# Outreach > Use this skill when the user needs to draft, sequence, or refine outbound prospecting messages — cold email, cold LinkedIn DM, warm-intro requests, follow-up touches, or multi-touch sequences. Triggers include any mention of 'outreach', 'cold email', 'cold outbound', 'cold DM', 'LinkedIn outreach', 'warm intro', 'intro request', 'reach out to', 'prospecting', 'outbound sequence', 'follow-up', 'prospecting messages', 'how do I contact', or 'help me write an email to'. Founder-led, plain-spoken, specific-not-generic style. Reads `pmm-context.md` and (if available) persona and positioning artifacts first. Outputs channel-specific messages with subject lines, hooks, CTAs, and a multi-touch cadence. Do NOT use for content marketing, customer-facing email campaigns to existing customers, lifecycle marketing, or competitive battlecards — those are different skills. - Skill: `dirknicol/outreach` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add dirknicol/outreach` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/dirknicol/outreach/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - License: MIT - Author: dirknicol (https://skillmd.com/u/dirknicol) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/dirknicol/outreach --- # Outreach ## What this skill does Outbound that actually books meetings — cold email, LinkedIn DM, warm-intro request, follow-ups. The default failure mode of outbound is generic templates that get ignored; this skill produces messages that sound like a specific person reaching out to a specific other person about a specific reason. Especially built for founder-led sales motions: solo or small teams running outbound directly, not handing it to an SDR factory. ## When to invoke - User is starting a prospecting sprint and needs the actual messages - User has a target list and needs to write to them - User has sent a first touch and needs the follow-up cadence - User has a warm connector and needs the intro-request language - User's cold messages are getting ignored and they need to debug what's failing ## Prerequisites 1. **Read `pmm-context.md` first when available.** Specifically pull voice, positioning, proof points, and claim boundaries. If it is missing, offer to run `pmm-context`. If unavailable or declined, collect a minimum brief covering offer, recipient, reason now, proof, voice, constraints, CTA, and channel. Mark assumptions and continue. 2. **Read persona artifacts if available** — outbound to "Alex" (agency principal) is fundamentally different from outbound to "Carmen" (RIA CCO). Match the message to the recipient. 3. Ask the user for the specifics: - **Who** are they reaching out to? Specific person + role + company, or a target profile? - **Why this person, why now?** (the hook — must be specific, not generic) - **What's the desired next step?** (15-min call, demo, intro to someone, response to a question) - **Cold or warm?** (Are they a stranger, a connection, a referral?) - **Channel?** (Email, LinkedIn DM, in a community/Slack, text) If the user can't articulate "why this person, why now," **stop and ask**. Outbound without a specific reason for THIS person is what fails. Generic "I'd love to chat about AI" doesn't work. ## Core principles Internalize these before drafting anything: 1. **Specificity beats persuasion.** "I saw your post about agency lead-gen on Tuesday" beats "I help agencies grow." Every cold message earns or loses its right to be read in the first 8 words. 2. **Show, don't tell.** Don't claim you understand their problem — demonstrate it by referencing something specific they've said, written, or done. 3. **Short wins.** Keep cold email and LinkedIn messages as short as the specific context allows. Treat the word limits below as editing constraints, not universal performance benchmarks. 4. **One CTA.** Every message ends with exactly one ask. Multiple options = decision fatigue = no response. 5. **No fake personalization.** "I noticed your company is in [industry] and growing" is worse than no personalization. People can smell template-merge. 6. **Voice consistency.** The message should sound like the same person who wrote the company's website, the founder's LinkedIn posts, the demo. Mismatch breaks trust. 7. **Measure outcomes, not opens.** Track positive reply rate, qualified meetings, and pipeline created. Use negative replies and non-response diagnostically; treat open rates as noisy directional data. ## Workflow ### Step 1 — Capture the brief Ask the user (in this order, but conversationally — don't dump as a form): - Who are they reaching out to? - What's the specific reason for THIS person? (the hook) - What's the desired outcome of the message? - What channel? - Cold, warm, or referred? - Anything they want included or specifically avoided? Do not draft until you have specifics. If user says "PR agencies" — push back to ask for the specific person or at minimum the specific firm they have in mind. Generic outreach drafted from generic targets is worthless. ### Step 2 — Build the hook The hook is the first sentence — what earns the right to be read. Strong hooks come from: - **Something they said publicly** — recent post, podcast appearance, talk, article, hire announcement - **Something they did** — launched a product, raised a round, posted a job, expanded to a region - **Something specific to their company's situation** — competitor pressure, market shift, a customer they just announced - **A shared connection or context** — mutual person, shared event, similar role at a previous company - **A specific observation about their work** — *not* generic flattery; a specific noticing The hook is **not**: "I see you're a [title] at [company]." That's metadata, not a hook. ### Step 3 — State the bridge One sentence that connects the hook to why you're reaching out. The bridge is where most outreach fails — it either jumps to "and so I do X" too fast, or it disappears into a paragraph of company description. Bridge formula: *"[Hook]. [Specific reason this matters to them]. [One-sentence reason you're relevant]."* Bridge example (cold email to agency principal): > *"Saw your post on Tuesday about agencies needing AEO services. We've been running an AI visibility audit specifically as a lead-gen wedge for PR agencies — three boutique agencies are testing it now."