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Use case

Agencies and freelancers finding clients

Small agencies and freelance designers, developers, writers and video makers: write to businesses whose websites show something you could improve, from your own Gmail.

Updated · By Otman Ounana · How we research

Short answer

Each email says one true thing you saw on the business's own site, who you are with one benefit, and offers a short 3-point outline of what you would change first. You approve the campaign before anything is sent.

Start with this use caseFree, no card. Nothing is sent until you approve it.

Who this is for

Find your next clients from your own Gmail, writing to businesses whose websites show they need you.

Who you would write to

You choose one group of buyers for each campaign. Groups that suit this use case:

Small businesses know their website or marketing needs work but never find the time to brief someone. A short email that starts from something true about them is easier to answer than a pitch.

What a first email looks like

Every first email has the same three parts: something you saw on their site, who you are with one benefit, and an offer of a short 3-point outline. Here are 2 examples for this use case.

Zoe from Copperleaf Studio, writing to Brookside Physio

The sentence on their site: “We offer evening appointments until 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
Subject: Copperleaf Studio x Brookside Physio

Hi Daniel,

I saw Brookside Physio offers evening appointments until 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I'm Zoe from Copperleaf Studio. We build booking pages for clinics so patients can pick an evening slot from their phone.

If useful, I can send a short 3-point outline for putting those evening slots on the Brookside Physio home page. Worth sending over?

If this isn't relevant, just tell me and I won't write again.

Best,
Zoe

Owen from Owen Reid Films, writing to Millbrook Climbing Centre

The sentence on their site: “We run beginner climbing courses every Saturday morning for adults and children.”
Subject: Owen Reid Films x Millbrook Climbing Centre

Hi Grace,

I saw Millbrook Climbing Centre runs beginner courses every Saturday morning for adults and children.

I'm Owen from Owen Reid Films. I make short videos for sports centres that show a first-timer what a session looks like.

If useful, I can send a short 3-point outline for a one-minute film of a Saturday beginner course. Worth sending over?

If this isn't relevant, just tell me and I won't write again.

Best,
Owen

These emails are fictional examples. The companies, people and sentences are made up, and each stands in for a line a real business would have on its own site.

Who does what

Five helpers do the work and you approve once.

FindCheckReadWriteSendYou relax Harbour & Coarchitects · LeedsPennant Accountsaccountants · YorkFieldstone Lawsolicitors · Hull Grandma's recipe blog plop maya@harbourandco.example info@@harbour boing! harbourandco.example Harbour & Co Our second studio openedin Leeds this spring Maya, managerHarbour & Co "Second studio openedin Leeds this spring" To: Maya, Harbour & Co Dear Sir/Madam, Hi Maya, 1 2 3 I saw Harbour & Co opened a secondstudio in Leeds this spring. I'm Sam from Brightline IT. We helpsmall practices ... If useful, I can send a short 3-point outline ...Worth sending over? Approve campaign ding! London9:00New York9:00Sydney9:00 Yes, send it Not for us Out until Monday
  1. Finds companies that buy what you sell. Here that means groups such as small businesses with an old or thin website and clinics, studios and practices that take bookings.
  2. Checks every address.
  3. Reads their site, picks something true. Each email says one thing seen on their own site, and the product checks it is really there.
  4. Writes a short, honest email. Three parts and under 110 words.
  5. You approve once. Nothing goes out before you approve the campaign.
  6. Sends from your Gmail, in their working hours. From your own Gmail, one email at a time.
  7. Replies land in your inbox. Follow-ups stop on a reply, and anyone who opts out is never written to again.

How many emails a day

Plan for up to 100 a day from day one of your two-week free trial, then 50 a day, from your own Gmail. The trial covers one campaign, which means one buyer group. That is enough to learn what your offer does, and it is the pace a careful person would send at.

What to expect

One campaign that used this method had about 1 in 10 people reply in its first week. That is one B2B software company, counting every human reply including no. It is not a promise for yours.

1 in 10: people who replied to the first emails of a B2B software company's campaign that used this method, first week of sending, September 2026 (2,726 emails; every human reply counted, including no). Your results will depend on your offer and your list.

The rules to know first

The rules for cold email differ by country and by who you write to. Before you send, read the guide for each place you will write to. In Germany, cold email to businesses generally needs consent first, and Australia's Spam Act also starts from consent; leave companies there out unless you have their consent. This is general information, not legal advice.

Questions

Why write to one kind of business per campaign?

The benefit line has to fit every reader in the campaign. A campaign for clinics and a campaign for climbing centres need different sentences, so they are better as two campaigns.

Is it safe to send from the Gmail I use for my work?

No tool can promise a mailbox is safe. The product keeps the volume low on purpose: it is capped at 100 a day in the trial and 50 after it, and it pauses by itself if bounces rise.

Do I show the work I would do in the first email?

No. The first email makes one observation and offers a short outline. The outline, sent only when the reader says yes, is where you show what you would change first.

More use cases

Honest Intros is also used for:

Start with this use case

Sign in with Google, paste your website, and your campaign is set up for this use case. You can change every line before you approve it.

Start with this use caseFree, no card. Nothing is sent until you approve it.

Read next

  • Send cold email from your own Gmail, safelyHow to send cold email from your own Gmail without hurting your reputation: daily limits, warm-up, working hours, unsubscribe and bounce brakes.
  • Warm up the inbox you already useWarming up an existing Gmail or Workspace mailbox for cold email: what Google advises, a cautious day-by-day schedule from 20 to 50 a day, and when to slow down.
  • Cold email to physiotherapistsSample first emails to physiotherapy clinics in the UK, the US and Canada: one observation from the clinic's own site, who you are, and a short outline offer, with the rules for each country.
  • "We already have a vendor"How to answer a cold email reply that says the company already has a supplier: what it means, three reply templates, what not to do and when to stop.
  • Gmail warm-up calculatorFree Gmail warm-up calculator. Plan the two-week free trial and the ramp after it, choose a start date and a target, and get a day-by-day sending schedule.
  • Cold email checkerFree cold email checker. Paste your email and see a score, with each rule explained: length, a specific opening line, one question, an opt-out, no links, prices or hype.
  • Warm-upWarm-up is the practice of starting with a low sending volume and raising it step by step, so mailbox providers see a steady pattern rather than a sudden burst.
  • Sender reputationSender reputation is the standing a mailbox provider gives a sender, built from how recipients and receiving servers have treated the sender's earlier mail.