Adam Rosen runs a successful business that makes over $1 million a year using cold email outreach. His journey began with a tech startup he founded shortly before finishing his MBA. After running this company for five years, Rosen sold it in 2019. During his time as a startup founder, he discovered the power of cold emailing to acquire major clients.
Following the sale of his company, Rosen began advising other businesses. He noticed a common problem: many companies struggled to generate new sales opportunities. Drawing on his experience, Rosen saw an opportunity to help these businesses improve their cold email strategies.
In response to this need, Rosen partnered with his former co-founder to start a cold email marketing agency. Now in its third year, the company manages email outreach campaigns for more than 50 clients. Their customer base includes large corporations and even Fortune 500 companies.
Rosen's agency has grown rapidly. They recently reached 100 total customers, with some paying up to $30,000 per month for their services. This growth demonstrates the continued effectiveness of cold email when done correctly, despite changes in the digital marketing industry.
Let’s get right into the full story!
Adam Rosen
How Rosen's business grew over time
Adam Rosen's journey to success wasn't straightforward. It began when he was still in school, studying for his MBA. Just three weeks before he finished his degree, Rosen started his first company. This was a tech startup, and he ran it for about five years.
During this time, Rosen learned something important. He found out that sending cold emails was a great way to get big companies as customers. He used this method to win clients like Bank of America, Amazon, Apple, and Disney. This wasn't just luck - Rosen worked hard to make his emails effective.
In 2019, Rosen sold his startup. But he didn't stop there. He started helping other companies with their business problems. As he did this, he noticed something. Many of these companies were having trouble finding new customers. Rosen realized he could use what he learned about cold emails to help them.
So, Rosen decided to start a new business. He called up his old business partner and together they created a cold email marketing agency. Their idea was simple: they would use their skills to help other companies get more customers through email.
This new business grew quickly. After three years, they were working with more than 50 customers. Some of these were big companies that everyone knows. Their client list even included some Fortune 500 companies.
As the business got bigger, so did the amount clients were willing to pay. Some customers now pay as much as $30,000 a month for Rosen's company to handle their email marketing. Recently, they reached an important milestone: they now have over 100 total customers.
Important parts of successful cold email outreach
Rosen's success with cold emails comes from three main areas. Let's look at each one:
1. Email infrastructure:
This is like the foundation of a house. It needs to be strong for everything else to work. Rosen's company creates many different web addresses (called domains) for each customer. Sometimes they make over 100 domains for one client. They also set up hundreds or even thousands of email accounts. This might seem like a lot, but it's necessary. Using many domains and email accounts helps avoid looking like spam.
They also make sure each domain is set up correctly. This involves technical things like DKIM, SPF, and DMARC. Rosen compares this to having the right stickers on your car. If you don't have them, you might get in trouble.
2. Good contact lists:
Having the right email addresses to send to is crucial. Rosen's team uses special tools to find and check email addresses. They make sure the lists are clean, meaning there aren't any bad or fake emails. This helps emails actually reach people instead of bouncing back.
In the past, getting good email lists was expensive. Companies might pay $1 or more for each email address. Now, thanks to new tools, Rosen can get high-quality contacts for just a few cents each.
3. Writing effective emails:
The last part is writing emails that people want to read. Rosen keeps things simple. For the subject line, they often just write "Hi [Person's Name]". The main part of the email follows a clear plan:
- They explain why they're writing
- They talk about a problem the person might have
- They offer a solution
- They give proof that their solution works
- They ask for a short meeting
At the end of the email, they add a note saying they'll donate to charity for any replies. This clever idea has helped them get more responses.
Best ways to do cold email outreach
Over time, Rosen has learned many tricks to make cold emails work better. Here are some of his key strategies:
1. Send fewer emails: It might seem strange, but sending fewer emails often works better. Rosen suggests sending only about 20 emails per day from each email address. If you send too many, your emails might not reach people's inboxes.
2. Avoid spam triggers: There are certain things that can make an email look like spam. Rosen avoids using tracking links, images, or animated GIFs in cold emails. They don't even track when emails are opened or clicked.
3. Make each email unique: Rosen uses a technique called "spin tax". This slightly changes each email so they're not all exactly the same. This helps prevent the emails from being seen as mass messages.
