It’s been two LONG months since I last sent an email to this list…

Sorry everyone - I picked up a new domain and got locked out of it domain (do not EVER use Godaddy as your domain host btw), and ran into a million issues.

Can you do me a super quick and easy favor that will take you 2 seconds (and ensure you get all my emails in the future)?

Please Respond “YES” To This Email?

This is a brand new domain and it would help me out a lot with domain health and not landing in spam.

As a token of my thanks:

Here is a quick lesson on email deliverability (so that your emails do not land in spam when using a brand new domain):

Quick Disclaimer - this is going to be a very dry, nerdy, and boring email.

However, this stuff is super important if you own a big email list.

Email List Tech Setup 101:

There’s a few basic DNS records that you need to have setup if you have a new domain.

In order add these records…

1) You’re going to want to go into your domain host.

For example: Namecheap, GoDaddy (fuck GoDaddy), Bluehost, Squarespace…

If you previously hosted your domains on Google domains, please keep in mind that Google sold off that branch to squarespace, so those domains are most likely hosted in there now.

2) Go into DNS record settings

This will depend on your domain host but it’s pretty easy to find.

3) Add DNS records

There’s 3 main records you want to make sure you’re good to go on

• SPF

• DKIM

• DMARC

What are these weird records?

SPF = Sender Policy Framework

This helps prevent email spoofing by allowing domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain.

DKIM = DomainKeys Identified Mail

DKIM allows the receiver to verify that an email coming from a specific domain was authorized by the owner of that domain.

DMARC = Domain-based Message Authentication

Similar to SPF this prevents unauthorized use of a domain.

You’re going to need to go into your domain host and setup records for each of these.

This is super easy - if you run into problems just look up a YouTube video on it.

4) Turn on Automations

If you’re running paid traffic or driving traffic from organic sources into your list, you want to run the automations first.

This helps to ensure high opens because automation emails are expected and pretty much ALWAYS get a higher open rate.

5) Prompt People To Click, Reply, and Engage With Emails

Remember how I said to reply “YES” to this email (if you haven’t already done so - please do so).

Interaction with emails shows that people are engaging with them.

Reply is ideal but clicks and opens are also helpful.

Speaking of clicks…

6) Send To YouTube Videos

This will help your deliverability.

Why?

Because Google owns YouTube and its algorithm prioritizes YouTube from a deliverability standpoint.

Why is Google important?

7) Prioritize Your Domain Reputation with Google At All Times

Anytime people talk about email deliverability issues…

It’s mainly referring to one thing:

“Does Google think you are a spammer?”

This is the ONLY thing that matters with deliverability.

This is why you want to ensure high open rates and high click rates so that Google doesn’t think you’re mass cold-emailing a bunch of people or something like that.

Ok - there’s definitely more to this, but this will give you a good start.

Execute on this for about 60 days.

If your open rates are consistently above 25% or so, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.

If they’re below that, you’re going to want to go to MXtoolbox (they have free options) and run a test.

If you’re still running into issues…

Hit me up and I can probably help you out.

Hope this helps.

Have questions?

Shoot me a reply.

Btw…

I shot this dope YouTube video on making short form content with AI.

Click here to check it out now.

• Damon