Warm outreach is the habit of reaching back out to people who already know you: past contacts, event guests, collaborators, and anyone you have had a real conversation with. It is the cheapest lead generation a marketer has, and most people skip it because it feels too small to matter. In one live session, Andy Milligan showed why it matters anyway.
Andy runs a solo marketing business that has done almost $400,000 in lifetime revenue, and he records his lead generation work most days. This session was not glamorous.
No cold list, no new funnel. Just a checklist, a CRM, and a stack of short personal emails. About 27 minutes in, two replies landed. If you are still working out how to get your first client, this is the part of the job that compounds quietly in the background.
What warm outreach looks like on an ordinary day
Andy starts by building a short checklist of every person he owes a message (1:32). He splits it into types so nothing gets lost:
- Event invites. People he wants at his next Columbus marketing leaders lunch.
- Follow-ups. Conversations that went quiet and need a nudge.
- Connections and comments. Light touches on LinkedIn.
- Scheduling. Meetings and calls still waiting on a time.
Then he works the list one name at a time. He opens his CRM, adds anyone who is missing, merges duplicate records, and moves each contact to the right stage, such as qualified, contacted, or closed lost. He also uses AI to help draft some of the responses.
Andy's reason for writing everything down is simple: you can only improve what you can see. A single list turns "I should reach out to people" into a set of specific, finishable tasks.
The warm outreach emails he actually sent
None of the emails were pitches. They read like notes to someone you already like. One opened with "It's been a while since we've chatted." Another caught a contact up on what had changed since their last conversation.
The most useful one went to a collaborator on a future event. Andy had fallen behind on it, so he wrote to say exactly that. He shared a few updates.
He offered a short check-in over coffee or a video call. He did not want the other person to think he was neglecting the project. That kind of honest follow-up keeps a relationship warm even when the work itself stalls.
He also sent personal invitations to his marketing leaders lunch, the small peer advisory group he hosts for Columbus agency owners and marketing leaders.
The live win
At about the 27-minute mark, two of those invitations came back with a yes (27:02). Andy's reaction was immediate: "This is why the magic lives in the boring work." His reply to the new guests was just as simple (28:05): "I'll add you to the calendar invite shortly." He told them nothing else was needed and to "come with a positive attitude and ready to meet some great people," then added that he had several people he would love to introduce them to.
Two lunch RSVPs are not a signed contract. That is the point. Warm outreach rarely produces a dramatic moment. It produces small yeses that put you in a room with the right people, and those rooms are where referrals and projects come from later.
Why warm outreach beats volume
People trust people they know. In a March 2026 study of 1,202 U.S. business decision-makers, SurveyMonkey and Reddit found that peer recommendations were the most trusted source when evaluating vendors, cited by 73% of respondents.
Irrelevant messages work against you. A June 2025 Gartner survey of 632 B2B buyers found that 73% actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach. A note to someone you have already met is relevant by default.
That is why Andy's broader routine starts with active conversations, follow-ups, and inbound, and moves to cold outreach only after. The warm list is shorter, the replies come faster, and every message strengthens a relationship you already have.
How to start a daily warm outreach habit
You do not need Andy's exact tools. You need the same sequence:
- List the people you owe a message. Past clients, event contacts, podcast guests, peers who went quiet.
- Sort them by type. Invites, follow-ups, light touches, and scheduling.
- Write short, human notes. Reference your last conversation and give a real reason to reconnect.
- Be honest when you have fallen behind. A transparent check-in beats silence.
- Log every touch. Move each contact to the right stage so tomorrow starts where today ended.
When a contact goes quiet after your first note, use a clear system for how to follow up with leads instead of guessing. For the full daily routine this habit fits into, see Andy's playbook on how to generate leads in one hour a day.
Where Columbus marketers practice warm outreach
Warm outreach gets easier when you keep meeting people worth staying in touch with. Columbus Marketing Organization is a peer community for marketers, freelancers, and service providers in Columbus, Ohio, founded by Andy Milligan. Members share leads, introductions, and job opportunities, including the weekly Columbus Marketing Jobs newsletter.
The fastest way to build a warm list is to show up in person. See the next Columbus marketing event, or join the Columbus Marketing Organization community on Skool and start your warm outreach list with people you meet there.
This is why the magic lives in the boring work.
Frequently asked questions
What is warm outreach?
Warm outreach means contacting people who already know you, such as past clients, event contacts, collaborators, and peers. Because there is an existing relationship, the message can be short and personal. Andy Milligan works his warm list before any cold outreach because those replies come faster and strengthen relationships he already has.
What is the difference between warm outreach and cold outreach?
Cold outreach goes to people who have never heard of you, so it needs research and a strong reason to reply. Warm outreach goes to people you have met or worked with, so relevance is built in. Most marketers get better results by working warm contacts first and treating cold outreach as the last block of the day.
How often should I do warm outreach?
