Emails for Humans

Most people could be sending more emails to strangers.

You know the whole saying about how humans only use 10 percent of their brains? It’s a myth. But humans only do 10 percent of what’s possible with their emails is true for almost everyone, so using that math we bet this essay will be useful for you.

Just imagine if you went back to some of the most ambitious people in, say, the 1200s and told them about email: this magical invention that allows you to write a message to anyone, anywhere, in an instant. Their faces would light up. They’d start thinking of all the possibilities. It would feel like real sorcery.

Now imagine the look on their faces when you tell them about the main ways people use email today.

Boring work messages
Promotion and ads
Verification for other software (“here’s your code!”)
“Cold outbound” - spammy sales email en masse
Links to other places (“Jenny liked your post on Facebook!”)

What about all the emails for humans? What if you just want to connect with an interesting stranger?

Maybe you read an essay of theirs and want to add thoughts. Or you’d like their criticism on a project of yours. Or you saw they’re hiring and want to chat about the job. Maybe you just want to be friends.

Most of us don’t spend much time on that kind of email: cold emails where you send a thoughtful message to a stranger. Emails that you send not because you have to, but because you want to. Perhaps we don’t send these emails because nobody teaches us to do so. If you search online for advice about writing emails, you get results about sending professional work emails and “frameworks” for cold outbound.

This essay is a simple guide for all the people wondering what to send to humans.

We’re writing it mostly because we, and probably you too, would be a lot happier with our inboxes if we received more interesting emails from humans and less of all the other stuff. [0]

How to avoid writing a bad email

When you find someone you’d like to email and you want them to respond, your goal should be to write something they would be genuinely excited to read. Often the best way to do this is by asking yourself what you would find exciting to read. We’ll cover that in a moment. But first, it’s useful to know what might make your email bad—so you can avoid simple mistakes.

A “bad email”, by the way, is an email that people don’t want to read.

Note: We’re writing about 1:1 emails sent to humans (i.e. an email you send to someone interesting you find online). We could write an entirely different essay about all the bad things we see in cold sales emails.

Avoid asking for general life advice. Usually people just don’t know.
Don’t ask too many questions. More questions can mean more work.
Don’t put on a fake professional tone. Remember, this is an email to a human.
Don’t write a long email. You’re emailing a stranger, remember? <200 words if you can. [1]
In general, avoid making ambitious asks. Asking for ‘30m to Zoom?’ can be a lot. [2]
Stop writing bullshit. Come on, you didn’t actually love my recent post on LinkedIn.

If you can avoid doing these things, you can greatly increase the chance that the email you are sending to someone is not terrible. Now let’s look at ideas to make your emails truly interesting.

Ideas for writing emails people will be excited to read

We’re so conditioned to receiving nonsense in our inboxes that sometimes it’s hard to think about what else we could be sending people (besides sales pitches).

Here are a few ideas that many of our favorite emails have used:

Ask someone a specific question. The more specific, the better.
Ask for criticism. Tends to be more effective than asking for advice.
Share something interesting. An essay. Video. Company. Anything they’d like.
Say something funny.
Say something useful. Maybe you noticed a typo on their website.
State your intention. Do you want to be friends? Try saying that.
Share ideas. If you have some good (or crazy) ideas for them, go ahead and share.
Ask about something random. What does your favorite designer think about Delta Airlines? [3]
Just say hello. Introduce yourself. No ask. Maybe give them a compliment. That can be it!

What about examples? We could come up with something dramatic. But let’s aim for something more realistic. Below are two emails that could (and may well) exist in the real world. Compare them.

Email A: Hey Alex, loved your tweet about startup growth. I’m working on a new stealth company in fintech and wanted to see if I could pick your brain? Let me know when may work for a Zoom :)

Email B: Hey Alex, have learned a lot from your writing. Emailing as I’m about to launch a new API product for fintech startups. Open to giving quick thoughts (in writing is great) on our pricing? Deck is attached to the email. All good if you don’t have the time or interest.

P.S. Came across this essay recently - sharing as seems relevant to your most recent piece.

Email A is what most people send. Email B is better: it’s honest, it’s clear, it has a specific question, it does not include an overly ambitious request, and it shares something interesting. Of course, it’s just an example. You don’t even have to ask people for something at all.

Most people send very few cold emails. So it is likely worth asking yourself: Should you be sending more?

* * *

[0] If you want to, you can email us. We respond.

[1] The exception here is if your email is interesting and it in some way needs to be long in order to be good. That’s your judgement call. We’ve received some long cold emails that are interesting.

[2] Unless what you really need is the ambitious ask and you don’t see a better path to getting there.

[3] This may not be very useful for you, but it can be one way to connect. And depending on what you ask about, replying to the email may be fun for the recipient, which is the goal.

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