cold-email-outboundlisted

# Cold Email Outbound ## Overview Cold email fails for one of three reasons, in this order of frequency: it did not land in the inbox, it targeted the wrong person, or the copy was bad. Diagnose in that order too. Infrastructure is unglamorous and it is where most campaigns actually die. The output of this skill is a running sending system — domains, inboxes, warmed and monitored — plus a sequence and a reply-handling protocol. Copy alone is not a campaign. ## When to Use - Launching or scaling cold email for any offer - Reply rates are low, or emails are landing in spam or Promotions - Setting up sending infrastructure from scratch - Auditing an existing sequence before spending more volume Don't use for: warm/nurture email to opted-in lists (that is lifecycle marketing, use `crm-pipeline-ops`), or list building (use `lead-sourcing`). ## Sending Infrastructure **Never send cold email from your primary domain.** One spam-trap hit can poison the domain your invoices and client comms run through. Standard build: - Buy 2–5 lookalike domains (`getbrandname.com`, `brandnamehq.com`, `try-brandname.com`). Avoid hyphens where possible and avoid `.info`/`.biz`. - Redirect each lookalike domain to the primary site with a 301. A domain with no site is a spam signal. - Create 2–3 inboxes per domain. More than 3 concentrates risk. - Authenticate every domain: **SPF, DKIM, DMARC**. DMARC starts at `p=none` for monitoring, then moves to `quarantine`. Missing DMARC is now a hard bl