Daily, in a short block. Andy Milligan keeps one checklist of everyone he owes a message, sorted by type, and works through it most days. A few honest notes a day add up to a steady stream of conversations, invitations, and referrals without ever feeling like a sales push.
What should a warm outreach email say?
Reference your last conversation, share something that changed or a reason to reconnect, and make one easy ask, such as a coffee or an invitation. Keep it short and personal. If you have fallen behind on something you promised, say so plainly. Honest follow-up keeps the relationship warm even when work stalls.
Read the video transcript
Kind: captions Language: en Hey there, my name is Andy and I own a solo marketing business that has done almost $400,000 in life revenue. This is my daily marketing channel where I build and strategize in public and teach you guys what's working in lifetime. If this is your guys' first time here, I own three businesses. One is my web and SEO studio for healthcare called MMG Design. The other is the CMO, a inperson job board community and mastermind for high performing marketers here in Columbus, Ohio. And the third is actually my podcast called Marketing by Design. 100 plus 180 plus, excuse me, interviews with high performing marketers in B2B healthcare and beyond. The format we usually follow on this channel is I may sound like a broken record if you guys come here almost every single day. I love you and appreciate you. We're going to do a little bit of live lead genen, then we build and strategize in public, and then we're going to do some updates and growth stats to finish out with. And today is a good day to be locked in. You know, I got a little bit behind this morning. I sent out responding to miscellaneous client requests, but I have a lot to get done today, and I'm excited to take you along for the journey. So, without further ado, let's get right into it. I'm going to start prioritizing my list here in Notion of tasks that I need to do to grow this business, one at a time, and I'll get into the live stuff and updates. Um, great. Notion is out of date. So, while Notion is updating, we're going to get into some live stats and updates here at the end and create a to-do list of everything that needs done to move the business forward today. So, what I'm going to do here, outreach, boom, and create a slashchecklist. I love Notion. I find it to be the best thing for just creating quick lists and having them open kind of in one of my browsers here that I can work from. Um, but I'm going to categorize this by um slash heading. Wow. Slash wow slash heading 2. CMO outreaches boom. It just stops for some reason. Uh, slashch checkcklist. Okay. Uh, the people that I want to invite to the event. Boom. [sighs] And then we're going to go to [sighs and gasps] here. Jesus Christ. to LinkedIn [sighs] quad connects and then we can highlight this now. Lord Almighty D and scheduling. Boom. [snorts] Okay. So now we're going to categorize our three different types of things travel planning. Um let's do outreaches. Um the lady I need to respond to follow up with Grace Venton. Vent podcast Vincent put her in an email update. Um Jillian and Julia Julia K. anyone else I need to follow up with in the near and short term. I'm also going to add a CHC travel planning connect HQ Todd Griffin followup. [sighs and gasps] Todd Griffin followup. Now that I have a list and I have these isolated into one place, I can also begin to make them kitty chew response. Also use AI to help me draft responses and get the ball off the ground a little bit, Amy. Thank you. Boom. Okay, I'm liking that. Health outreach planning outrage planning quad connects 10 comments scheduling. Also make one more to-do list here that I swear I've done this before, guys. Okay. See? Boom. And growth business. And go another checklist. Um, Amazon office on office orders. Tom insurance. Awesome sauce. Okay. Um, boom. Boom. Now, what I need to do is um, just really work my way through this list. So, open up the CRM. Actually, you know, let's do our autonomous work in the background here. Winon API outreach. Y'all know the drill. [sighs] Fantastic. Oh, um, [ __ ] sauce. What was her name? One connection from LinkedIn here who I need to add to the list to make sure that we invite to Avente. Don't I hate I need to disconnect condo from this inbox manager. Jaden Law. That's who it is. Jaden Law [groaning] [sighs] Jen. Okay, now that we have this list here, I'm going to go ahead and make this full page. Compress it. Compress this. Scroll down. We have a nice little tab view here. And now I can work around this with on this within this big screen here. So this is what we call awareness. And what brings what we have awareness on we ultimately need to improve. [sighs] Boom. Excuse me. Confirm another way. [sighs] Uh, SMS. Shout out to having iMessage on Mac here. Matthew here. Love our political ads that we get. Boom. Submit. Also Josh Patt, someone [snorts] that we need to [sighs] Josh Patty. Awesome. Hey, uh, I got LinkedIn open. Let's go ahead and send 30 more of our daily connections, please. Boom. That's cooking. Let's do our manual onetoone outreach. Uh Lindsay was the first one up on the list. Okay, I guess she isn't in our CRM yet. So, we're going to go back here. Reach in. See, has she been active on LinkedIn? be a great opportunity to past times. I know I have her cell number. I can't remember it exactly. Um, add her to agency masterminds pipeline. at the group agency leader status. We email her. Hit the rodeon with the rode