Hey there, it’s Isaac from Leads to Earnings. Welcome to the newsletter.

(est. 3 minute read)

Today I will be going over:

• Cold email deliverability basics

• Why it's important to track daily inputs

• I will also share a few cold email links and tips.

Hopefully you enjoy it.

Actionable Cold Email Tip

Cold email deliverability can get very complicated very quick if you let it.

Being said, it’s still one of the most important elements of cold email and your biggest constraint in any campaign.

This is because your results are ultimately limited by the amount of outbound emails you can send.

If your email is landing in the spam folder, you will have a hard time getting results, not to mention wasting a bunch of time and money.

More emails into the primary inbox, more chances at creating opportunities with warm leads.

So let me break down deliverability for you:

Most B2B companies run their email on the major Email Service Providers (ESPs) Google or Microsoft.

ESPs continue to make cold email delivery more challenging by adding more spam compliance policies to protect their customers from unwanted spam.

Now, I’m not suggesting spray and pray to your entire audience, which is why you need a highly targeted list and a great offer. The reality of outbound sales is reaching out to folks who don’t know you, so we have to take precautions to make sure we still get into the inbox.

To avoid spam detection, you will setup a diversified cold email infrastructure, ideally matching email inboxes to the prospect ESP.

For example, if your prospect works at a Google hosted company, then you will want to send them an email from your Google inboxes. Conversely, you’ll do the same thing for Microsoft inboxes. Smartlead has a feature that automatically does this for you.

Here’s what I recommend to setup your cold email infrastructure:

1. Use a mix of Google and Microsoft inboxes.

2. Purchase domains from providers like Cloudflare or Porkbun (2 inboxes per domain).

3. Use domains that are at least 14 days old.

For each domain:

• Authenticate SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for all domains.

• Set up custom domain tracking and domain forwarding.

• Perform domain/email verification.

• Enable SMTP for mailboxes.

Ongoing sending protocol:

1. Run inbox placement tests weekly (Smartlead’s Smart Delivery).

2. Start slow: send 5-10 emails per day per mailbox, warming up to 15+ emails/day.

3. Warm up new mailboxes for at least 14 days with 3-5 emails/day before campaigns.

4. Ensure bounce rates are below 2%.

5. Keep spam report rates below 0.1% (0.3%+ risks domain blacklisting).

6. Don’t track open rates and clicks.

7. Use ESP matching in Smartlead tools.

Action Step:

Keep it simple when starting by diversifying infrastructure 50% into Google and 50% into Outlook.

Now you know how to set up your infrastructure, monitor your results ongoing. When your deliverability takes a hit, pause sending from the inbox and leave on warmup for 1-2 weeks. If your domain is completely burned, then buy new domains and do the process over again.

Avoid the spam filter at all costs,

Isaac

Useful Bits

• Tweet of the Day: (link)

• Quote of the week: “Of course, as high-level corporate outcomes, Business Results cannot be directly managed. To exert any form of control over these numbers, leadership needs to select the right Sales Objectives and manage the right Sales Activities to drive its desired outcomes.” ― Jason Jordan, Cracking the Sales Management Code

• Quick bite-sized pointer: If you only look at daily changes, you'll never see how far you've come. In the macro it's much easier to see the results of your efforts. This is why it's important to track daily inputs, then you can see trends over time to adjust your goals. Big changes take time to materialize. Be patient, put in the work daily, track your inputs and adjust over time.

How I Can Help You

If you like this newsletter and want to work with me, there are a few ways we can do so:

1. I have a ton of free content that will help you get more clients on my YouTube channel. I post insights from operating high converting cold email campaigns for dozens of B2B companies that have added hundreds of thousands in recurring revenue.

2. If you are looking to improve your cold outbound skills but don’t want to hire anyone, I have a free 71-page course that teaches everything you need to know about cold email.

3. If you want a custom cold email campaign specifically designed for your business & ideal target audience, I have a few slots available to show you how it works. Book in here and on the call I will deliver a full 5-angle cold email campaign for you to use to bring on more high paying clients.

4. If you’d like to hear about how I can help you and your company grow, you can book a call with me here. I might be able to help you grow faster, or I might be able to refer you to someone who can.

Share this with 3 people and get a free training showing you how to convert more cold prospects into warm leads with cold email.

I hope you enjoyed this brief email.

Talk later,

Isaac