Here are a few tips to get the most value out of the said tools:

• Use canned responses in Gmail for easy template creation. You can even include your subject line in your email template so you can just copy and paste it in the subject line once you write the draft or send the message already (this is effective if you have long subject lines).
• Install the Undo tool in Gmail so you can easily undo the message if you still don't want to send it (i.e. you remember some grammatical errors in the message).
• Use split testing in outreach. Create two different email templates (you add variations to their subject lines). Send an email message to the first 10% of your contacts. Send another one to the other 10%. Wait for 1-2 days for their responses. If they don't respond, check each of your template and see which details you can improve to get more replies. Select one from the two templates that gets the most response and use it to reach out to the remaining 80% of your link prospects.

Here's a diagram to help you with split testing:

Track the dates when the person replies back to you and when the link goes live. It will give you an idea which week/month gets higher response rates (i.e. December is not a good season for outreach since most (all) are busy for the celebration).

• Allot one week of interval before you follow up your contacts. Check first their pages/sites if they had linked to you already. They might forget only to tell you your live links.
• Continue to build relationships with your prospects. You might get another link from them in the future (if you need be).