4. Aim for quality responses: Instead of focusing on sending lots of emails, Rosen aims for good responses. They consider it a success if they get one positive reply for every 1,000 emails sent. Their best campaigns can get up to 2.5 positive replies per 1,000 emails.
5. Personalize emails: Rosen's team puts effort into making each email feel personal. They use special tools to create messages that look like they took time to research and write.
6. Use separate web addresses: They never use a company's main website for sending cold emails. Instead, they create new web addresses just for this purpose.
7. Check email health: Regularly, they check how well their emails are being received. This helps them catch and fix problems early.
How cold email has changed
The world of cold email is always changing. Here are some recent big changes:
1. New ownership: In September 2023, Squarespace bought Google Domains. This changed how some people set up their email systems.
2. Stricter rules: In early 2024, big email providers like Yahoo and Microsoft made new rules about what kinds of emails they allow.
3. Artificial intelligence: AI is now being used to both write emails and detect unwanted emails. This has changed the game for everyone.
These changes have made cold emailing more complex. Now, companies need to use more web addresses and email accounts for each customer. Email providers have stricter rules about what's allowed. Emails need to be smarter and more carefully crafted to work well.
While these changes have made cold emailing harder, they've also created opportunities. Many businesses that weren't serious about doing it right have given up. This leaves more room for those who are willing to put in the effort to do it correctly.
Rosen and his team have adapted to these changes. They constantly update their methods to stay effective. This ability to change with the times is a big reason why they continue to succeed in cold email marketing.
Measuring success in cold email
To know if cold emails are working well, Rosen looks at several important numbers. These numbers help him understand how successful his campaigns are.
The most important number is the response rate. This shows how many people reply to the emails. Rosen considers it very good if one person responds positively for every 1,000 emails sent. Some of their best campaigns do even better, getting 2.5 positive replies for every 1,000 emails.
But it's not just about how many people reply. Rosen also looks at what kind of replies they get. Are people interested in learning more? Do they want to set up a meeting? These are signs of a successful campaign.
When a campaign isn't doing well, Rosen's team investigates why. They look at several things:
1. The quality of their contact list: Are they emailing the right people?
2. The offer they're making: Is it interesting to the people they're emailing?
3. How well the message fits the audience: Does it speak to their needs?
4. The timing of the campaign: Are they sending emails at a good time?
For most of Rosen's clients, the main goal is to set up short phone calls or meetings. This works well for businesses selling services or products that cost anywhere from $10,000 a year to millions of dollars.
Rosen's team keeps track of how many meetings they set up each month. They aim for over 300 meetings per month across all their clients. This number helps them know if they're meeting their clients' needs.
Cold email for different types of businesses
While Rosen's agency mainly works with service businesses, he believes cold email can work for many different types of companies. Here's how different businesses can use cold email:
- Service businesses: These companies, like consulting firms or software providers, use cold email to set up meetings or calls. The email introduces their service and asks for a short conversation to explain more.
- Product companies: Businesses selling physical products can use cold email to find new retailers or distributors. They might offer samples or catalog information as a first step.
- Software companies: These businesses often use cold email to offer free trials or demos of their software. The email might highlight a specific problem the software solves.
- Non-profit organizations: Even non-profits can use cold email. They might reach out to potential donors or volunteers, sharing stories about their impact and asking for support.
- B2B companies: Businesses that sell to other businesses often use cold email to reach decision-makers. They might offer valuable information like industry reports to start a conversation.
The most important thing for any business is to have a clear idea of who they want to reach and what they want to offer. Rosen believes that if a business can get email addresses for potential customers, cold email can be a powerful tool for them.
Finding and managing email contacts
Getting good email contacts is importantl for successful cold emailing. Rosen's team has several ways to do this:
1. Using contact finding tools: They use services like Instantly.ai and Apollo to find most of their contacts. These tools provide verified email addresses for specific types of people or businesses.
2. Verifying contacts: Even when using good tools, Rosen's team double-checks the email addresses. They use a process called "double verification" to make sure emails are real and active.
3. Cleaning old lists: If a client provides their own list of contacts, Rosen's team cleans it first. They use tools like ZeroBounce to remove outdated or incorrect email addresses.
4. Segmenting contacts: They divide large lists into smaller groups based on things like job title, company size, or industry. This helps them send more relevant emails to each group.
