Networking email: one ask, under 125 words, and 5 examples

A networking email works when the first line says how you are connected, the middle asks for one specific thing, and the whole message fits in about 50 to 125 words. That holds whether your networking email asks for advice, an introduction or a short chat with someone you don't know well. Most of the work happens before you write: picking the right person and deciding the one thing you want from them.

Five short example emails are at the end, made up to show the structure for different kinds of connection.

1. Write to people you half know before you write to strangers

Start with former colleagues you have lost touch with and friends of friends. They are easier to approach than strangers, and two lines of research suggest they can be more useful than the people you talk to every week.

In a five-year LinkedIn experiment with about 20 million users, moderately weak ties were the most productive for job moves, according to MIT's summary of the study published in Science. Measured by shared connections, usefulness peaked at around 10 mutual connections and fell after that. The effect was strongest in digital industries such as tech, and stronger ties mattered more in less digital ones.

Old contacts you have not spoken to in years count too. In a study of Executive MBA students who asked dormant contacts for advice on a work project, the advice compared favorably with advice from their current contacts (Levin, Walter and Murnighan, Organization Science, 2011). A follow-up study found the most valuable reconnections were with people they had spent little time with and who had higher status. The executives still preferred to reconnect with familiar people, because reaching out felt uncomfortable.

So write to the slightly awkward one: the manager from two jobs ago, not your old desk neighbor you still text.

Short version: your best networking email recipient is probably someone you met once or worked near years ago, not a famous stranger.

2. Open with the connection, then say why you picked them

The first sentence answers "who is this?" The second answers "why me?" Everything else waits.

How you open depends on how you know them:

• Old contact: name the place and time. "We worked together on the Columbus rollout in 2019." Don't apologize for the gap; everyone has one.
• Mutual contact: name the person who suggested you write, and only if they agreed to be named. "Priya Shah suggested I get in touch."
• Stranger: point to something specific they did or said in public. "Your talk on nurse staffing tools at the regional health IT meetup" beats "I admire your work."

Then say why them in particular. "You moved from nursing into product, which is the move I'm trying to make" tells them their answer will be useful. Generic praise tells them you sent this to 40 people.

3. Ask for one thing, and size it so yes is easy

Decide on a single ask before you write. The usual networking asks, from smallest to largest:

1. One question they can answer in a reply.
2. A 15 to 20 minute call.
3. An introduction to someone they know.

Pick the smallest one that gets you what you need. A question with a clear answer ("Did a product certificate help you get interviews, or did nobody look at it?") is easier to say yes to than "Could we grab coffee sometime?" The post on why "can I pick your brain?" gets ignored explains why the open-ended version stalls. If you do want a call, the informational interview guide covers how to ask for 20 minutes and what to do with them.

Never stack asks. "Could you share your thoughts, and also would you know anyone at Epic, and also would you look at my resume?" turns a small favor into homework. (It is never just one more question.)

4. Keep the whole email between 50 and 125 words

Short emails get answered more often, but very short ones do too little. Boomerang, an email plugin, looked at more than 40 million emails its users asked to be reminded about and found that messages of 50 to 125 words all had reply rates above 50%. Rates slid to about 44% at 500 words, and a 25-word email did about as badly as a 2,000-word one.

The same analysis found that emails with one to three questions were 50% more likely to get a reply than emails with none, and simple writing beat college-level writing. These numbers cover all kinds of email from one product's users, not networking emails alone, so treat them as a sensible range rather than a rule.

In practice: two or three short paragraphs, one question mark, no attachments. Your resume can wait until they ask.

5. Make the subject line say what the email is

A subject line should tell the reader what is inside before they open it. "Question from a fellow Ohio State nurse" or "Priya suggested I write" both work. "Quick question" and "Reaching out" do not, because they say nothing.

Boomerang's data found subject lines of three or four words got the most replies, with replies falling slowly as lines got longer. Aim for under eight words and include the connection if you have one.

