To reach the inbox with personal outreach: publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC records for your sending domain, warm a new domain up over several weeks, keep volume low and steady, send only to addresses you have checked, and write plain, relevant messages. Stop when someone replies or asks you to. Most deliverability problems for small senders come from skipping authentication or sending too many emails too soon.
SPF, DKIM and DMARC in one table
| Record | What it says | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| SPF | Which servers may send mail for your domain | Add one TXT record listing your provider. Only one SPF record per domain |
| DKIM | That the message was signed by your domain and not altered | Turn on DKIM in your mail provider and publish the key it gives you |
| DMARC | What receivers should do when SPF or DKIM fail, and where to send reports | Start with a policy of none to monitor, then tighten |
Your mail provider's help pages give the exact values. After publishing, send a message to an address at another provider and look at the original headers: you want to see spf=pass, dkim=pass and dmarc=pass. Large mailbox providers now expect all three from anyone sending regularly.
Warming up a new domain or mailbox
A new domain has no reputation, and sudden volume from an unknown sender looks like spam. Build slowly, with real conversations:
| Week | Emails per day | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 to 10 | People who know you and will reply |
| 2 | 10 to 20 | Warm contacts, a few new ones |
| 3 | 20 to 30 | Mixed |
| 4 onwards | 30 to 50 | Your normal outreach, if bounce and reply signals are healthy |
These are cautious starting points, not rules. Replies help reputation more than anything else. If bounces or spam complaints appear, drop back a step.
Sending limits
Every provider caps what a mailbox can send, and the practical safe level for cold outreach is far below the published cap. Set a daily limit, an hourly limit and a delay between messages so sending looks like a person working through a list. Spread a batch across the working day, on weekdays, in the recipient's time zone. The free pace planner works out a schedule from your list size.
Choosing how to send
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Your normal mailbox (Gmail, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Fastmail) | Small personal outreach; replies land where you already work | Provider sending limits; use an app password where required |
| Transactional SMTP services | Higher volume and detailed delivery logs | Many forbid cold outreach in their terms. Read them first |
| A separate domain for outreach | Protecting your main domain's reputation | Needs its own authentication and warm-up |
List hygiene
- Only include people with a clear reason to hear from you.
- Remove role addresses such as info@ and anything you are unsure of.
- Fix obvious typos in domains before sending.
- Keep a suppression list: anyone who replied, bounced or asked you to stop is never contacted again by a sequence.
- Aim for bounces under two percent. Above that, stop and clean the list.
Content that avoids filters
- Plain text or very light formatting. No image-only emails.
- One link at most in a first message, and no link shorteners.
- No attachments on first contact.
- A subject line that describes the email honestly.
- A real name, a real signature and an easy way to say no.
How Drip Send fits
Drip Send is a Mac app for small, personal outreach. You import a CSV, map and review the contacts, preview every personalised message, and send slowly from your own mailbox or SMTP provider with daily and hourly limits. It can send follow-ups and stops when someone replies. Lists and campaign data stay on your Mac. It is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, $34.99 at the time of writing.
Free tools: the pace planner, the follow-up sequence planner, the ready-to-send checklist and a CSV contact-review template.
Drip Send is not for purchased lists, mass newsletters or high-volume automation. If you need opt-in broadcasts, use a newsletter platform. Laws on unsolicited email differ by country; check the rules that apply to you and your recipients, and always honour requests to stop.
Common questions
Do I need all three of SPF, DKIM and DMARC?
Yes, if you send outreach regularly. Major providers expect them.
How many emails a day is safe?
For an established mailbox doing personal outreach, tens per day, not hundreds. New domains should start with five to ten.
Should I use a separate domain?
It protects your main domain, at the cost of setting up and warming a second one.
Why did I land in spam with everything set up?
Usually volume that rose too fast, a poor list, or content that looks like marketing. Reduce volume and check bounces.
Does Drip Send handle DNS records for me?
No. You publish records with your domain provider. Drip Send handles pacing, previews and follow-ups.
Send slowly, from your own mailbox: Get Drip Send.