Just a quick tip: if you’re sending someone a cold email, including an attachment can trigger a spam filter which routes the email to Trash.
What’s a cold email? An email you’re sending to someone who doesn’t know you.
As a freelancer, I send out cold emails all the time. I send them to prospects who might have a need for my work.
You can’t blame companies for using spam filters. 45% of emails sent every day qualify as spam.
Spam filters are designed to delete emails with attachments because a lot of malware is distributed that way: you open the attached file and out pops a virus that sets up shop on your hard drive.
Suppose your cold email makes it past a spam filter– what are the odds the recipient will click on the attachment?
Pretty much nil because of the malware danger. Put yourself in their place– you’d trash the email, too.
Another good reason to avoid attachments: they increase the size of an email, which means it will take longer to load– always annoying for a recipient.
Is there a work-around? Yes: simply include a link to the file rather than attaching it. You can even include a call-to-action button that serves as the link.