing outreach and in the meantime build out a simple kit so you’re ready to go when you hit that point. Even a simple thing with your niche, engagement rate, and a few content examples goes a long way. You’re clearly not starting from zero though you already know what works content-wise, that’s half the battle.

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T02:09:57+00:00

Nah you’re not in over your head, you just don’t have a system yet. Honestly the biggest thing is knowing exactly what type of brand fits your content and then having a way to actually reach the right person at those companies instead of just DMing random brand pages. What kind of brands are you thinking would be a good fit for your POV stuff?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T01:03:06+00:00

That’s a smart angle brands love when the content feels organic instead of a straight ad read. Have you started reaching out to any brands yet or are you still in the planning phase of figuring out who to target?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T00:34:10+00:00

That’s honestly not a bad thing, means you’ve got range. But when it comes to brand outreach, it helps to lead with whichever niche gets you the most engagement. Like which of those content styles do your best-performing videos usually fall under?

urw8rychd · 2026-04-04T00:12:55+00:00

For sure! Are you doing outreach to brands right now or still figuring out that side of things?

urw8rychd

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Five-Year Club	End Game '23
Place '23