The Cold Email Empire: How to Scale Service-Based Income to $30K/Month

The biggest problem with service-based businesses isn't your skills - it's finding clients.

Students from my writing course can attest to making $1,000-$2,000/month by finding clients on Reddit relatively quickly. But how do you scale beyond that? And what if writing isn't what you want to sell?

LinkedIn gives you 20 connections per day. X is more generous at 400, but most messages fly into spam don’t get seen.

But what about cold email? You're not going to spend all day looking for emails and sending them out. It's just not scalable. Is it?

I've been building a system that changes everything. Aside from having to wait for things like warm-up, it's incredible how simple it actually is.

Why Most People Get Cold Email Wrong

"Cold emails don't work" - that's what people say who've never sent proper volume.

The reality? If you send 100,000 emails per month, you're going to get customers. Not every email will convert, but you dramatically increase your chances of landing in someone's inbox who just so happens to be looking for your service. Right message, at the right time, to the right person.

It's a numbers game, but most people play with the wrong numbers.

The System That Actually Scales

Finding the Right Prospects

I'd recommend using Apollo or Ocean.io to get laser-targeted prospects. Instead of random email lists, you can find big-ticket buyers who might be hiring, raising funding, or hitting certain revenue milestones.

These tools let you filter by intent signals and affordability to ensure prospects can actually afford your services:

• CEOs in specific cities (San Francisco, New York)

• Recent funding rounds

• Company revenue ($2M-50M)

• Employee count (5-50 people)

• Industry-specific targeting

The key is targeting people who have money and might actually need what you're selling.

Why Your Main Email Gets You Burned

DO NOT USE YOUR PRIMARY EMAIL!!

It's not just about your main business email getting blocked instantly. Once you've burned it, you're properly screwed. Your business email becomes completely compromised, and it completely disrupts your operations.

You need a completely separate infrastructure.

The Infrastructure That Enables Volume

Domains: Buy multiple cheap domains. .xyz, .co, .online are all cheap options. .xyz domains are particularly cheap for the first 12 months on GoDaddy (around $1-2 each). Start with 5-10 domains, but ultimately you want about 30 domains with 3 email accounts each. That's 90 accounts.

Email Hosting: Use Zoho (about $9 per email account per year) - it's significantly cheaper than Gmail. Their configuration wizard does everything for you. If you buy domains from GoDaddy, you literally click "Connect to GoDaddy" and it handles the technical setup.

Email Automation: Instantly ($37/month) connects all your email accounts and manages the campaigns.

Back to the strategy...

The Warm-Up Process (This Is Critical)

You can't just buy 90 email accounts and start blasting emails. That's a recipe for burning all your inboxes and having them all go to spam. Do not waste your money doing this.

Each email account needs to "warm up" - gradually building a sending reputation over 2-3 weeks. Instantly handles this automatically by having your accounts send practice emails to each other, building trust with email providers.

Think of it like establishing a credit history. New accounts need to prove they're legitimate senders.

The Mathematics of Scale

90 accounts × 30 emails per day = 2,700 emails daily 2,700 × 30 days = 81,000 emails per month

For service-based businesses, even modest conversion rates generate serious revenue.

Where People Go Wrong

1. Poor email deliverability - Their emails hit spam folders. Solution: Email verification (clean your lists using tools like Zero Bounce), proper domain setup, gradual volume increase

2. Terrible email sequences - Generic, salesy messages. Solution: Focus on specific pain points, provide value first

3. Wrong targeting - Sending to people who can't afford their services.
Solution: Use Apollo's funding and revenue filters

4. Giving up too early - Expecting results from 100 emails. Solution: Understand it's about consistent volume over months

The Meta-Opportunity

Don't have a service to sell? Sell this system itself.

Offer "Cold Email Lead Generation" to B2B companies at $2,500/month. You handle the entire tech stack and deliver qualified leads to their sales team.

This is incredibly scalable - 10 clients = $25,000/month, 30 clients = $75,000/month recurring revenue.

This is exactly how agencies scale to $100K+/month - they've systematised client acquisition.

Why This Works Right Now

Cold email is getting harder, which makes it more valuable for those who do it properly:

• Most people mess up deliverability

• Volume requires technical infrastructure most can't build

• Quality prospects are harder to find

• But done correctly, you're reaching decision-makers directly

The businesses that figure out scalable outreach dominate their markets.

Your Starting Point

Month 1: 5 domains, 10 email accounts, 300 emails/day Month 3: 15 domains, 30 accounts, 900 emails/day
Month 6: 30 domains, 90 accounts, 2,700 emails/day

Setup cost: $200-500 Potential: $10-30K/month recurring revenue

The internet has democratised access to decision-makers. Every CEO's email address is findable. The question isn't whether this works - it's whether you'll build the system properly.

Service-based businesses that can't find clients fail. This system makes client acquisition inevitable.

The reality is simple: spend more time building targeted prospect lists and responding to the leads coming in, rather than manually hunting for emails one by one.

It's a numbers game - but you need the right numbers.

I hope this helps. Let me know what you’re working on!

Lewis

Don’t let a surprise vet bill torpedo your budget

Routine vet checkups are rising, and some surgeries can cost as much as a holiday in Europe. Fortunately, pet insurance can help offset these unexpected costs. With some policies starting at $10 and reimbursing up to 90%, you can keep your pet healthy without sacrificing your savings.

PROTECT YOUR PET AND WALLET