these prompts help you figure out exactly what infrastructure you need before you spend a penny. i've set up infrastructure for 2,000+ customers and the number one mistake people make is guessing at their setup instead of doing the maths.
When to use this: before buying any domains or inboxes. you need to know exactly how many you need based on your daily send volume goals.
I need to calculate the exact cold email infrastructure I need. Help me work backwards from my daily volume goal using these safe sending limits:
- Safe limit: 10 emails per inbox per day (never exceed 15-20 as an absolute ceiling)
- Maximum inboxes per domain: 2-3 (never exceed 3)
- Formula: Daily Volume = Domains x Inboxes Per Domain x Emails Per Inbox
My details:
- