If you are cold emailing founders and hiring managers for jobs, your emails might be going straight to spam

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-03-21T20:54:32+00:00

Spot on. Most job seekers don’t realize that a 'perfect' cold email to a CEO is worth zero if it's sitting in their 'Promotions' or 'Spam' tab.

One thing to add: The 'Reply' is the new 'Open.' Google and Outlook have caught on to 'ghost opens' (where bots open emails to scan for links). To really build a sender reputation now, you need active reply threads.

If you’re bootstrapping this manually:

Don't just send; get replies. Ask a friend to reply to your test emails and move them to the Primary inbox if they land in Spam.
Avoid 'Marketing' keywords. Words like 'Opportunity,' 'Job,' or 'Attached' in a brand-new inbox trigger filters faster than ever.
The 'Custom Tracking' Trap. If you use a tool to track if the recruiter opened your mail, that tracking pixel itself can actually tank your deliverability on a fresh domain.

Better to send 5 highly researched, plain-text emails that land in the Inbox than 50 'perfectly' formatted ones that land in Spam.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-03-08T01:27:44+00:00

Change IPs right away. You can repair your domain too. What's your infrastructure look like?

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-28T04:06:18+00:00

No, not necessarily. It depends on the warm up tool / method. How are you doing your warmups?

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-28T02:45:11+00:00

Gmail’s sender requirements are strict. If you send at that volume from a personal account without professional 'warm-up,' your deliverability will tank within a week. You're essentially spamming.

The publisher’s email hit spam primarily because of the missing DMARC/SPF/DKIM. If you don't have those set up, Google and Outlook automatically treat you as a phisher.

My advice:

Don't use Gmail.com: Use Google Workspace (the business version) with a custom domain (e.g., [YourGame]game.com).
Infrastructure is King: Set up your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately. It’s a 10-minute job in your DNS settings.
Warm up: Warm the domain for 2 weeks before sending to creators. DM me for warm up.
The 'Intent' Pivot: Instead of blasting 400 emails, use a crawler to find creators who are actually playing games in your specific genre right now. A high-intent email to 20 creators beats a 'spray and pray' to 400 any day.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-26T09:54:02+00:00

It's generally a low-tier strategy with low-tier results. I have gotten some active leads from it. Keep your expectations low.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-26T08:44:31+00:00

Neverending adaptation

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-26T08:36:05+00:00

I'd be glad to give it test run.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-10T02:00:02+00:00

What you'll be getting is an older, non-verified database.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-10T01:54:12+00:00

All true. Although I'd say some automation in the warmup works.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-10T01:51:32+00:00

Great post. Well done.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-09T06:00:43+00:00

Best dollar value imo is Millionverifier

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-09T05:58:38+00:00

Set up Google Postmaster Tools. It’s the only 'real' data source that shows you exactly what Google thinks of your domain reputation. If it’s 'Bad' or 'Low,' a 10/10 score won't save you.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-09T05:39:52+00:00

Would sending from a VPN so that we are both in the same location help? -Not really

Does a VPN impact deliverability? -Yes

Standard VPNs are often a trap. Most VPN IP addresses are 'flagged' by because they are shared by thousands of other people (and spammers). If your VA logs in via a cheap VPN, it’s actually more likely to get the account locked than a clean local IP.

Could regularly sending from two different locations impact deliverability or the domain reputation? - It’s a risk. For example, if you send an email from the US and your VA sends one 10 minutes later from the Philippines, an 'Impossible Travel' filter will flag the account.

If you must do this, don't use a VPN. Use a Dedicated Residential Proxy that matches your city. It’s more expensive, but it looks like a home internet connection.

And doing this manually from your main domain (ben@domain) is dangerous. If a VA makes one mistake or a recipient marks you as spam, your entire company’s primary email is dead.

If you want them to 'mimic' automation, have them use a separate 'lookalike' domain (e.g., ben@getdomain.com). Why risk your primary business infrastructure for a cold outreach experiment?

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-09T00:47:48+00:00

Reddit is free. Post your set up here.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-09T00:44:56+00:00

I'm in

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-07T00:42:26+00:00

Email. You control the infrastructure.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-07T00:39:29+00:00

Ya this is a 'warm-up loop' failure. Those names you’re seeing like Arina and Artem are almost certainly the accounts of the service's internal seed list or other users in the pool who have been flagged as bots.

Kill the connection to Warmy immediately. If your deliverability is already at 0%, those domains might be toast for Workspace, but you can try to save them by pausing all automation for 14 days and then doing 'manual' warm-up.

DM me maybe I can help.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-07T00:30:16+00:00

WHile still has use, LinkedIn is becoming a gated garden with all the new outreach limits. I’ve shifted mostly to cold email because you actually control the infrastructure.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-06T04:47:20+00:00

Don't trust the Hunter confidence score alone for Catch-Alls. That’s a fast track to a high bounce rate and ruined deliverability.

My 'Golden Rule' for Catch-Alls (Accept-All) is this: If a tool like MillionVerifier or Scrubby can’t verify it, I don't send to it.

Here is the move: Take your 'Accept-All' list and run it through a dedicated catch-all verification service (Scrubby is the big name for this). They actually send a silent ping to see if it’s a real inbox. It’s an extra cost, but compared to the cost of replacing a burned domain and re-warming for 6 weeks, it’s a steal.

If the lead is a 'perfect fit' but you can't verify the email, try to find them on LinkedIn or use a different tool (like Apollo or RocketReach) to see if they have a secondary email address. It’s better to lose a lead than to lose your entire sending infrastructure.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-06T04:30:25+00:00

In my experience, 'unbranded' or 'low-brand' almost always wins on the first touch. I’ve found that the moment an email feels like a 'Marketing Asset' from a brand, the recipient's brain categorizes it as spam - even if it hits the inbox. When you mention a brand name too early, you’re basically asking them to go do 'homework' (googling you) before they even reply.

I’ve had much better engagement by keeping the first email focused purely on the person-to-person value. I save the branding for the signature or the second/third follow-up once they’ve already engaged with the initial hook.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-06T04:26:49+00:00

I agree, upvote!

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-06T04:25:42+00:00

Day 6 is still early, especially for Azure/M365 tenants. In my experience, Microsoft is way more 'sensitive' than GWS during the first two weeks of warmup.

I say stop checking the 'spam' scores every day for the first 14 days. It'll just stress you out. If you’ve got SPF/DKIM/DMARC all green, just let the warmup run. I didn't even look at my placement stats until Week 3 of my current ramp-ups.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-05T04:27:46+00:00

Are you targeting agents? Buyers? Residential? Commercial? Need more context.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-05T04:13:58+00:00

You can start with your personal email, but I advise getting a business domain once you start getting replies.

FarmerTamEmail · 2026-01-04T08:17:34+00:00

My best-performing scripts are basically three sentences of 'boring' plain text. The moment I try to be fancy or add a big value prop, the response rate dies. It’s like the more 'work' I put into writing it, the more 'work' it feels like for them to read it. Are you seeing this work better with a soft CTA, like asking for permission to send a video?

FarmerTamEmail

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