Manual Cold Outreach Cheat Sheet
Purpose: Quick-reference safety guide for daily cold email sending from solanasis.com (temporary) and solanashq.com (primary cold domain once warm). Companion:
MSP_Cold_Email_Outreach_Playbook.md,solanasis_cold_email_deliverability_playbook_2026.mdLast updated: 2026-03-18 (added Foundation Outreach section)
1. Anti-Spam Safety for solanasis.com
solanasis.com is your PRIMARY domain. Protecting its reputation is non-negotiable.
- Max 5-10 emails/day (space throughout the day, 2+ hours between sends)
- Plain text ONLY (no HTML, no images, no tracking pixels, no link tracking, no UTMs)
- No attachments in first email (mention the one-pager; send on reply)
- Manual sending only (no automation tools on solanasis.com)
- CAN-SPAM compliant (include Solanasis mailing address in signature)
- Never send all at once (spread across the day, vary send times)
What “Plain Text” Means
- No bold, italic, or colored text
- No images or logos
- No embedded links (just type out URLs: solanasis.com, not click here)
- No tracking pixels or read receipts
- No UTM parameters on URLs
- No link shorteners (no bit.ly, no go.solanasis.com in cold emails)
2. Domain Strategy
| Domain | Purpose | Volume | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| solanasis.com | Warm replies, relationship emails, invoices | Low (5-10/day cold, unlimited warm) | Now (temporary cold); later warm-only |
| solanashq.com | ALL cold outreach (dedicated) | 5-10/day (week 3-4 warmup); 20-30/day (week 5-6); 50+/day (fully warm) | Once warmed up (~March 31-April 7) |
Rules
- When solanashq.com is warm, ALL cold sends move to solanashq.com
- solanasis.com returns to warm/relationship emails only
- If a prospect replies to a solanasis.com cold email, continue that thread from solanasis.com (don’t switch domains mid-conversation)
- Never mix: don’t CC/BCC between domains, don’t forward cold threads between domains
- When solanashq.com is fully warm, consider GMass ($25/mo) or Saleshandy for sequencing
3. Daily Workflow (15-30 minutes)
Morning (Send)
- Open Baserow “MSP Prospects” table
- Filter: Prospect Tier = A or B, Outreach Status = Not Sent
- Sort by Prospect Score descending
- Pick 5-10 prospects
- For each:
- Click the mailto link (email client opens with pre-filled To/Subject/Body)
- Review the email (read it out loud; would you reply to this?)
- Personalize the first line if the placeholder is generic
- Send
- Return to Baserow: set Outreach Status = “Sent”, set Date Sent = today
Afternoon (Check Replies)
- Check inbox for replies from previous sends
- Positive replies: respond personally, update Baserow status to “Replied” or “Meeting Booked”
- Negative replies: update status to “Not Interested” (don’t follow up)
- Bounces: update status to “Bounced”, remove that email
4. How to Vary Emails Beyond Templates
Templates are your starting point, not your prison. The goal is that every email feels individually written.
- Always personalize the first line with something specific:
- Their city: “Fellow [city] business owner here.”
- A service they list: “Saw you’re doing cloud migrations for your clients.”
- A Google review: “Congrats on the 5-star Google reviews.”
- Recent news: “Read about your new office in [city].”
- Don’t send the same template to 5 prospects in a row. Rotate across days.
- Swap the greeting occasionally: “Hey” vs “Hi” vs just the name vs no greeting
- Add a PS line 1 in 5 sends: “PS: I’m in [city] too; happy to grab coffee if that’s easier.”
