I'm working on a project and trying to get customers before building the product. I've started doing cold emails in the last month and here is what I've learned:
Do not use your real domain to send emails - go to namecheap and buy a lookalike domain for $10 (or more if you want to scale).
In google workspaces, buy a mailbox ($7/month) or more if you want to scale (up to 3/domain). Each mailbox supports 50 emails / day without triggering spam.
Set up forwarding from your new mailbox to a mailbox you check frequently so you don't miss any emails.
Setup your DNS - you need to set text records for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Find an email warmup service. I use instantly. I think you can warmup 2 mailboxes for free (I pay $37/month for unlimited). This takes 2 weeks.
Create an account on Apollo. You can start with the free tier if you are only using 1 mailbox. For more than 1 you need the premium plan ($99/month)
Create a Sequence on Apollo. You should have at least 3 email steps (Day 1, 4, 10) and a/b test the emails to see what's working. Your emails should be VERY short, not include links (can trigger spam), and your CTA should be "Can I send you more information?". You don't want to ask for a meeting until the person has responded. Also include the opt out at the end.
Find leads using Apollo's search. Make sure to use the filters Email Status --> verified and Date Refreshed in Apollo --> 3 months ago. These prevent email bounces which can hurt your mailbox reputation.
Optional - you can run export leads from Apollo and verify email yourself. I haven't done this step yet, it's extra cost and overhead. So far on Apollo I have a small bounce rate (~5%) but my deliverability is good enough.
Now you are ready to start sending so activate the sequences.
If anyone needs help with these steps I'm offering a one-time paid service to get your campaign up and running. This is perfect for people who are in the idea validation phase or would like to launch a wait list while building. Slide into my DMs or post a comment and I will send you more information.
@nancy700 This is a great rundown, love the Apollo bit! I used Instantly in the past, but now that I had to scale up my infrastructure, which was a huge pain, I moved on to Salesforge that do the sending like Instantly, but you can also get your domains + mailboxes in minutes for like $3/mo for each sender acc
@patrick963 Are you saying salesforge provides inboxes for $3/mo? Does it have the same reputation as google inboxes? I read somewhere that not all mailboxes / smtps are the same.
@nancy700 Yes. I tested side by side a bunch of campaigns and deliverability is similar, so no issues there. They use some sort of large infrastructure tech behind the scenes with IP pools etc. All I care it's not worse vs Gmail/Outlook which I'm still using for now, but looking to replace them next week.
@nancy700 We used apollo and open rates were low - like 15%
Recently started working with an agency easyinbound.co and they are getting us a few interested leads per week. also higher open rates, which is a good sign that the emails are getting delivered unlike with apollo. like 60-70% range.
@nancy700 Yes we used warmupbox. I think the issue was that we weren’t using enough domains / inboxes. Also Apollo data isn’t great if you actually parse through the pages. We’re paying ~2500 per mo. Better than an sdr imo
