Why are you against platforms? They give both sides some trust.

I work with a few freelancers: a friend of mine, a guy i met on a platform (and we decided it's not necessary to do follow up business through that platform) and freelancers on a platform.

If I get a cold email no matter how warm and personal they're trying to make it sound I'm assuming it's from someone who emails 1000s of companies and the email goes to spam, even if I need such service because spam shouldn't pay off.