Cold outreach that isn't spam: what a solo builder's pitch actually looks like

I've been there. Still am, some days.

Now, for the good news.

A good pitch is short, about them, and asks for one easy yes. You don't need a template pack or a tool.

Here's what I actually send. Real subject lines, a real email, and real results.

Including the part most outreach guides skip: the batch with zero replies.

1. The scoreboard

1.1 The pitches that worked

In October I started pitching for Affarah, a rental site I do the marketing for.

The first 6 pitches went out between Oct 20 and 22.

The first two I sent both said yes within a day:

• A remote-work-in-Japan blog added the agency to its list of foreigner-friendly rental companies. Then offered a guest post.
• A relocation and real estate company added it to its list of English-speaking agents. A followed link.

Two links from two emails. I thought I'd cracked it.

1.2 The pitches that haven't (yet)

So I scaled up, for my own sites: YenHacks, Japan Ramen Guide, Japan Lookout and Daruma.

Between Oct 27 and 31 I sent 16 emails to travel blogs, podcasts and newsletters. Plus 2 contact forms.

Human replies so far: 0.

(One support desk sent an automatic "request received". That doesn't count.)

The oldest of those emails is five days old. My follow-ups go out after six. And 35 more are scheduled, about 3 a night.

2. Why the first ones worked

This is my read. Two wins isn't a study. But the pattern was clear enough to write down.

2.1 They asked to join something that already existed

Both sites already had a list page. I wasn't asking them to write anything new.

I was asking to be one more line on a page they already keep up to date.

2.2 They pointed at a real gap

One list was sorted by area. In one of the areas we cover, it had no English-speaking agency at all.

So the pitch wasn't "please link me". It was "your list is missing this".

2.3 They did the work for them

Both emails included the entry, written in the exact same format as the other entries on the list.

Name. Area. One sentence. Website.

All they had to do was paste it.

Sam Parr (more on him below) puts it like this: "All you have to do is say yes and I'll take care of everything else."

Compare that with my travel blog pitches. Those ask a busy writer to open an old guide, find a spot and work in a new link. That's an editing job.

3. A real pitch, line by line

Here's one I sent on Oct 30 for Japan Ramen Guide. The only changes: I took out the site's name, the article's title and the other app's name.

Why each line is there:

• Subject: lowercase, about their list. Reads like a note, not a campaign.
• Line 1: their article, by name, and something true about it. I'm not trashing the app they picked.
• The gap: one sentence. Why their readers might want more.
• What I've got: two real numbers, both checked against the live site that day.
• One link. Not three.
• One question they can answer with yes.
• The PS: something useful even if they say no.

It's under 100 words. My rule is under 150, and closer to 100 is better.

4. Subject lines

My first batch of subject lines:

• Japan budget hacks for your readers
• Money-saving tips for your Japan travelers
• Ramen guide for your Japan content

They read like every other pitch in a blogger's inbox. Title Case, "your readers", no idea which article I mean.

The newer ones name their thing:

• your jr pass calculation for first-timers
• a tool for your celiac japan guide
• article idea: your first month of paperwork
• for your moving to japan timeline

And the two that got yeses both named the exact list page they were for.

I can't tell you yet which of my own two styles gets more replies. Neither has a reply so far. I'll update this when one does.

5. What I check before anything sends

This is the boring part. It's also where most of my drafts got fixed.

5.1 My own numbers match my own site

Four YenHacks drafts said "250+ hacks". The site's description said 241. Fixed.

Then I noticed the page itself only showed about 155 live ones. So the drafts became "150+".

If a blogger clicks and counts, the email has to be right.

5.2 Every claim about them, or anyone else, is checked

• A PS said standing soba costs ¥170. The real price I could find was ¥390 to ¥430. Fixed.
• A line said another ramen app covers about 700 shops. Its App Store page gave no shop count. Cut.
• One draft named an app the blogger's article didn't mention. Fixed to the ones it did.
• In one batch, the "personal" openers didn't match the posts they named. One pointed at a page about Morocco. I rewrote every opener from the blogger's own post titles and cut all the PS lines.

5.3 One site per email

Every email pitches one site, from that site's own address. Never "I also run..." or "my other site".

The night it sends, the email gets checked once more: right address, link loads, none of those phrases.

6. What I skip

Out of 53 drafts in my latest batch, I dropped 7 before sending:

• No real email address. What I'd found was junk from the site's code.
• A direct competitor (another ramen shop map).
• No Japan posts at all.
• A tour seller. Low fit.
• A commercial rail pass site. Close to a competitor.
• A blog last updated in 2016 or 2017.
• A site I couldn't read properly, so I couldn't check my opening line.

Seven fewer emails. Nothing lost.

7. The one video worth watching

If you watch one thing on cold email, make it this one. Sam Parr started The Hustle, and here he walks through the exact cold email formula he used.

The bits I use most:

• The follow-up is key. "You're 50 cold emails away from everyone on Earth. Like one initial email and 49 follow-ups." (24:54)
• AIDA: attention, interest, desire, action. A headline that grabs, a story that pulls them in, then one very specific action. (25:26)
• Make yes easy. "All you have to do is say yes and I'll take care of everything else." (25:26 to 26:31)
• Follow up with news, not nags. His follow-ups were updates. They often turned a no into a yes. (26:31 to 27:38)
• Write simply. He says good writers write at about a fourth-grade level. (4:51)
• Periods, not commas. No adverbs. (3:16 and 3:48)

I wish I'd taken the first one to heart earlier. Which is why this guide has a section 1.2.

8. My checklist

I keep these as my own checklists. Here are the rules that matter, in short:

1. Read one thing they published. Note one specific, true detail.
2. One sentence on why their readers would care. Can't write it? Skip them.
3. Subject: 3 to 8 words, about their thing.
4. Body: about 75 to 125 words. 150 is the ceiling.
5. One link. One ask. A yes or no question.
6. Never "I hope this finds you well", "I'm reaching out", "just following up" or "quick question".
7. Every number checked against the live page, on the day.
8. Follow up once, 5 to 7 days later, in the same thread. Under 60 words. Lead with something new and true.
9. No reply after that? Stop. Mark it done.

Resources I actually use:

• Sam Parr's cold email formula (the video above).
• Hemingway Editor's help pages: shorter sentences, fewer adverbs, simpler words.
• no-ai-slop by Peter Yang: a list of words and patterns that make writing sound machine-made. I run every pitch past it.

Final thoughts

The warm, specific pitches got links in a day. The colder batch hasn't got one yet.

That might change when the follow-ups go out. If it does, I'll update this page with the real numbers. If it doesn't, I'll tell you that too.

Either way, nobody replies to the email you didn't send.