I hear you. And you are definitely right. It can be intimidating. Those cold calls, I still can't get the nerves out when I've done those. But emails, you don't actually have to feel any rejection :)

I have never gotten someone to reply negatively to an email I've sent them. The worst ever, and it's rare, is someone simply saying "Thanks, but no." Of course there's lots of ignores. But even ignores, I've followed up on and gotten replies like "Thank you so much for reminding me about this! I meant to reply but got busy when I received your note."