The Spam email that Sparked This Post about cold emailing
I get a lot of cold emails. Most days, I don’t even open them, they go straight to reportspam@acma.gov.au without a second thought.
But this morning my inbox was flooded with spam, and for the first time ever I cracked at one. Instead of just forwarding to spam (I do it so often I’m convinced the reportspam team think I’m the spammer) and hitting delete, I actually wrote back.
Maybe channeling my inner Joe Lycett (whose takedowns of scammers I absolutely love and adore). So, I thought I’d share it with you. Hopefully you’ll get a laugh out of it, but also I wanted to use this as a chance to make a bigger point and that is cold emailing isn’t marketing, and small businesses deserve better strategies.
Here’s the spam message: (screenshot goes here)
And here’s my reply: (screenshot of roast reply goes here)
Why Cold Email Fails (The Numbers Don’t Lie)
Spam emails like this aren’t just annoying, they’re ineffective. Research shows that:
- On average, only 24% of cold emails even get opened (Mailmeteor, Popupsmart).
- Response rates are in the 1%–5% range (Influno, Popupsmart, Mailmeteor).
- One report put it bluntly: 91.5% of cold outreach goes unanswered (Popupsmart).
In short, most people delete them, the few who open rarely respond, and almost no one hires you because of a cold email.
Why It Doesn’t Work for Small Businesses
Cold emailing is the marketing equivalent of knocking on someone’s door while they’re eating dinner.
- It’s contextless: you’re approaching strangers out of the blue.
- It’s distrustful: people assume spam = scam.
- It’s low return, high risk: it burns your reputation faster than it wins you work.
For small businesses who don’t have time or budget to waste, it’s the last place you should be putting energy.
The Hidden Cost: Damaging Your Email Reputation
Here’s what most small business owners don’t realise: cold emailing doesn’t just waste time—it can actively hurt your business communications.
When people mark your emails as spam (and they will), it damages your domain’s sender reputation. Email providers like Gmail and Outlook track this, and once you’re flagged as a sender who generates complaints, even your legitimate business emails start landing in spam folders.
This means your invoices, project updates, and genuine client communications might never reach their intended recipients. You could be unknowingly sabotaging relationships with existing clients while failing to win new ones.
The long-term cost of these shortcuts far outweighs any potential short-term gains. Your business email address and domain are valuable assets—don’t trash them for a 1-5% response rate.
So, What Works Instead?
Here are smarter, more effective ways to get clients:
| What To Do | Why It Works |
| Share useful content | People choose to engage with your knowledge, instead of being interrupted. |
| Show up where your audience already hangs out | Familiarity breeds trust. |
| Leverage referrals and warm connections | Context matters — referrals come with built-in credibility. |
| Use opt-in email marketing | Email is powerful when people want to hear from you. |
| Community participation | Join Facebook/LinkedIn groups, industry forums where your ideal clients gather. |
| Local networking strategies | Face-to-face connections still matter—chambers of commerce, industry meetups. |
| Partnership and collaboration | Team up with complementary businesses to cross-refer clients. |
Why Permission-Based Email Marketing Changes Everything
Email itself isn’t the problem—it’s one of the most powerful marketing tools available. The difference is permission.
When someone opts in to hear from you, everything changes:
- Click-through rates average 2.6% (OpenSend) for permission-based email versus minimal engagement for cold emails
- People actually want to hear from you, creating genuine engagement rather than resentment
This is the difference between earned attention and stolen attention. When you earn someone’s attention providing value first, they welcome your messages. When you steal their attention with unsolicited emails, you create resistance.
Permission-based email also keeps you compliant with laws like the Australian Spam Act, CAN-SPAM (US), and GDPR (EU), protecting your business from potential legal issues. In Australia particularly, the Spam Act requires explicit consent before sending commercial emails, and violations can result in hefty penalties. More importantly, it builds your sender reputation instead of destroying it.
I’ll be covering how to start building an email list the right way in a future post, but the key principle is simple. Give people a reason to want to hear from you before you start sending and give them a way to opt out.
The Mindset Shift That Changes Your Business
The biggest challenge for small business owners isn’t learning new tactics—it’s shifting from a “hunting” mindset to a “farming” mindset.
Hunting mentality (cold emailing)
- Focuses on extracting value from strangers
- Seeks quick wins and immediate results
- Prioritises quantity of outreach over quality of connections
- Treats marketing as something you do to people
Farming mentality
- Focuses on building relationships over time
- Plays the long game for sustainable growth
- Prioritises quality connections and genuine value
- Treats marketing as something you do for people
This shift requires patience, but it’s what separates businesses that struggle for every client from those that have clients seeking them out. Instead of constantly chasing prospects, you create conditions where prospects come to you because they already know, like, and trust your work.
The farmers always outlast the hunters.
The Lesson
Cold emailing strangers is like shouting through someone’s window — you might get noticed, but not for the reasons you want.
If you want to build a business that people actually trust, don’t crash their inbox. Show up consistently, be useful, and connect where people invite you in. Your future clients—and your email reputation—will thank you.
(exits stage left without leaving contact details) seriously though you know where to find me.
