Cold Outreach — Free Methodology

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name: cold-outreach description: > Run a complete cold email outreach campaign — from sourcing leads to handling replies. Covers ICP definition, lead sourcing strategy, email sequence construction, personalization, reply handling, and suppression management. Use when an agent needs to build or execute a cold outreach pipeline from scratch, without paid tools or SaaS subscriptions. metadata: version: 1.0.0 author: Qsys tags: [cold-email, outreach, lead-gen, n8n, automation]

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Cold Email Outreach

You are running a cold email outreach campaign. Your job is to source qualified leads, send a targeted email sequence, and handle replies systematically — without paid APIs or monthly subscriptions.

This skill covers the full methodology. If you'd rather skip the build and use pre-wired n8n workflows instead, the pre-built option is linked at the bottom of this skill.

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Before You Start

You need four things before sending a single email:

1. A defined ICP — who you're targeting (role, company size, industry, geography) 2. A lead list — at minimum 50 verified contacts in a spreadsheet 3. A sending account — Gmail or any SMTP-capable email, warmed up for 2 weeks 4. A tracking system — a Google Sheet with: Lead, Email, Company, Status, Last Contacted, Reply Category

If any of these are missing, complete them first. Sending without them wastes your list.

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Phase 1: Define Your ICP

The most common outreach failure: spraying a generic message to a mixed audience.

Build your ICP by answering:

What role feels the pain your offer solves? (Job title, seniority level)

What company stage/size is most likely to buy? (1-10 employees? 50-200? Series A?)

What industry or vertical is your proof strongest in?

What signals indicate they're ready now? (Hiring, funding, tool change, new product launch)

Document your ICP as a 3-line filter: > Target: [Role] at [Company Size] [Industry] companies, showing [signal if applicable] > Example: Head of Sales at 10–50 person B2B SaaS startups, recently hiring SDRs

One ICP per campaign. If you're targeting two different personas, run two separate campaigns.

See references/lead-sourcing.md for ICP refinement tactics.

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Phase 2: Source Leads

Free sources (no credit card required)

| Source | What you get | Free limit | |--------|-------------|------------| | Apollo.io | Email + company data | 75 verified leads/month | | Hunter.io | Domain email finder | 25 searches/month | | LinkedIn (manual) | Profile data, job titles | Unlimited (manual work) | | LinkedIn CSV export | Sales Navigator export | Requires Sales Nav trial | | Google Sheets (hand-built) | Any list you build | Unlimited |

Lead sourcing workflow

1. Build your filter in Apollo — role, company size, industry, location. Export as CSV (up to 75/month free). 2. Verify emails — Apollo provides verified emails. For other sources, run through Hunter.io's email verifier before importing. 3. Deduplicate — remove any email addresses you've contacted in the last 90 days. 4. Clean the list — remove: - info@, hello@, contact@ (catch-all mailboxes, low deliverability) - Role-based addresses (support@, sales@) unless that's your target - Any domain on your suppression list 5. Import to tracking sheet — columns: First Name, Last Name, Email, Company, Title, Source, Status (set to "new"), Notes

Volume guidance

Ideal batch size: 20–40 new leads per week for a solo sender

More than 50/day risks deliverability flags on Gmail free tier

Quality > quantity: a 200-lead list of perfect-ICP contacts outperforms a 2,000-lead spray

See references/lead-sourcing.md for advanced sourcing tactics.

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Phase 3: Write the Email Sequence

Sequence structure: 3 touches over 7 days

| Touch | Timing | Purpose | Length | |-------|--------|---------|--------| | Email 1 | Day 0 | Lead with value, one soft ask | 5–7 sentences | | Email 2 | Day 3 | Different angle or proof point | 3–5 sentences | | Email 3 | Day 7 | Final touch, close the loop | 2–3 sentences |

Writing principles

Write like a peer, not a vendor. Each email should read like it came from a smart colleague who noticed something relevant — not a sales machine following a script.

Lead with their world, not yours. The reader should see their own situation reflected back. "You/your" should dominate over "I/we."

One ask, low friction. Interest-based CTAs ("Worth 15 minutes?" / "Relevant to what you're working on?") consistently outperform meeting requests.

Subject lines: short, boring, internal-looking. 2–4 words, lowercase. Looks like an internal forward, not a marketing blast.

Email 1 — Observation + Problem + Proof + Ask

Subject: [2–4 word lowercase line]
[Personalized observation about their company/role/situation]
[Bridge to the problem you solve — connect the observation to the pain]
[One sentence: what you do + proof point or result]
[Soft CTA: "Worth a quick look?" or "Relevant?"]
[Name]

Email 2 — Different angle or proof

Subject: [re: or new 2–4 word line]
[Acknowledge you're following up — one phrase, not a paragraph]
[New angle: a different pain point, a specific result, or a case study]
[CTA: same or slightly more specific — "15 minutes this week?"]
[Name]

Email 3 — Clean close

Subject: [re: same thread or "last note"]
[Last touch — close the loop, leave the door open]
Example: "Last email on this — didn't want to leave it hanging. If timing's off, happy
to reconnect later. Just reply 'later' and I'll reach back out in 90 days."
[Name]

Personalization: the 3-minute system

For every email, identify one specific signal about this person before writing:

Recent LinkedIn post → "Your post on X caught my eye"

Job posting on their site → "Noticed you're hiring SDRs — outbound scaling?"

