Free Tools

VERIFYING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES

It’s VERY important to make sure the emails you are sending to are actually reaching the intended inboxes. Not just because there’s no point in sending an email that will just bounce, but for every bounced email you send, your sender reputation will go down slightly. If your sender reputation drops too low, all your emails will just start going to the spam folder, and all your efforts will be for nothing. Here are our best tools for verifying email addresses:

Bulk Email Checker – Paid(Link) – This is a paid tool, but it’s very cheap. You can verify 1,000 email addresses for less than $3, and it gets cheaper as you order larger verification packages. You can upload a spreadsheet and have them verify all your email addresses at once, or if you are comfortable with API’s you can integrate it directly into your lead sheets. This is the tool that we use to verify email addresses for our clients.

Free Bulk Email Verifier – Free(Link) – We wanted to include a free option here as well, but we really don’t recommend this over Bulk Email Checker. While it is free, Bulk Email Checker will do a much better job, and the cost is very minimal. Still, if you need something for free, you can start here.

BEST PRACTICES

DO NOT send from your own domain – Set up the .co, .net, .tk or .ml etc version of your own domain using a free domain registrar like Dot TK. Especially when starting out, you might make some mistakes, and you don’t want that to come back and affect your ability to send emails from your company’s main domain. If you do manage to get your secondary domain flagged as spam or blacklisted, it’s not the end of the world. Set up another new domain name and don’t make the same mistakes again.

Use Google Apps – All of these tactics will work best when sent from an account that can use Gmail. Once you have your new domain, set up a Google Apps account. The first 14 days is free, and $5/month after that. The first month will have lower sending limits, but we recommend taking things slow in the first month anyways, so you get the hang of things properly.

Set up SPF and DKIM records – This is how your email address will be authenticated, so recipient email servers know it can be trusted. Without this, your emails could go to spam without you doing anything else wrong. If you have a paid Google Apps account, you can actually call Google directly and talk to a real person for support, and they can help walk you through these steps. Or if you’re technically inclined, you can do it yourself following these directions from Google for setting up SPF and DKIM records.

Comply with CAN-SPAM – This one is very important. While it is unlikely you will be reported if your break the rules of CAN-SPAM, you can be fined up to $16,000 for every complaint. The rules are very easy to follow, so make sure you comply. Here they are:

• Don’t use false or misleading header information – This is different from misrepresenting your subject line. This means don’t put “re:” or “fwd:” in the subject line to trick the recipient into thinking the message is from an ongoing conversation.
• Don’t use deceptive subject lines – Basically, don’t use the subject line “You’ve won a new car!” if you’d like to get your prospect on the phone to discuss your marketing services. Not only is this illegal, but this type of bait and switch would never work anyways.
• Identify the message as an ad – The law is a bit loose here, but the main point is that you need to clear about what your intent is. You don’t have to come right out and say, “I want you to become my client and pay me money”, but you should definitely say you’d like to have a quick intro call to see if there’s a mutual fit.
• Tell recipients where you’re located – This is best accomplished by using your business address in your signature.
• Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you – We recommend against actual unsubscribe links. They are difficult to set up, and can cause things to go to Promotions tab in Gmail, or even worse, the spam folder. It’s enough to include a small line in your signature that says something like “Don’t want to receive emails from me? Just reply back and let me know.”
• Honor opt-out requests promptly – When someone asks to be removed from your list, don’t even email them again. Very simple.
• Monitor what others are doing on your behalf – If you’re working with a third party to send emails on your behalf, make sure they also compliant with CAN-SPAM, as you’ll both be liable for any infractions. When working with clients (and for our our own campaigns), we are always 100% CAN-SPAM compliant.

EMAIL SOFTWARE TO SEND YOUR EMAILS

There are lots of different options out there now for sending cold emails. Many cheap options can run right within your lead sheets. These ones are a bit more complicated though, and best for people who have been doing this for a long time. If you’re just starting out, there’s really only one tool we recommend, and that is QuickMail.io. The founder, Jeremy, is great about adding new features and implementing feedback form his customers. If you become a power user, there are cheaper options, but when getting started QuickMail is definitely the best option.