- Reference their website when possible (the pipeline already scraped it)
5. Red Flags: When to Stop Sending
| Signal | Action |
|---|---|
| Bounce-back | Remove email, mark “Bounced” in Baserow |
| Spam complaint | Stop ALL cold sends for 48 hours, investigate |
| Regular solanasis.com emails delayed | Stop cold sends immediately (reputation damage) |
| More than 1 unsubscribe request in a day | Review targeting and messaging |
| 3+ bounces in one day | Stop sending; re-verify your email list |
| Gmail showing “suspicious activity” warnings | Stop immediately; check SPF/DKIM/DMARC |
6. When to Switch to solanashq.com
| Timeline | Action | Daily Volume |
|---|---|---|
| Now (week 1-2 warmup) | Send from solanasis.com (5-10/day) | 5-10 |
| ~March 31 (week 3-4) | Start sending from solanashq.com | 5-10 |
| Mid-April (week 5-6) | Increase solanashq.com volume | 20-30 |
| Late April (fully warm) | ALL cold from solanashq.com only | 50+ |
| Late April onward | solanasis.com = warm/relationship only | 0 cold |
Pre-Switch Checklist for solanashq.com
- SPF record configured and passing
- DKIM configured and passing
- DMARC policy set (start with p=none, monitor)
- TrulyInbox warmup running for 2+ weeks
- Test email to mail-tester.com scores 9+/10
- Google Postmaster Tools showing no issues
7. Template Quick Reference
| # | Name | When to Use | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regulatory Urgency | Financial svc mention + high RIA ZIP | ~80 |
| 2 | Revenue Hook | High score, no financial mention | ~70 |
| 3 | Client Retention | Established MSP (good reviews) | ~75 |
| 4 | Competitive Differentiation | No security offerings | ~65 |
| 5 | White-Label Play | Serves regulated clients, no security | ~70 |
| 6 | Founding Partner | A-tier only | ~60 |
| 7 | Peer Question | Lower B-tier, casual | ~50 |
Template Rotation Guide
- Monday/Wednesday: Templates 1, 2, 6 (direct business case)
- Tuesday/Thursday: Templates 3, 4, 5 (differentiation angles)
- Friday: Template 7 (casual peer question; lighter tone for end of week)
- Never send the same template number two days in a row
8. Signature
Dmitri Sunshine
Founder, Solanasis
solanasis.com | 303-900-8969
Keep it simple. No images, no logos, no social links in cold emails. Add physical address for CAN-SPAM compliance when sending from solanashq.com at scale.
9. Foundation Outreach
Foundation prospects are in a separate Baserow table (“Foundation Prospects”, table 890586). Same anti-spam rules apply (Sections 1-2 above). Foundation emails count toward the daily 5-10 limit.
Foundation Daily Workflow (15-20 minutes)
- Open Baserow “Foundation Prospects” table
- Create a view with filters:
- Prospect Tier = A or B
- Outreach Status = Not Sent
- Contact Email is not empty
- Sort by Prospect Score descending
- Pick 3-5 prospects
For each with email:
- Review the “Personalized First Line” in Baserow (edit if you have context from their website or 990)
- Click the “Mailto Link” (email client opens pre-filled)
- Quick review, personalize if needed, send from solanasis.com
- Back in Baserow: set Outreach Status = “Sent”, Date Sent = today, Follow Up Date = today + 4 days
For each without email (phone outreach):
- Use the phone number from Baserow
- Follow phone script from Foundation Prospecting Playbook Section 10.2
- Set Phone Outreach = “Called” / “Left VM” / “Spoke”
Foundation Follow-Up Cadence
| Day | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Initial email |
| 4 | Follow-up email (shorter, reference first email) |
| 8 | Phone call |
| 12 | Final email (brief, offer to close the loop) |
| 15 | LinkedIn connection request (if profile exists) |
Foundation Template Quick Reference
| # | Name | Best For | Key Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Restore Test | Default for any foundation | ”Two-thirds of restore tests fail” |
| 2 | Mission Protection | Arts, education, human services (NTEE A/B/E/P/O) | “Your mission is built for generations” |
| 3 | Planned Giving | Community foundations, NTEE T-codes | ”More sensitive than what most banks hold” |
| 4 | Board-Ready | Has named officers, A/B-tier | ”Board-ready reporting in 10 business days” |
| 5 | Peer Question | Casual opener, B/C-tier | ”Honest question from a fellow Colorado business owner” |
Foundation Personalization Tips
- Reference their program area: “I saw [foundation] works in [NTEE description area].”
- Reference their assets: “Managing $X in assets means…” (auto-filled in template)
- Reference their officer: Templates auto-extract the officer’s first name from IRS data
- Reference their city: “Fellow Colorado-based organization here.”
- 990 filings are public: Search ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer for recent filings to find talking points
Foundation vs. MSP: Key Differences
| MSP Outreach | Foundation Outreach | |
|---|---|---|
| Table | MSP Prospects | Foundation Prospects |
| Templates | 7 variants (partnership/referral angle) | 5 variants (direct assessment sale) |
| CTA | solanasis.com (partnership page) | solanasis.com/for/foundations |
| Angle | ”We assess, you implement” (referral partner) | “Board-ready reporting in 10 days” (direct sale) |
| Email availability | Most have email | Very few have email (~0.4%); most are phone-first |
| Phone column | No | Yes (Phone Outreach tracking) |