Word-of-mouth leads in San Diego - any advice?

Two small San Diego employers told me they are hiring but have not posted yet. 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?

Visiting in person worked for a trades job. For office jobs, email was better.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.