Cold Email Template for Local Business Owners

A local business owner reads email on a phone between jobs. They do not know you and they are not waiting for you. The email has a few seconds to answer three questions: who is this, what do they want, and is it for me?

The template below is built around those three questions. Use it as a starting shape, not as words to paste.

The shape of the message

1. Who you are, in the first sentence. Your name and what you do, in plain words.
2. One thing about their business. Something you could only know by looking at them: a detail from their reviews, their listing or their site.
3. One relevant offer. What you could do for them, in a sentence.
4. One easy question. Something answerable with a word, not "let me know your thoughts".
5. The footer. Your name, your business, your postal address and a way to opt out. This is required in many places: see the CAN-SPAM checklist.

Keep it short enough to read without scrolling on a phone. Send it as plain text: no pictures, no attachments, no tracking links.

Template 1: the business has no website

Subject: a booking page for {business name}?

Hi {first name},

I'm {your name}. I build simple websites for local businesses.

I was looking at {trade} in {city} and found {business name}. {One specific thing from their reviews}. I couldn't find a website where someone can {ask for a visit / book / see your menu}, though.

I could put together a small page for {business name} so people can {do that} at any hour. Would you like me to send an example?

{Your name} {Your business}, {postal address} If you'd rather not hear from me, reply STOP.

Template 2: the website is there but hard to use

Subject: a quick note about the {business name} website on a phone

Hi {first name},

I'm {your name}. I help local businesses get more calls from their website.

I opened {business name}'s site on my phone and {one concrete thing: the phone number is hard to find / the page is slow to load / there is no way to book}. Most of your customers will see it the same way.

I could fix that part in a few days without changing the rest. Want me to tell you exactly what I'd change?

Only send this if you have actually opened the site on a phone and seen the problem.

Template 3: good reviews, little else online

Subject: your {number} reviews deserve a better front door

Hi {first name},

I'm {your name}. I build websites for local businesses.

{Business name} has {a rating} from {number} reviews. People clearly like the work. But when someone searches for you, they find the map listing and nothing else.

A one-page site with your services and a way to contact you could turn those searches into calls. Shall I sketch what it would look like for you?

Subject lines that work, and ones that don't

Good subject lines are specific and sound like a person wrote them:

• "a booking page for Harbor Plumbing?"
• "question about your opening hours"
• "your site on a phone"

Avoid: all capitals, "Re:" or "Fwd:" on a first message (it is deceptive and, in the United States, can break the law), exclamation marks, and promises like "double your leads".

What to leave out

• "I hope this email finds you well."
• A paragraph about your company. They will ask if they want it.
• Numbers you cannot show. Do not write "we increased bookings by 40%" unless you can name the case.
• A long list of services. One offer.
• Links to several pages. At most one.

Test small, read the replies

Send ten, not a thousand. Read every reply, including the rude ones: they tell you what the message sounds like from the other side. Change one thing at a time. A message that gets a few honest answers is better than one that gets none.

Where this gets done faster, with the same care

Writing each message by hand is slow; writing one message for everyone is worse. AyePin drafts each first message from the business's own details, in your style, and keeps every draft in the Outbox until you read and approve it. If you send by email, keep the pace gentle: warming up a new domain explains how.

When someone does not answer, follow up without being annoying.