* ### Step 4 — Make one specific ask End with one CTA. Choose the smallest plausible commitment. | Ask | When to use | |---|---| | "Worth a 15-min call to compare notes?" | Cold, peer-to-peer, exploratory | | "Can I send you the audit output for [their company]?" | Cold, with a specific value-add | | "Are you the right person to talk to, or is there someone else on your team?" | Cold, you're not sure of the right contact | | "Mind if I send a 2-min Loom?" | Cold, you want to demo without scheduling | | "Would love your honest take — even a 'not interested' reply would help me calibrate." | Cold, calibration sprint | | "Could you intro me to [name]? Happy to share context first." | Warm-intro request | ### Step 5 — Generate variants For most outreach, produce 2-3 variants on different vectors: - **Different hooks** (if the user has multiple plausible hooks to test) - **Different lengths** (short version + slightly longer version) - **Different asks** (15-min call vs. send-them-something) Variants let the user pick what feels right and learn from what works. ### Step 6 — Build the cadence A single message is rarely enough. Default cadence for cold outbound: | Touch | Day | Channel | Purpose | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Day 1 | Email or DM | Initial outreach (Step 1-4 above) | | 2 | Day 4 | Email/DM | Bump — "wanted to make sure this didn't get buried" | | 3 | Day 10 | LinkedIn or alt channel | Channel switch + value add (share a relevant link, observation) | | 4 | Day 21 | Email | Final touch — "breaking up" message; specific reason to revive in future | Adjust for context — warm intros usually need fewer touches; enterprise sales need more. ## Outputs ### A. The primary message Channel-appropriate format. For email: subject line + body. For LinkedIn DM: ~60 words max. For warm-intro request: short, structured for the connector to easily forward. ### B. 1-3 variants On different hooks, lengths, or asks. ### C. Cadence (if multi-touch) A 3-4 touch sequence with timing and channel. Each follow-up message drafted. ### D. The "what to do with replies" notes Quick framing on: - Positive reply → what to send next - Objection ("we don't need this") → response or graceful exit - No response → when to stop and how to leave the door open ## Channel-specific templates ### Cold email (the workhorse) ``` Subject: [specific to recipient — not "Quick question" or "Re: AI"] [Hook — 1 sentence, specific to them] [Bridge — 1-2 sentences, why you're reaching out + why you're relevant] [Optional: 1 specific proof point or evidence] [One CTA — specific, low-commitment] [Sign-off — first name, optional 1-line credibility footer] ``` Length target: 60-100 words. ### Cold LinkedIn DM ``` [Hook — even shorter than email, 1 sentence] [Why you're reaching out — 1 sentence] [One CTA — specific] ``` Length target: 40-60 words. No subject line. No formal sign-off. ### Warm-intro request (to the connector, not the prospect) ``` Hey [name], Wanted to ask if you'd be willing to make an intro to [prospect name] at [company]. Context: [1-2 sentences on why you want the intro and why they'd care] Happy to send forward-ready text if helpful — here's a draft you could just paste: --- [The "forward-ready" version — written as if from the connector to the prospect, 3-4 sentences, including a clear hand-off CTA] --- If you'd rather pass, no worries at all. Thanks, [Name] ``` The forward-ready draft is critical. Connectors are more likely to act when they can review and send paste-ready copy instead of drafting the introduction themselves. ### Community/Slack outreach ``` [Specific reference to a discussion or post in the community] [One sentence on why you're reaching out] [CTA — usually offering value, not asking for time, in community contexts] ``` Communities are different — leading with an ask gets you flagged. Lead with offering, ask in DMs after. ## Quality bar - **Specific person, specific reason, specific ask.** Three specifics. If any are missing, the message is template, not outreach. - **Sounds like the founder.** Match the voice from `pmm-context.md`. Don't introduce "thought I'd reach out" if the founder doesn't talk that way. - **No marketing language in the message body.** "Leveraging cutting-edge AI" never appears. "Synergy" never appears. The recipient must believe a human typed this. - **Subject line earns the open.** Generic subjects = unopened. Specific subjects = opened. Test: would the user open this if it landed in their inbox? - **Honest about commitment level.** Don't ask for "a quick 15 min" if the call is 30. Don't say "low-key" if it's a sales call. Trust earned, trust broken. - **No fake urgency.** "Closing soon" / "limited spots" / "moving fast" only when actually true. Otherwise it reads as manipulation. ## Anti-patterns to refuse - Drafting outreach without a specific recipient and specific reason - Generic "I help [job title]s with [problem]" openers - More than one CTA per message - Claims not supported by `pmm-context.md` proof points (no fake customers, no fake metrics) - Messages over 150 words for cold email or 80 words for LinkedIn DM (unless user explicitly asks for long-form) - Personalization tokens that read as merge fields ("[FIRST_NAME], I noticed [COMPANY] is growing") - Subject lines that look like spam ("Quick question", "Touching base", "Re:") - Misrepresenting the company's stage (no "trusted by industry leaders" if you have one design partner) ## A note on volume Founder-led outreach is high-quality, low-volume. The pattern that works: - 5-15 cold messages per week, hand-crafted - Establish a baseline for positive replies, qualified meetings, and pipeline created - Improve the weakest conversion point through small, controlled message tests If the user is asking for templates to send 200/week, that's not founder-led outreach — that's an SDR motion, and the answer is "different tool, different skill." ## Connection to other skills - **`positioning`** — provides the strategic frame the outreach articulates - **`personas`** — provides the recipient profile (Alex vs. Carmen need different language) - **`adaptive-messaging`** — for when outreach needs to respond to a competitive move - **`sales-enablement`** — what to send/show on the call the outreach books