Company funding → "Congrats on the raise — growth stage usually creates X challenge"

Tech stack → "I see you're on HubSpot — most teams at your stage hit a ceiling with X"

The personalization must logically connect to the problem you solve. If you remove the opening and the email still makes sense, the personalization isn't working.

See references/email-sequences.md for full templates + subject line data.

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Phase 4: Send the Sequence

Gmail / SMTP setup

Use a separate sending account, not your primary inbox

Warm the account for 2 weeks before sending cold: send 5–10 real emails/day to friends, colleagues, lists you're subscribed to. Get replies if possible.

After warming: start at 10–20 emails/day, increase by 10/day over 2 weeks to a max of 50/day on Gmail free tier

Scheduling

Send emails Tuesday–Thursday, 9–11 AM (recipient's timezone if known, yours if not)

Space batch sends: don't send 40 emails at 9:00:01 AM — stagger by 2–5 minutes each

Manual tracking (no automation)

Update your tracking sheet after each send:

Status → "emailed-d0"

Update to "emailed-d3" after touch 2, "emailed-d7" after touch 3

Log any out-of-office replies immediately (status → "ooo", note return date)

With n8n automation

If you're running this via n8n:

Workflow 2 (Email Sequencer) reads your Google Sheet, sends on schedule, logs status back

Runs daily at 9 AM — only sends to rows where Status = "new" or queued for next touch

See references/tools-free-tier.md for n8n setup

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Phase 5: Handle Replies

Reply categories

Every reply falls into one of five buckets. Handle each the same way every time:

| Category | Signal | Action | |----------|--------|--------| | Interested | "Tell me more," "let's chat," "send me info" | Move to "hot" tab, respond within 1 hour, book the call | | Not now | "Reach out in Q3," "timing isn't right" | Log the timeframe, set a reminder, reply with a graceful close and re-contact date | | Not interested | "No thanks," "not relevant," "don't contact me" | Status → "unsubscribed," add to suppression list, do not follow up | | Objection | "We already use X," "too expensive," "how is this different" | Respond with one specific answer to their objection, re-ask the CTA | | OOO | Out of office auto-reply | Note return date, reschedule touch to day after return |

The hot lead response (within 1 hour)

Subject: re: [same thread]
Great — I'll keep it short.
[One sentence: the specific thing you do, framed for their situation]
[Booking link or: "Any time Wednesday or Thursday work for a 15-min call?"]
[Name]

Suppression list management

Maintain one suppression sheet (tab or separate file):

Every unsubscribe request goes here immediately

Before importing any new batch, cross-reference against suppression list

Never re-contact a suppressed email — even if they show up in a new Apollo export

See references/reply-handling.md for full response playbooks.

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Phase 6: Measure and Iterate

Metrics that matter (per 100 emails sent)

| Metric | Benchmark | If Below Benchmark | |--------|-----------|-------------------| | Open rate | 30–50% | Subject lines weak — test new ones | | Reply rate | 5–15% | Copy weak or ICP off — rewrite Email 1 | | Positive reply rate | 1–5% | Offer not resonating — check ICP or value prop | | Unsubscribe rate | <3% | If above: message is spam-feeling or ICP wrong |

Iteration cycle

After every 50 emails sent, review: 1. Which subject lines had highest opens? 2. Which emails got replies (positive or otherwise)? 3. Which ICP segment responded most?

Change one variable at a time. Don't rewrite the whole sequence — you'll lose the signal.

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Tool Stack (all free tier)

| Tool | Role | Free Limit | |------|------|------------| | Apollo.io | Lead sourcing | 75 verified leads/month | | Hunter.io | Email verification | 25 searches/month | | Gmail | Email sending | 500 emails/day (free), 2,000/day (Google Workspace) | | Google Sheets | Lead tracking + status | Unlimited | | n8n (optional) | Workflow automation | Free self-hosted, free cloud tier |

No paid APIs required. This entire methodology runs at $0/month.

See references/tools-free-tier.md for setup notes per tool.

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Want the Pre-Built Workflows?

This skill gives you the full methodology — everything above works without any automation.

If you'd rather skip the manual sending and have n8n handle the sequencing, scheduling, and reply categorization automatically:

→ Cold Outreach System — $19

Three pre-built n8n workflow files. Import, configure 3–5 variables, launch. Runs on the same free tools above. One-time purchase, runs forever.

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Quick Reference

Phase sequence: ICP → Source → Write → Warm → Send → Handle → Measure

Weekly rhythm (solo sender, no automation):

Monday: source 20 new leads, clean list, import to sheet

Tuesday–Thursday: send 10–15 emails/day (new + follow-ups)

Friday: check replies, update statuses, plan next week

Red flags to fix immediately:

Open rate drops suddenly → check if emails are landing in spam (send a test to yourself)

Reply rate drops → your ICP shifted or the market is saturated for your offer

Bounce rate above 5% → your email verification is broken, pause and re-verify the list