outreach-email

Write relevant one-to-one email with one value and one easy next reply. Do not promise response rates.

Scope

Use for prospecting, partnerships, colleague requests, client updates, and follow-ups. Use no-ai-slop for AI-pattern detection or voice-preserving polish when ask and facts are already set. Use newsletter-growth for recurring broadcasts. Skip support, transactional, legal, and long-form announcement email.

Inputs

• Recipient, role, company, and relationship.
• One desired outcome.
• One recipient benefit.
• Verified hook and proof.
• Smallest useful ask.
• Sender voice and required formality.

User owns relationship, claims, proof, and recipient facts. Use placeholders when missing. Never invent familiarity, research, praise, urgency, shared connection, or results.

Drafting Defaults

Starting constraints, not performance rules:

• Body under 100 words; aim 75-90 when complete.
• Subject 3-6 words and under 50 characters.
• Three short blocks: context, value, ask.
• One benefit and one call to action.
• Common words, short sentences, visible white space.
• Grade 3-5 readability when topic permits. Keep required technical terms.

Break default when trust, compliance, risk, or technical clarity requires more. State reason.

Workflow

Step 1: Pin Goal

Reduce goal to one observable reply or action. Split unrelated requests.

• Prospect: lead with relevant problem and credible benefit.
• Colleague: lead with shared context and concrete request.
• Client: lead with current state, impact, and next step.

Step 2: Verify Hook

Use one supplied or verified detail: recent event, shared connection, prior exchange, project, or public work. Opening line becomes preview text. Put recipient relevance before sender biography.

Step 3: Draft Subjects

Write three options. Keep conversational and specific. Lowercase only when voice fits; preserve proper nouns. Avoid fake reply markers, clickbait, vague checking in, or misleading urgency.

Useful patterns:

• quick question about [company]
• idea for [name]
• [project] review
• next step on [topic]

Step 4: Write Three Blocks

1. Context: why recipient, why now, sender identity only when needed.
2. Value: one tailored benefit plus one proof point when available.
3. Ask: low-friction question answerable quickly.

Request meeting only when meeting is smallest useful step. Otherwise ask permission to send example, confirm interest, choose option, or review artifact.

Step 5: Tighten

Delete background, repeated value, stacked questions, filler, and oversized signature. Move ask to final line. Check subject length and body word count. Do not hit target by deleting material facts.

Step 6: Build Follow-Ups When Requested

Default 4-6 total touches over several weeks only when relationship, policy, and applicable rules permit. Each touch adds new example, result, resource, observation, clarification, alternative ask, or close-the-loop note.

Stop after decline, opt-out, wrong-recipient signal, or relationship-specific limit. Never send repeated just following up messages.

Fallbacks

• No verified hook: use honest context; do not fake personalization.
• No proof: offer concrete example or remove unsupported claim.
• Sensitive update: exceed word target to preserve material facts.
• Unknown outreach rules: draft only; flag compliance review before send.

Verify

• Personalization true and relevant.
• Value appears early.
• One benefit and one ask.
• Reply is easy.
• Tone fits relationship.
• Mobile scan works.
• No unsupported claims or invented detail.
• Follow-ups add value and include stop condition.

Writing

Use direct simple sentences. Skip rhetorical flourishes. Avoid X-not-Y contrasts, self-answering rhetorical questions, em dashes, alliterative three-part phrases, vague inspirational pivots, unsourced claims, and unverified quotes.

Output

For one email: three subjects, body, word count, placeholders. For sequence: timing, thread instruction, new value, and body per touch. State assumptions.