Word-of-mouth leads in Nashville - any advice?

I asked around at a community meeting and got three leads. I would rather hear the honest version than the polite one. They like a brief email with a résumé. What do you write in a cold email?

Keep a list of who you contacted and when. It makes follow-ups easy.

A short email with two sentences about what you can do and your résumé attached worked for me. I followed up after a week.