The 6 checks I run before sending a single cold email

You wrote the email, picked the list, and hit send. A week later the replies are near zero and you can't tell whether people ignored you or never saw it. Usually it's the second one. Here's the checklist I go through before any cold campaign:

1. SPF: dig TXT yourdomain.com should return exactly one v=spf1 ... record that includes every service sending for you, ending in ~all or -all. Two SPF records means SPF fails.
2. DKIM: find your provider's selector (for example google._domainkey) and run dig TXT selector._domainkey.yourdomain.com. No key means mail you can't prove is yours.
3. DMARC: dig TXT _dmarc.yourdomain.com. Start at p=none; rua=mailto:... so you get reports, then move to quarantine once things line up.
4. MX: the sending domain needs working MX records. A domain that can't receive mail looks disposable.
5. Spam words and formatting: words like "free!!!", "guaranteed", all-caps subject lines, image-only emails and link shorteners all hurt.
6. Warm-up and throttling: a new mailbox sending 200 emails on day one is a red flag. Ramp up slowly and spread sends through the day.

Try this today: run the three dig commands above on your sending domain before your next campaign. It's a short check, and it can save the whole send.

Disclosure: I'm the developer of MarkOn, a free-beta AI SDR. It runs these SPF/DKIM/DMARC, MX, spam-word, warm-up and throttling checks for you, then writes personalised sequences without templates. If you'd rather not run dig by hand: https://markon.foor.tech

Comments

[StackShortlist]

The two SPF records point is the one I see most. Someone adds a new sending tool, pastes its record as a second TXT, and SPF quietly fails for everything. I'd add a seventh check before the DNS ones: look at the list itself. A row with no source and an email nobody verified does more damage to a warm domain than a spammy subject line.