Blog
Notes from the
honest side of email
Deliverability, honest analytics and outreach craft — written in plain language, with no growth-hack snake oil.
Our domain is 11 days old. Here's exactly how we're sending from it.
A build-in-public deliverability diary: the records we set on day one, the warmup ramp we're actually on, and the receipts you can check yourself — on our own domain.
Read the postHow to read email headers like a postmaster
Received chains read bottom-to-top, Authentication-Results don't lie, and a five-minute header read explains most delivery mysteries. A field guide.
Read the postHow to find (almost) anyone's business email — without paying for it
Most companies use one of 14 address patterns. The free permute-and-verify workflow, the catch-all trap that fakes success, and the line you shouldn't cross.
Read the postHalf of your email opens are robots. Here's how to find the real number.
Apple Mail opens your email automatically, Gmail caches every image, and security software clicks every link. What's actually left when you filter the noise out — and how to make decisions on it.
Read the postEmail blacklists: how to check if you're listed — and actually get off
Which DNS blocklists matter in 2026, how to check your domain and IPs in one sweep, and the delisting process that works (it's free, despite what some sites imply).
Read the postThe Gmail & Outlook sender rules, explained like you're busy
SPF, DKIM, DMARC, one-click unsubscribe and the 0.3% spam threshold — what mailbox providers actually require from senders now, in plain language, with a checklist.
Read the postCold email math: what 1,000 sends honestly turns into
Work the funnel backwards — sends, deliveries, real opens, replies, meetings — with honest numbers at every stage, and see why list quality beats volume every time.
Read the postWhy your emails go to spam (it's rarely the words)
Spam placement in 2026 is mostly reputation, authentication and engagement — not trigger words. A diagnostic order that finds your real problem in 20 minutes.
Read the postHow many cold emails per day per mailbox? Fewer than you want.
The honest per-mailbox ceiling in 2026, why the 5,000-a-day bulk-sender line is a tripwire and not a target, and how to scale volume without burning domains.
Read the postHow to write a cold email that gets replies (not just opens)
The anatomy of a reply-worthy cold email: a first line that proves homework, one problem, one proof point, one easy ask — and the follow-up rules that don't burn goodwill.
Read the postHow long does it take to warm up a new email domain? (a day-by-day answer)
Two to four weeks minimum, longer for cold outreach. The day-by-day ramp that builds reputation, the signals receivers actually track, and the shortcuts that burn domains.
Read the postHow to read a DMARC report (no XML degree required)
Gmail, Microsoft and Yahoo send you gzipped XML about every email claiming to be your domain. Here are the four fields that matter and how to spot a spoofer.
Read the postp=none vs p=quarantine vs p=reject: when to move (and when not to)
More than half of domains with DMARC never leave p=none. Here's the honest ladder from monitoring to enforcement, with the checks to pass before each step.
Read the postDKIM, explained: selectors, key sizes and the failures nobody notices
How DKIM signing actually works, what a selector is, why 1024-bit keys are on borrowed time, and how to check the key your domain is really using.
Read the postSPF records, explained with real examples (and the 10-lookup trap)
What an SPF record actually says, how to read every mechanism, copy-paste examples for common stacks — and the DNS lookup limit that silently voids it.
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