How To Write Cold Emails to YouTubers That Get Replies

From someone tired of reading horrible cold emails

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My YouTube channel has fallen into the range that is prime for being cold-emailed. I am approaching 20,000 subscribers, which is the perfect range of large enough to be making money, but small enough not to have a team. This is what all the freelancing gurus suggest you find. Therefore, I get multiple cold emails every week.

Up to this point, I have never responded to a cold email. Not because I am not needing their services or because I won't respond to any cold email, but because the email contains every reason that I would want to work with the sender.

Unfortunately, I know they are writing these repelling emails because someone once gave them this advice or even a template. (Yes, I have received multiple emails from different people using the same template.)

So if you are thinking of cold emailing to find customers for your service, I am all for it, but I want to share some real information to help you get responses.

Don’t Lie!

The biggest tip that I can give you as a cold emailer is don’t lie. Typically, I see 2 main types of lies in a cold email: Familiarity lies and Work lies.

Familiarity Lies

Let's be real. My channel creates content that helps academics and graduate students complete research. There is no reason a graphic designer or video editor has been following my content for years or even subscribes to my channel. That is fine! I don’t need a video editor to find my content useful.

Yet, every cold email I get starts with “A quick question from a subscriber” or “I have been following your amazing content for so long.”. The statements are always so vague that they become meaningless. Also, adding a random video I have published doesn’t help it seem like you are a fan.

This is only made better by also spelling my name wrong or saying my channel is about something it is not. The fact is that these emailers are going for quantity over quality. As soon as I met their criteria, they put my info into their template and sent it off. This is a great way to waste your time.

If you are going to lie about following my content to get me as a client, what will you lie about once I am a client?

Work Lies

I was watching a YouTube video a while back and I heard advice that when you cold email, you should finish it with something to the effect of “I have already created X for you. Email me if you would like to see it.”

Then, the speaker quickly said, “Don’t worry. You won’t have actually created it. If they email you back, then create it, but it will get you more responses.”

Here is the kicker: It doesn’t. If you really created this example of your work, you would send it, because that is the absolute best way to get me to respond. I see how good your work is on something relevant to me and of course, I am going to want more.

So, there are two options when you state something to this effect: (1) you lied about creating it or (2) you created it but are not proud of the work. Either option means that I am going to be disappointed with your work either because you are willing to lie about completing it or because it is not good.

Choose A Service You Have Success In

I cannot tell you the number of cold emails I get from people who specialize in YouTube growth. So my natural response is let me look at their YouTube channel. Lo and behold, they never have one. I cannot understand the confidence of someone who has never created a YouTube video or run a YouTube channel to tell me that they are a specialist in YouTube growth.

Another favorite of mine is the people who specialize in optimizing your email marketing funnel so you never have to cold email again. Again, if you are so good at this, you should be getting your customers from your own email marketing.

Now, this doesn’t mean that every video editor and graphic designer needs to have YouTube channels and popular Instagram pages, but don’t present yourself as a growth specialist. Simply say that you are a video editor that helps create engaging content for X type of video.

Then, have a portfolio to back you up. Even if you have had zero clients, get stock video, film your own video, create your own designs, or write your own blog posts. You don’t need a client to have a portfolio. Create at least 3 items like what you want to create for your client and share a link to your website that hosts your portfolio. It is worth the time to actually show what you are capable of to get the responses you want.

Own Being A Newbie

Most of you will be emailing businesses for your services. Here is a secret, all the people that are in your optimal range have been a beginner at one point in time. We all knew we had value we just needed someone else to see it.

So many cold emails, either lie about the work they have done or make over-boasting claims to act like they are super successful. If you were incredibly successful at this, you wouldn’t need to cold email me.

I would rather get a cold email that goes like this:

“Hi Alana,

I came across your YouTube channel recently and I wanted to contact you because I thought you were a good fit for a service that I am offering. To be honest, I have just started offering video editing as a service and I am currently looking for new clients.

I have been editing videos for a private project previously, but I am ready to take a step into editing videos as a freelancer. I have prepared a few videos here if you would like to see my style of editing.

Since I would really like to work with you, I would be happy to edit an initial video of yours so that you can see how amazing my work is. Then, we can discuss continued paid services.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Thanks,

A newbie video editor”

than an email like this:

“Hi anna,

I have been following your channel for the last few years. I love all your content on blogging.

However, I have noticed that your editing is not good. I have previously edited videos for Gary Vee, and I believe that I can help you grow your YouTube channel.

Please respond for more information.

Thanks,

A newbie video editor”

This is very similar to an email I just received.

Don’t Insult Your Audience

For some reason, I think the popular advice in a cold email is to flatter your receiver and then insult them.

I swear so many emails I get say something like “I have been binge-watching your channel and just can’t get enough. However, I have noticed that your editing really sucks and it is hard to stay engaged. Therefore, I think you need my service to edit your videos.”

This makes my head turn. Look any business owner or content creator is not going to be great at everything. I understand that you want to share why they should want you, but you are missing the whole point.

Most people won’t respond to a cold email unless they already know they need the service. You don’t have to insult the person, just come in as a helping hand.

Let's rewrite the above email:

“I have recently found your channel and it is clear that you truly want to help graduate students. I know that you are super busy with all the components of running a YouTube channel. I really love creating super engaging content with added graphics to keep your audience's attention. I completely understand that you may not have the time to focus on that so I wanted to offer my services to take video editing off your plate and allow you to publish more engaging videos to increase your Audience Retention Rate.”

Both emails are saying my editing is not where it could be, but I already know my video editing is a place where I don’t put the effort. The second email recognizes my pain of having limited time and offers a solution instead of simply saying I suck and can’t build my YouTube channel without them.

How To Stand Out

The biggest way to stand out in a cold email is to actually give your recipient something they can use. Yes, this is going to take time, but let me tell you, it would make me give you a response.

Here are a few examples:

Graphic Designer — Take a previous video or social media post and make an infographic from the information.
Video Editor — Download a YouTube video and re-edit it to make it more engaging or turn it into shorts if that is what you do.
Thumbnail maker — Take a previous YouTube video and create a more compelling thumbnail
Editor — Find a recent blog post and re-edit it
SEO specialist — Take a recent YouTube video or blog post and re-edit the description or post for SEO and give a list of other ways you can increase the SEO
Data Analyst — Pull public data for a YouTube channel or website and show them key insights.
Email Marketing Specialist — Sign up for their email list. Edit an email that will help them get more customers.

At the end of your email, say “I have attached X from your recent post. Feel free to use it or A/B test it.”

This means without any risk to myself I can see if you are actually worth your services. It also shows me that you will actually deliver on what you say because you are already overdelivering.

If you did this and it was quality work, I can guarantee that you will get a response from me. Now it may be that I don’t have the budget, but I will keep you in mind in the future. However, better believe that if someone else I know needs your services, I would be recommending you.

The Secret Behind Cold Emailing

Cold emailing can actually work to bring you new clients. I know because I would be more than happy to hire someone who has cold-emailed me with a service that I need. The problem is that most people are writing the cold email as an afterthought when the first email should be the only thought.

If you do not make a good impression with the first email, no one will respond or give you a second chance. Unfortunately, with the low quality of cold emailing that exists, just putting in a little extra effort will make you stand fully apart from the rest.