Look, I’ll be straight with you. Most small business owners I talk to in Brisbane think cold email is dead. They’ve tried sending a few blasts, got zero replies, or worse—got their entire domain blacklisted so they couldn’t even email their own mum.
But here’s the truth: cold email isn't dead. It’s just that the way people used to do it—blasting 5,000 strangers with a generic “Hi, we do landscaping” message—is officially rubbish. Google and Outlook have spent billions of dollars making sure those emails never see the light of day.
If you want to land new customers in 2024 and beyond, you’ve got to play by the new rules. You want your emails to land in the inbox, get read, and actually result in a phone call or a booking.
Let’s sit down and go through how to do this properly so you aren't wasting your time or burning your reputation.
Why Your Emails Are Going to the Junk Folder
First, we need to talk about why you’re getting flagged. It’s usually not because your offer is bad. It’s because you look like a spammer to the robots that run the internet.
Google and Yahoo recently changed the rules. If more than 0.3% of people mark your emails as spam, you’re basically toast. That is 3 people out of 1,000. It’s a tiny margin for error.
Most blokes make the mistake of using their main business email address (the one they use for invoices and talking to current clients) to send hundreds of cold messages. Don’t do that. If that address gets blocked, your whole business grinds to a halt.
We’ve seen it happen. A local shop tries to drum up business, gets flagged, and suddenly they can’t even send a quote to a hot lead. It’s a nightmare. You need to understand email platform costs and how the infrastructure works before you hit send on a massive list.
The “Warm-Up” Phase (Don’t Skip This)
You can’t just buy a new domain today and send 100 emails tomorrow. The internet doesn’t trust you yet. You’re like a stranger walking into a pub and shouting at everyone—people are going to ignore you or kick you out.
You have to “warm up” your email. This means sending a few emails a day and having people actually open them and reply. There are tools that do this automatically, but the point is to show the big tech companies that you’re a real person having real conversations.
If you skip this, you’re basically throwing money down the drain. It takes about 2 to 4 weeks to properly warm up an account. If an agency tells you they can start a massive cold campaign for you on Monday morning, they’re lying or they don’t know what they’re doing.
How to Write an Email That Doesn’t Sound Like a Robot
Most cold emails are boring. They’re too long, they talk too much about the business sending them, and they ask for too much too soon.
Think about it. If someone walked up to you on the street and spent five minutes talking about their “award-winning service delivery models,” you’d walk away. But if they said, “Hey, I noticed your shop front has a bit of a leak, I’m just around the corner fixing another one if you want me to take a look,” you’d probably listen.
Keep it short. Three to five sentences max.
1. The Hook: Something that shows you actually looked at their business. Not “I saw your website.” More like “I saw your project on Smith Street.” 2. The Value: What can you do for them? Don’t list 20 services. Pick one problem you solve. 3. The Ask: Don’t ask for a 30-minute meeting. Ask a simple question. “Is this something you’re worried about?” or “Would it be worth a 2-minute chat?”
If you get this right, you can turn new enquiries into sales without sounding like a pest. People appreciate someone who is direct and doesn't waste their time.
The Technical Stuff (Made Simple)
I promised no jargon, so here is the gist of what you need to tell your “IT guy” or check yourself. There are three little bits of code that act like your digital ID card: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Think of them like your driver’s licence, your rego, and your insurance. If you don’t have them, the police (Google) will pull you over. If these aren't set up correctly, your emails will go straight to the bin.
Most small businesses we help haven't touched these settings in years. It takes about 15 minutes to fix, but it’s the difference between making sales and shouting into a void.
Why Quality Beats Quantity Every Time
In the old days, you’d buy a list of 10,000 emails and blast them. Today, that’s a great way to get sued or banned.
Instead, find 20 people who actually need what you have. Research them. Make sure they are in the right area (like here in Brisbane or the Gold Coast) and that they are the right size for your business.
When you send 20 highly targeted emails, you might get 5 replies. If you send 1,000 junk emails, you’ll get 0 replies and a bunch of spam complaints. Which one sounds like a better use of your afternoon?
If you’re too busy to do this manually, you can set up systems to turn leads into sales while you sleep, but the content still needs to feel personal. The moment it feels like a mass-produced flyer, people hit delete.
Predictions for the Next 12 Months
Here is what I see coming. AI is making it easier to write emails, which means everyone’s inbox is about to get even more crowded.
To stand out, you’re going to have to be more human, not less. I reckon we’re going to see a shift back to very plain, text-only emails. No fancy logos, no big images, no “click here” buttons that look like ads. Just a message from one person to another.
Also, Google is getting smarter at detecting “AI-sounding” fluff. If your email sounds like a Wikipedia entry, it’s going to get filtered. Use your own voice. Use our local lingo. Be a real person.
What Should You Do First?
If you want to start cold emailing to get more bookings, here is your checklist:
1. Get a separate domain. If your business is jimsplumbing.com.au, buy jimsplumbing.net or getjimsplumbing.com for your outbound emails. Protect your main brand.
2. Set up the tech. Make sure those SPF and DKIM things are sorted.
3. Warm it up. Don’t send a single sales email for at least 14 days.
4. Build a small, clean list. Don't buy dodgy lists from overseas. Look at LinkedIn or local directories and find people you actually want to work with.
5. Write like you talk. No jargon. No fluff. Just a helpful note to a neighbor.
The Bottom Line
Cold email is a tool. Like a hammer, it can build a house or it can smash your thumb. If you do it the lazy way, you’re wasting money and risking your reputation. If you do it the smart way—the way we’ve talked about here—it’s one of the cheapest ways to get new customers through the door.
It’s not about being the loudest person in the inbox. It’s about being the most relevant.
If you’re sitting there thinking, “I don’t have time for all this technical setup or researching lists,” I get it. You’ve got a business to run. That’s exactly why we do what we do at Local Marketing Group. We handle the headaches so you just get the phone calls.
Want to see if this could work for your business? Let’s have a chat. No pressure, just a straight-up look at your situation.
You can reach us here: https://lmgroup.au/contact