on. [sighs] No. Hit the road stone with the road. Two, three duplicates, bro. Come on now. Merge. Boom. All right. Um, I want to go to email and I want to go to send and I sent a similar like this to Jennifer K. Boom. Almost exactly the same. Boom. Boom. She shattered. I hope my family work. Smiley face emoji. Send no 877 cash now comes a to see leadership been qualified. contacted K. Wilson. Lost Vexrowski. Just close lost. Close lost. We need to get a couple more. Boom. This is good. This right here is good. Good email. [sighs] Hit the road with the rodeo. The rodeo dab. [sighs and gasps] It's been a while since we've chatted and Hi. I finally got a house in the city and my schedule has opened up a lot to meeting more in person. Hit the road stone with the rodeo. Dab portfolio. She is qualified. Qualified contacted Nate. my dude. Uh, a man for us. Yeah, not going to lie to you guys. I tried putting uh vanilla Greek yogurt into my black coffee because it didn't have creamer and I was like, "Hey, this is dairy. It's vanilla. It's protein." Um, doesn't mix very well or taste tastes very good. So, don't recommend trying that. Stick with creamer. My portfolio dab. [sighs] since we chatted a few weeks ago. Flexing emoji Smiley face emoji marketing folks. Nate, hope this email finds you well, brother. I've enjoyed keeping my family life, family, and work have been fulfilling since we chatted a few weeks ago. Bro, hit the road with the rodeo. D my portfolio. [sighs] Sorry about my mumbo rap, guys. I know it's a little bit annoying at times. Okay. Um, we need to finally invite uh boom, the two that we actually had said we were going to. Um, so let's head over to uh the star. Let me check in on Slack real quick here just to make sure everything is going okay. Amazing. Grace. Okay, folk need to reach out to Taz. Um, [sighs] finally getting together an email to send to you about a few things I've been meaning to run by you. putting it together a little bit last minute and I meant to invite you earlier but obviously would love to have you to another Columbus marketing leaders lunch that I'm hosting at the same time same location at the store with the Y'all Also, I invited Kevin Rap and he's he's in crazy face emoji. [snorts] meeting or Google Meet about conference stuff. I ran this by Chelsea and she agreed, but I'd be happy to have a short check-in, whether it's over coffee or a Google Meet, to be more mindful of your time about logistics planning and collaboration on a future marketer exit conference. Laughing face emoji or I know name TV declared period. I have a few updates on event and things like that and I want to do whatever I can to make sure we're checking up on it trans transparently. I've been crazy busy and I didn't want you to think I was neglecting it or turning a blind ear to you or hanging you out to dry. by not bringing it up or checking in on it. Period. You're the boss on this. [ __ ] dude. What the [ __ ] is wrong with me? It's been a little bit hectic with travel and trying to fix this hell hole of a house. We can also loop in shel to see how she can contribute. Boom. Boom. Two new ones, bro. Let's go. [laughter] This is why the magic lives in the boring work, guys. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. It's why I do this every day. It's why I do this, man. Um, awesome. Okay, so Lindsay and Sam are both in. Lindsay and Sam, I think I had him on the last one. [sighs and gasps] Boom. Let's go. Exclamation point. I'll add you to the calendar invite shortly. Period. I'll also send out a brief update next Monday on everything regarding format, location, details, etc. Period. Nothing else needed from you. Dot dot dot. Just come with a positive attitude and ready to meet some great people. Smile face emoji there. I have several I would love to introduce you to. So, let's see. All right, I have a meeting here at two, guys. So, um let's do some quick brand stats checkin. Um I think we have a little bit of growth. We did cross 8K LinkedIn followers earlier today which is amaz pardon me which is amazing and we are now at 848 so 23 new ones fantastic. Uh YouTube and others we have three banger YouTube videos scheduled. This one right here I made a whole presentation. I took every way I got leads as a marketer. My first full year where I made 195,000 200,000 u in that neighborhood and attributed every lead back to its source and how you can do the same and replicate it in your own strategy. So that is coming out October 24th which is a Saturday and then we have two more live walkthroughs um that are coming out in the next two days. So highly encourage you to stay tuned. This will be coming out on Sunday. So, appreciate you guys. Um, YouTube brand stats growth, uh, 429 and 64. We may not have any improvement there. One more on the main channel. On the second channel, podcast downloads, subscribers to the newsletter, our top of funnel. I think we have a few more. It would be a great win to have this ready if it would load. Oh, I had a good time. [sighs] 266. So, we've grown 63 in the last four weeks, which is amazing. So, 266, four new ones. Fantastic. [snorts] Okie dokie. Thank you guys for watching. Um, and I will see you guys back tomorrow. If you're a marketer focused on growing and need um, some additional support, first of all, thank you guys for watching. Um, if you're a marketer who is focused on growing using outreach, business development, and podcasting, whatever, in order to make more money and grow your revenue, check out the links below and I'll see you back tomorrow. Biden.