Numerous emails are sent to us monthly via our Contact page and not a single one has been perceived as anything but spam by me. Here are our three small but feisty tips how to avoid looking like a spammer. Ignore these red flags at your own peril!
Red Flag 1: GMail Or Yahoo Address
This is the first red flag. If you are using a free email address such as Gmail or Yahoo, it doesn’t point to a domain of your own. What serious business owner has no website with corresponding email addresses today?
It is easy enough to set up, and relatively quick as well (around 15-30 minutes) that it doesn’t cost a small farm, in case you must hire a professional to help you.
Pro tip: In order to handle emails smoothly, I recommend an email client like Thunderbird. It is made by Mozilla, the same crew who maintain the fabulous Firefox browser for us, and likewise doesn’t cost anything. When you have some extra cash to spare, send them a donation so they can keep the internet as safe as possible. Why Thunderbird? You can import your different emails into it and handle them from one place. If you want the originals to stay on the server, choose IMAP, not POP. The interface is minimal but supposedly there are themes you can install. I like it decluttered.
Red Flag 2: Nothing Unique To The Recipient
Regardless of service pitched, not once has the message been tailored according to the recipient’s website. It is the same mindlessly copy-pasted nonsense that in no way insinuates the sender has spent time getting to know us, and whether we actually need their help. Show some respect when asking for another’s time. You want our money? Prove yourself.
And we should pay you for link building? Lol. No thanks.
Pro tip: These days (blog post updated 24 April 2026) people tend to put AI to analyse websites and social-media progiles to sound as if they have spent some time learning about the firm. They haven’t. Once you start to recognise the same style of writing, you can’t unread the tone-of-voice that comes out of AI attempting to figure out the offerings. It is garbage mostly.
Red Flag 3: No Copywriting Portfolio
So you want to pitch your copywriting? Without any examples of your work? And you want to make it seem like you can write for us without adding a link to one of our blog posts as example of your own expertise and writing style?
I write all our content so your services aren’t needed, but if they were you would have looked great if you were to spend some time browsing our website before pitching. And pitched with a clear idea for content to write.
While you are at it, please use a spell checker if you have a hard time writing even your uninformative emails correctly.
Respect Others’ Time And Be Friendly
Slight snark aside, there are social-media “managers” and what have you that pitch in a steady stream. I find it very unlikely that a professional uses a Gmail address, puts AI to work without reading through its output, and takes a cocky tone without adding any testimonial type of credentials to back their statements. Conclusion? Spam.
Please don’t be like the local dudebro either, who dissected my webshop product filters and basically told me that they suck, without using those exact words. He displayed a total lack of understanding for what a customer of those specific products needs when shopping, hounded me for days, even made an unsolicited phone call, and came off as such a know-it-all that I decided then and there he deserved to be used as a Don’t Do This example on this blog.
Nobody has time for the vague and disrespectful messages sent for fun or in desperation. When you appear in someone else’s inbox, make it count. Show them how you mean serious business, including how you take your own seriously. And be kind by speaking not from above but to a peer.
Now I am very curious about your thoughts in response to our red flags. Have some of your own? Please share them in the comments!
If you found this blog post helpful, you might enjoy these, too:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.