Cold email follow-ups that stop when people reply

• Send from a real mailbox on your own domain, so replies come straight back to you.
• Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for that domain. Without them, much of your mail lands in spam.
• Start with a small number of emails a day and grow slowly.
• Gmail and Yahoo expect bulk senders to offer one-click unsubscribe and to keep spam complaints low. It is good practice for everyone.

• Open with one real, recent reason to write: they just opened, raised money, hired or won a contract.
• One or two lines on what you do for businesses like theirs.
• One easy question to answer. No attachments and no long lists of features.

• Two to four follow-ups, a few days apart, are usually enough.
• Each one adds something new: a short example, a useful idea, a simpler question. Avoid "just bumping this up".
• Send in the person's own working hours, in their time zone, and mind their public holidays.
• Stop everything as soon as they reply, unsubscribe or bounce.

Open tracking is no longer reliable: some mail apps load images for privacy, which counts as an open. Count replies, interested replies and meetings booked instead.