5. Updating regularly: Email lists can become outdated quickly. Rosen's team regularly updates their lists, removing emails that bounce and adding new contacts.
6. Following data protection laws: They make sure all their email gathering and use follows laws like GDPR in Europe and CAN-SPAM in the United States.
Rosen stresses that using poor-quality lists can cause big problems. If too many emails bounce back or get marked as spam, it can hurt the sender's reputation. In the worst cases, email providers might block all emails from that sender.
Fixing problems with blacklisted web addresses
Sometimes, despite best efforts, a web address (or domain) used for sending emails can get blacklisted. This means email providers block messages from this address, thinking they're spam. Here's how Rosen deals with this problem:
1. Stop sending immediately: If a domain gets blacklisted, the first step is to stop all emails from that address right away.
2. Find out why: Rosen's team investigates to understand why the blacklisting happened. Was it because of too many bounced emails? Did recipients mark the emails as spam?
3. Clean up the list: They remove any bad email addresses from their contact list to prevent future problems.
4. Improve email content: If the content of the emails was part of the problem, they revise it to be more relevant and less spam-like.
5. Use warm-up techniques: To recover, they start sending a small number of emails to people who are likely to open and respond positively. This helps rebuild the domain's reputation.
6. Monitor closely: They keep a close eye on how emails from this address perform, watching for any signs of continued problems.
7. Be patient: Recovering from a blacklist can take time, sometimes weeks or even months. Rosen emphasizes the importance of patience and consistent good practices.
8. Consider starting fresh: In some cases, it might be better to start with a new domain rather than trying to fix a badly damaged one.
Rosen notes that prevention is the best approach. By following good email practices from the start, most blacklisting problems can be avoided. This includes sending relevant content, maintaining clean contact lists, and not sending too many emails too quickly.
The future of cold email
As technology and regulations evolve, so does the practice of cold emailing. Rosen believes several trends will shape the future of this marketing strategy:
1. Increased personalization: With advancements in artificial intelligence, emails will become more personalized. AI tools will help create messages that feel like they were written specifically for each recipient. This goes beyond just using the person's name; it will involve understanding their interests, job responsibilities, and recent activities.
2. Stricter regulations: Governments worldwide are likely to implement more stringent data protection laws. This means cold emailers will need to be even more careful about how they collect and use email addresses. They'll need to ensure they have proper consent and maintain transparent practices.
3. Advanced filtering by email providers: Gmail, Outlook, and other email services are continually improving their ability to detect unwanted emails. In response, cold email strategies will need to focus more on providing genuine value to recipients rather than trying to bypass filters.
4. Integration with other channels: Cold email won't exist in isolation. Successful strategies will likely involve coordinating email outreach with other methods like social media engagement, content marketing, and even direct mail. This multi-channel approach can help build familiarity and trust with potential clients.
5. More sophisticated analytics: Tools for tracking email performance will become more advanced. Marketers will have access to more detailed insights about how recipients interact with their emails, allowing for more refined and effective strategies.
6. Rise of video and interactive content: As email clients become more capable of handling rich media, cold emails might start to include more video content or interactive elements. This could help messages stand out in crowded inboxes.
7. Focus on micro-segments: Rather than broad campaigns, the future of cold email may involve highly targeted outreach to very specific groups. This could mean sending fewer emails overall, but with much higher relevance and response rates.
8. Automated follow-up sequences: While initial cold emails will remain carefully crafted, follow-up messages may become more automated. AI could help determine the best times and content for follow-ups based on recipient behavior.
Rosen emphasizes that despite these changes, the core principle of cold email will remain the same: providing value to the recipient. Those who can adapt to new technologies and regulations while maintaining this focus on value will continue to find success with cold email marketing.
Conclusion
Adam Rosen's success in cold email outreach comes from really understanding the technical side of email delivery, combined with writing effective emails and building good contact lists. By staying on top of industry changes and focusing on quality over quantity, Rosen has built a business making over a million dollars a year. His experience shows that even though it's getting more complex, cold email is still a powerful tool for businesses willing to invest in doing it right. All you have to do is master the details of setting up email systems, getting good contact lists, and writing engaging emails, all while constantly adapting to changes in the digital industry.
