1) Great points about the non-existence of a one-size-fits-all blueprint for a successful cold email. And I am not surprised you were asked for “what to do” after delivering a blunt post about “what not to do”. In fact, I called it “The Power Of The Opposites” and wrote about it extensively in my LinkedIn post: “My 1001 Entrepreneurial Tales: The Power Of The OPPOSITES”. For more details, please see: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/power-opposites-oleg-feldgajer/

2) And I agree with you, Aaron, that a good cold email must demonstrate “value creation”. I even coined such an effort as: “Turning customers’ Cost Center into a… Profit Center. You can find a real example of such a case in a description of my Joint Venture with Verizon in: “My 1001 Entrepreneurial Tales: Keyword Spotting & The Magic Of Closing The Deal” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/keyword-spotting-magic-closing-deal-oleg-feldgajer/

3) But there is hope. I view cold emails as a pitch. And the best entrepreneurial pitch is only 50 words long... at least this is what you quickly learn on Linkedin. Like it or not, when you invite someone to connect on Linkedin - your invitation is limited to only 300 characters (spaces included).

4) Over the years, I invited thousands of like-minded entrepreneurs to connect – and on average, the lengths of my messages are all around… 50 words. Therefore, I recommend allocating your precious 50 words allotment as follows – see: “LinkedIn – The “Mother” Of All Pitches? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-mother-all-pitches-oleg-feldgajer/...