As Head of New Business, reaching out to prospective clients is (duh) a major part of my job description. For a boutique web design firm like Command C, mass generic emails just aren’t part of the game plan, ever. There’s a lot of preliminary research involved on this end since we’re pretty picky about our clients—I like to get a feel for their communication style and what their businesses entail before making contact. This kills two birds with one stone: I can make an initial assessment of who the company is and how their web presence could be improved, and my introduction email is tailored to them. There is nothing more unappealing than the generic “Dear Command C – We really like your work. We would like to see if you are interested in _____” email. (Though even that’s a step up from the “Dear Blogger” emails I’ve received in the past.) It’s guaranteed not to elicit a response, because the person on the other end hasn’t even bothered to take a look at our “Who we are” page and figure out who to email and what her name is. That alone is enough to indicate that this person doesn’t mesh with Command C’s business style.
So what does that first email need to do? Well, firstly it needs to address the person on the other end by name. Even two names, if you’re not sure who to contact, are better than something generic or, worse, no name at all. Next, it needs to have an appealing tone. You need to engage this person who’s never met you, and a quick way to do this is to be (unobnoxiously) cheery. A quick exclamation mark can work wonders.
In these emails, as with critiques, you need to be specific and offer alternatives. What do you like about their work? What on the site doesn’t work? What about you or your company might appeal to them? (Do you share an interest in non-profit work, for example, or women’s causes, or sustainable design?) And what alternatives, specifically, can you offer to their current site?
Okay, great, that’s how you do the email, but how do you find targets? Start by considering your current client list. What do they have in common? It’s likely you tend to work with a related set of clients: maybe they’re all in creative fields, or finance, or personal services. Now look for gaps. Maybe you work with a bunch of credit bureaus, but don’t have any accountants on your roster. Or you have a lot of small advertising firms, but no PR clients. Then start Googling keywords for those businesses in your geographic area—this automatically gives you something else in common with them—and dig up whatever information you can: phone numbers, current sites, reviews of their business by their clients, etc. This will give you a solid foundation for that first moment of contact, and (hopefully) improve your odds of success.
For the past six years, I’ve worked as a technical writer in the IT division of a major financial firm, learning the ins and outs of risk analysis, policy writing, and technical documentation. Prior to that I worked as a copywriter and editorial assistant at a couple different magazines, composing advertising and editorial copy for print and digital publications.
You need to redesign your website. You know you’re ready because you’ve already established it’s the 
