Devon, great comment on the importance of follow up! It seems the real purpose of any first cold e-mail is not to get a job but to scout. Particularly, to find out the name of a contact person for further follow-up.

I’d say most of my new clients come because I’ve sent steady follow-ups over a period of time, and they’re now familiar with my name. Cold direct mail (or email) gets about a 1-3% response, but the quarterly follow ups can garner as much as a 25% response.

And mailed post cards get a higher response than emails.

Which I thought was interesting.

I’m guilty of the same, Devon. I really do need to keep reaching out if only to make acquaintances.
I like that you follow up every quarter. My own follow up has been a bit more sporadic, so I think I’ll adopt your method.

I follow up on past clients once every quarter, or on LOIs where the response was “Not now, but maybe in the future.”

I haven’t been pitching enough to magazines, but I intend to fix that this month!