They don’t hate you, they’re just busy

The hard part with cold emailing

Let me guess, you clicked this blog article after sending out a bunch of cold emails and are yet to receive a response. Well, I have news for you. First, join the club. Second, they don’t hate you, they’re just busy. As a journalism student, I have had my fair share of email anxiety. Emailing people for interviews, internships and jobs, but receiving rejection or radio silence. I’ve been there and I am there. The first thing I want to say is, it gets easier, but it doesn’t completely stop. We’re currently at the bottom of the food chain so we don’t exactly have Anna Wintour on speed dial. But the more we progress in our career and socially, the more our aspirational network becomes our immediate contacts - or so I’ve heard…

Step 1: It may take a while - accept that

The first thing to put in your head when cold emailing someone, meaning you don’t know them, is that they won’t always answer straight away. That is for so many reasons! The biggest one that I have heard even Kenya Hunt say is that sometimes they just don’t see the email. You may have in your head, if I send the email, they must have received it because that is how technology works right? Wrong, not practically. When I was interning at Karla Otto, my inbox was constantly full of emails – and I was just an intern. Imagine what a magazine editor’s inbox must look like. You have to really fight for real estate in their inbox.

Also, they may have seen the email, but are too busy to answer straight away, then by the time they are available, they forgot. Before they are these aspirational industry professionals, they are people. I can sit here and write every possible reason why someone is taking a while to answer your email – or why they simply ignored it 🙈. Or we can get to step 2 to find out what you can do about it. Step 2 sounds great right…let’s go.

Step 2: What you can do

From uni and personal experience, I have learnt a few tips and tricks on the dos and don’ts of cold emailing. Remember, if it’s a cold email, it means they are not your friend, you can’t DM them at 2 a.m. – that’s just not how it works.

Content:
Before worrying about all the logistics, let’s evaluate the quality of the actual email. Some of us are professional yappers in real life and when writing – myself included. But your cold email is not a diary entry. It has to be clear and concise. Your reader should not be left with questions about the purpose of you reaching out to them. For example, if you are asking to meet up, don’t leave it to them to arrange a time, it’s up to you to propose dates. Don’t do super long paragraphs either because visually it doesn’t read well over email. A simple trick is to stick to the 5Ws + H (Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How). Also, something I learnt from the Colin and Samir podcast: try and make it easy for the person to respond over email. That means, maybe not sending a 40-question email as your first impression because it will feel like more of a task to respond. They’re already busy so try not to add too much extra work.

Contact:
Once your email is written, make sure it is being sent to the right person. If you find that you haven’t been receiving responses, it may be because you are contacting the wrong person. It would be great if you can email Sarah Burton for a job at Givenchy, but maybe you’ll have more luck contacting HR or an assistant in the exact department you would like to work in. I’ve had some success aiming high, which I will always recommend, but that wasn’t my only target. If I am writing an article about a brand, for example, I wouldn’t just contact the founder, I would also reach out to the assistants and staff in junior roles because they are usually more willing, and have the time, to help out. On that note, when you get to those positions you aspire to be in, make sure you are always extending a helping hand backwards to those in similar positions to you.

Scheduling:
The time you send the email also plays a part in the possibility of you getting an answer. I try to think about it from the perspective of a worker on their phone. Try to think of the time in the working day that they will be on their phone. Don’t send it on a Monday because the email will be flooded with weekend emails. Don’t send it on a weekend because they won’t reply until Monday. Don’t send it around lunchtime because they will be logging off. Finally, don’t send after 7 p.m./8 p.m. because that just looks unprofessional. Again, these guidelines are for cold emails (people you don’t know) you don’t want to give the wrong first impression. Also, if you have a deadline coming up and need a response quickly, unfortunately, they don’t actually have to care. I’m giving a little tough love so you don’t get surprised later. The truth is that your emergency is not their responsibility. Especially if you know you have left this until the last minute.

Follow up:
After you have gone through all the previous steps and sent through the email, if you haven’t received a response, make sure to follow up. If they don’t see it the first time, maybe another email might do it. If the second email doesn’t do it, maybe try a third – but I wouldn’t exceed that. Of course, dependent on the nature of your request, you might think you need to continue being persistent. I personally think three is a good number for back-to-back no-response emails. However, if it was for applying for a job and you haven’t got a response after 3 emails, you should definitely consider changing your approach - maybe getting more experience, then coming back at a later date.

Step 3: Don’t take it personal

Truth is, no one owes you their time. As tough as it may be, they don’t actually have to answer you. Something I always have at the front of my mind as I progress in my career is to not have an entitled attitude. Having all the degrees, contacts, and knowledge positions you for success, but doesn’t make you entitled to everything you ever dreamed of. If you did all these steps and a couple extra that you may have thought of, if you did everything in your power, if you did your best… that’s all you can do. Wallowing will get you nowhere. Get back on that horse and continue, try again, start again. You are not the problem. Even if you did something wrong, that is just a behaviour, and behaviours can change. Don’t let your first try be the only try. Generally, people can be quite nice - even in fashion!

So remember, they don’t hate you, they’re just busy. Make sure to subscribe to this blog for updates on useful blog articles, and follow us on socials for more content!