6. For an introduction, let your contact ask first

When you want an introduction, write to your contact and give them an easy out. Then include a short note they can forward as is.

This follows the double opt-in introduction, a term the investor Fred Wilson described in 2009: the introducer checks with both people before connecting them. Nobody gets pushed into a meeting they did not want, and the other person can say no before an awkward introduction exists. A forwardable note does most of your contact's work for them, which makes yes easier to give.

Write the forwardable note so it makes sense to someone who has never heard of you. Two or three sentences: who you are, what you want to ask, and how long it takes. The cold email templates post has a sales version of this request.

7. Follow up once with something new, then stop

If you hear nothing after a week, send one follow-up in the same thread. Add something new, such as a narrower version of your question. "Just bumping this" adds nothing.

After one follow-up, stop. Silence is an answer, and a third message to someone you barely know costs you more than it could win.

When someone does help, send a thank-you within a day. Then send one more note a few weeks later saying what you did with their advice. It shows them the help mattered, and it gives them a reason to open your next email.

8. Five example networking emails

Here is a made-up example. Dana Ruiz has been a nurse manager at a Columbus hospital for nine years and wants to move into product management at a health software company. She still has the badge reel from a 2019 vendor training. These emails show how she might write to five different people. They are illustrations, not messages with known results.

Example 1: reconnecting with a former colleague she hasn't spoken to in five years

Subject: From the 2019 Columbus rollout

Hi Marcus,

We worked together on the scheduling software rollout at Riverside in 2019. I was the nurse manager on 4 West who kept asking about the night-shift view.

I saw you're now a product manager at a health software company. I'm trying to make a similar move. What was the one thing that got you your first product interview?

A two-line answer would help a lot.

Dana

Example 2: writing to someone a mutual contact suggested

Subject: Priya Shah suggested I write

Hi Elena,

Priya Shah suggested I get in touch. I'm a nurse manager looking at product roles in health software, and she said you made the same switch three years ago.

Would you have 20 minutes in the next two weeks to tell me what the first year was actually like? I'm not asking about openings; I want to know whether the job fits before I apply anywhere.

Dana

Example 3: writing to a stranger after a public talk

Subject: Your staffing tools talk

Hi Dr. Okafor,

I heard your talk on nurse staffing tools at the regional health IT meetup last month. Your point that charge nurses override the software within a week matched what I've seen on my own unit.

I'm a nurse manager moving toward product work. One question: when your team interviews nurses about a new tool, what do they get wrong most often?

Dana Ruiz, RN

Example 4: asking a contact for an introduction, with a forwardable note

Subject: Intro to Sam Lee?

Hi Priya,

I see you know Sam Lee at Northbeam Health. Would you be comfortable asking him if he'd take a short call with me? If it's awkward, no reply needed.

Here's a note you can forward:

"Dana Ruiz is a nurse manager with nine years on inpatient units, moving into product. She'd like 20 minutes to ask how Northbeam's product team works with nurses on new features. She isn't asking about jobs."

Dana

Example 5: the follow-up a few weeks after a call

Subject: Re: Priya Shah suggested I write

Hi Elena,

Thank you again for the call last month. I took your advice and skipped the certificate. Instead I wrote up the night-shift scheduling problem we fixed on my unit, and two hiring managers asked about it in interviews.

I start as an associate product manager in January. You made that easier.

Dana

Notice what each one leaves out: no life story and no resume. Every email names the connection in the first line and asks one thing.

When the person has no reason to answer a stranger

Some people you want to hear from are senior, busy and nowhere near your network. Paying for their time is the fair version of the ask when you need a specific answer from someone who owes you nothing. The post on reaching busy people covers what to offer and how often to ask, and the guide to finding a mentor covers the free programs to try first.

On Instant Expert you name specific people or describe who you want, set what each person receives for a short call or a written answer (Instant Expert's fee is added on top), and pay only if someone books or answers.

Your next step

Pick one person you half know, write two sentences on how you are connected and why them, then add one question. Send it today.