I spent yesterday — and probably today — on one thing: a cold email template for immigration lawyers.
If I had to describe the whole process in one word, it wouldn't be writing. It would be cutting. Ruthlessly cutting. I started with 200 words. Too long. Cut to 150. Still too long. Then 80. Then I pushed for 50.
Fifty words. That's the target.
Here's the thing nobody tells you: brevity isn't just good style. It's a forcing function. It makes you figure out what you actually offer. All of Via.email's features — hundreds of AI agents across 16 departments, custom agent creation, attachment handling, web search, all controlled through plain email — none of that matters in a cold email. What matters to an immigration lawyer is one thing: parsing an RFE notice from USCIS. That's it. One example. One feeling. Fifty words.
This is exactly how logos work. I spent time at a design agency years ago. Their client deck had a line I've never forgotten: 'A logo is for identification, not communication.' I half-agree. Identification comes first — always. The moment you pile on too much communication, you kill the identification. Think National Geographic's yellow rectangle. Think JP Morgan's octagon. One shape. One feeling. That's the whole job.
Cold emails are logos. Both are first impressions. Both are openers. Both live or die on a single, resonant detail — not the full story, just the one hint that makes someone lean in.
People won't remember everything you said. They'll remember how it felt to read it. That feeling is what determines whether they reply.
Say less. Mean more.