What each part of the prompt does
- Research as the opener
- Step 1 demands a detail only this recipient would recognise. A specific opener is the clearest signal that the email is not a mass send, and it gives the reader a reason to keep going.
- Their benefit as an input
- Making [THEIR BENEFIT] its own input forces you to think it through before writing. The model then has something concrete to say besides what you want.
- One small ask
- A reply or a 15-minute call is easy to say yes to. Asking for a contract or a long meeting in a first email gives busy people a reason to postpone.
- Recipient read-through
- The quality check makes Gemini reread the email from the other side and fix sentences that only talk about you, the most common reason partnership emails get ignored.
Variations to try
Same idea, one thing changed.
After meeting at an event Write a short cold email asking [RECIPIENT NAME], [RECIPIENT ROLE] at [COMPANY], to partner with us on [PARTNERSHIP IDEA]. Inputs: - Who I am and what we do: [ABOUT US] - Something specific I know about their work: [RESEARCH] - The partnership idea: [PARTNERSHIP IDEA] - What they get out of it: [THEIR BENEFIT] - The one next step I want: [ASK] - My name and role: [MY NAME] Steps: 1. Open by reminding them where we met and one thing they said, in one sentence. The detail is in my research notes. 2. Say who I am in one sentence. 3. Explain the idea and what they get from it in two or three sentences. 4. Make one small, easy ask, such as a reply or a 15-minute call. 5. Sign off with my name and role. Format: - Three subject lines under 45 characters. - The email body under 120 words, plain text, no bullet points. - One follow-up email under 60 words to send five days later if there is no reply. Quality check: Read the email as the recipient would. Rewrite any sentence that talks about us without saying why it matters to them.
Three-sentence version Write a short cold email asking [RECIPIENT NAME], [RECIPIENT ROLE] at [COMPANY], to partner with us on [PARTNERSHIP IDEA]. Inputs: - Who I am and what we do: [ABOUT US] - Something specific I know about their work: [RESEARCH] - The partnership idea: [PARTNERSHIP IDEA] - What they get out of it: [THEIR BENEFIT] - The one next step I want: [ASK] - My name and role: [MY NAME] Steps: 1. Open with the specific detail from my research in one sentence. No compliment that could apply to anyone. 2. Say who I am in one sentence. 3. Explain the idea and what they get from it in two or three sentences. 4. Make one small, easy ask, such as a reply or a 15-minute call. 5. Sign off with my name and role. Format: - Three subject lines under 45 characters. - The email body in exactly three sentences: the specific detail, the idea with their benefit, and the ask. - One follow-up email under 60 words to send five days later if there is no reply. Quality check: Read the email as the recipient would. Rewrite any sentence that talks about us without saying why it matters to them.
If the result isn't right
- Spend two minutes on [RESEARCH]; a real detail from their last post or launch does more for the reply rate than any wording change.
- If you send the same idea to several people, run the prompt per person with their own research instead of reusing one email.
- Keep the follow-up short and add something new, such as a link or a one-line example, rather than asking "did you see my email".