How to Write The Best Introduction Email (And What to NEVER do)

Writing an introduction email can help you build a good impression and establish a successful business or personal relationship. You can use the introduction to introduce yourself to a potential employer or client or to introduce another person’s work product in a positive light. While it is essential to, above all else, establish your professionalism and expertise in this type of email, it is also essential to be friendly and personal in order to make a good impression on both new acquaintances and existing contacts.

Writing an email introduction is a skill that many people struggle with, but after you read this article, you will have a basic understanding of how to write an email introduction. You will also see some sample templates and steps you can take to improve your writing skills.

New to IWT?

And join over 800,000 readers getting our Rich Life Insiders newsletter:

Jump to:

The Truth About Introduction Emails

Here’s a universal truth: Smart people WANT to meet with other smart people.

Sometimes, it’s hard to actually get on the other person’s radar, though.

Short of showing up at their home unannounced and knocking on their door, which might land you with a nice restraining order, you have to find a more nuanced way to introduce yourself.

Which is why it’s so important to know how to send the perfect introductory email and not be one of those people who…

  • Ask worthless questions. Example: “Dear Ramit, what should I do with my money?” Uh .read the last 12 years of my site or my New York Times best-selling book.

  • Ramble. Example: “Hi I’m blah blah and I’m really interested in blah blah and once when I was a kid we went to the park and blah blah and well, I guess this got really long, so yeah. Thanks for reading.”
  • Only talk about themselves. Example: “Hi Mr. Senior Exec at a Fortune 100 company, let me tell you about my background, what I studied in school, what I’m interested in?”

So let’s talk about what makes a great email introduction, the kind that makes someone want to meet you as soon as they can.

That’s why I want to walk you through the 4 key traits that every good introduction email has, how to approach creating one from scratch, and finally a ready-made template you can use right away. 

4 Rules of an Effective Introduction Email

The best introduction emails make me want to meet the sender or help them start businesses, find jobs, or even hire them myself and they almost always follow these 4 rules.

The rules are simple but 99% of people skip them. Don’t do this.

Rule #1: Reach out through a warm contact

You’re going to see a MUCH higher response rate if you spend some time finding a mutual contact between you and the person you’re emailing.

Even if you don’t think you have one, I HIGHLY suggest you search anyways. The results might surprise you.

Some good resources to check for mutual contacts:

  • Facebook (Check out their Facebook and see if you have any mutual friends, you might be surprised that you have a friend in common
  • Twitter (Check out who they follow. Do they follow and engage with anyone you know?)
  • LinkedIn (look at your mutual connections to see who you both know)
  • Their blog posts
  • If they wrote a book, check the “Acknowledgements” page

Over the years, people have found mutual contacts with me through ALL of these resources.

Rule #2: Focus on What You Have In Common

When you’re sending an email, you’re going to want to bring up something you have in common with the recipient.

Some examples of areas where you might share similarities:

  • College
  • High school
  • Hometown
  • Company
  • Industry

If another Stanford alum reached out to me and seemed genuine, I’ll almost always take a phone call, or if convenient, a coffee meeting.

Example of good Email Introduction 1

Rule #3: Make your Introduction Emails BRIEF and CONCISE

Check out this email I got a while back. It’s an absolute masterclass in bad email introductions.

 

 

example of a bad introduction email

 

Notice that in the second paragraph, he actually acknowledges that he should focus on ME (the busy person)…and proceeds to do the exact opposite!

On top of that, the email was an absolute MONSTER. It only got my attention because of how bad it was.

I’m going to touch on this more later but for now, know that the person you’re emailing is probably very busy. As such, you’re going to want to make sure that your email isn’t wasting their time with any superfluous information.

Do that, and you’ll INSTANTLY eliminate yourself from their inbox.

Rule #4: Never outright ask for a job in introductory emails

This is something you should NEVER do in an email introduction.

Even if you’re just asking for help, it’s best if you provide the recipient an out so they don’t feel like you’re demanding something from them.

It’s always best to end an email by acknowledging how busy they are and that they shouldn’t feel pressured into doing anything. Here’s a great script to do just that:

“I understand you have tremendous demands on your time, and if you don’t have time to respond, no problem. But if you do, even a sentence would mean a lot to me.”

See why that works? This gives your email recipient an easy out if they’re too busy. Counterintuitively, it also boosts your response rate since you’re showing empathy toward their time demands.

NOTE: The people who have reached out to me weren’t always the most socially smooth people. But the very best showed a remarkable level of preparation, which anyone can accomplish- but few actually do.

As a result, many of these people stood out among tens of thousands of others who left comments/emails/tweets. Not only do the very best top performers have an uncanny ability to reach extremely busy people, but they can turn a one-time meeting into a long-term relationship.

And over time, that is worth more than almost any technical skill or amount of experience.

How to Properly Introduce Yourself Over Email 

OK, let’s get into the specifics. To meet anyone over email, follow these steps:

Step 1: Brainstorm a list of 10 people you’d like to connect with

Start with these people: People who have a job title you’re interested in learning more about. People who work at companies you’re interested in potentially working at. And people who are doing interesting things you want to learn more about (e.g., you read about them in a magazine/blog post).

Step 2: Get their email address

If you can’t find this you fail at life. But you read this site so I suspect you’re cool.

Step 3: Use the introduction email script below

Here’s a template you can use to meet just about anyone along with an analysis on why it works. Delete the bold text before you send it – unless you want to make a super-awkward first impression!

To: Jane

From: Samantha

Subject: Michigan State grad would love to chat about your work at Deloitte

Hi Jane,

My name is Samantha Kerritt. I’m an ’04 grad from Michigan State and I came across your name on our alumni site. [TELL THEM HOW YOU CAME ACROSS THEIR NAME SO YOU DON’T SEEM LIKE A CREEP.]

I’d love to get your career advice for 15-20 minutes. I’m currently working at Acme Tech Company, but many of my friends work in consulting and each time they tell me how much they love their job, I get more interested. [THE FIRST SENTENCE SAYS WHAT SHE WANTS. MOST PEOPLE ARE FLATTERED THAT PEOPLE WANT/VALUE THEIR ADVICE.]

Most of them have told me that if I’m interested in consulting, I have to talk to someone at Deloitte. Do you think I could ask you about your job and what motivated you to choose Deloitte? I’d especially love to know how you made your choices after graduating from Michigan State. [MICHIGAN STATE REINFORCES SHARED BOND.]

I can meet you for coffee or at your office or wherever it’s convenient. I can work around you! [THE BUSY PERSON IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU. TREAT THEM ACCORDINGLY.]

Would it be possible for us to meet? [A BUSY PERSON CAN SIMPLY REPLY TO THIS WITH A “YES” PERFECT. NOTE THAT I DIDN’T ASK FOR THE TIME/LOCATION AS THAT’S TOO MUCH INFORMATION IN THE FIRST EMAIL.]

Thanks,

-Samantha

One of the best things about this email is its brevity. There’s zero fat in the message and it just tells the recipient what she needs to know.

Get email scripts for any occasion

You now have both the tactics (the email script) as well as a strategic approach (what the busy person is looking for and how you can adjust accordingly) for great email introductions.

For even more, I have more email scripts you can ‘plug and play’ today for free.

Final Thoughts on How to Write The Best Introduction Email

It’s important to know what to include in an introduction email to increase its impact on the recipient. Following the steps and templates in this article will help you to send introduction emails that get results!

If you liked this post, you’d LOVE my Ultimate Guide to Social Skills

It’s one of the best things I’ve published, and totally free – just tell me where to send it:

When you signup, I'm also going to send you my newsletter full of my best money advice for free.