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#122 · How to Design Rock-Solid Guarantees for AI Automation

youtube ↗Cold Email

I ran my first cold email campaign with a 71% open rate but zero replies. Any advice on optimizing for replies?

A 71% open rate sounds impressive, but opens don’t matter if you get no replies. Stop obsessing over open metrics and focus on response rates. For your first test send around 500 emails—not a thousand—so you can verify deliverability before you turn off open tracking. Once you know the emails are landing, work on the copy: most cold‑email copy is weak, so study proven formulas (like the one in my 56‑minute video) and adapt them to your niche, such as gyms or personal trainers. Even a few percentage‑point lift in reply rate is worth it. Remember, sending 100 emails with no replies isn’t catastrophic, but 500 with zero replies indicates a problem that needs fixing.

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Related answers

youtube ↗Cold Email

How should I run cold‑email tests? What sending volume should I aim for each week, how many mailboxes do I need, and which metric should I use to judge the results?

For a weekly test of one variable, aim for about 2,000 emails per week – roughly 300 per day. That means you’ll need the capacity to send 600‑900 emails daily, which translates to 20‑30 mailboxes. Test on reply rate rather than positive‑reply rate because you’ll get more data points; positive replies are too rare to be reliable at typical volumes. Ideally you want a reply‑rate multiplier of 2‑3× to feel confident. I usually wait until the end of the week before declaring a winner. The highest‑leverage variables to test are subject line, preview text, and icebreaker – those are the top‑ROI elements you see in Gmail’s layout. Optimising those first gives you the biggest impact.

cold emailtestingvolumemetrics
youtube ↗Cold Email

I sent 204 cold emails with a 32% open rate and zero replies using a personal Gmail account. What should I do to improve replies?

Start with a custom Loom video and send a limited number, like 25, even though that takes more effort. The fact that you sent 204 emails, got a 32% open rate but no replies, suggests there’s something wrong with your copy that’s turning people off. I’d begin with a templated cold email. Remember that 204 sends with zero replies is a reply rate of less than 0.5%, which isn’t terrible but far below the 2‑3% you should aim for. I recommend the same approach I suggested to Jamal: improve your copy and use a proven template.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

How many follow‑ups do you recommend in a cold email campaign, and does it change if I'm still testing an offer after finding product‑market fit?

I start with two emails in total: one main email and one follow‑up. The reason is to put yourself in the shoes of someone reading a crappy email. Think about how many times you’ve opened a pitch email, marked it as unread, or ignored it. If the email isn’t good, a follow‑up makes the recipient far more likely to mark it as spam—about 100× more likely after the first follow‑up and a thousand times after a second. The number one thing we’re trying to avoid in cold email is being marked as spam. So, before you know your copy is good, do not add more than one additional follow‑up, spaced about 48 hours apart. Once your copy is acceptable—say a 3 % reply rate or a 0.5–1 % positive reply rate—you can add more follow‑ups. Adding them will raise your total reply rate, though the proportion of positive replies may drop, the absolute number of positive replies will still increase.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

What is the best strategy for sending cold emails, when did you start your first campaign, how many days did you send them, and after how long did you get your first client?

I started cold emailing around 2018‑2019 with my business partner Gurinder; those early attempts didn’t work well. I kept sending emails for about three to four years before I made any money, and it was probably closer to two years before I saw real revenue. The breakthrough came in roughly 2021 with what I called 'one second copy': I ran many cold email campaigns and offered free sample articles that were produced cheaply using AI, which hardly anyone else was doing at the time. That got me attention from big companies like Kixie. The best cold‑email strategy is to front‑load value—give the recipient more work or benefit than you’re asking for. Instead of asking for free labor, identify a problem they’re suffering from, solve it, and attach the results to your email. For example, I once rewrote 40 YouTube titles for a follower, provided a one‑click doc, and they saw immediate CTR improvements. That’s how successful, ‘rich‑people’ cold emails work: you save them time or make them money, not the other way around.

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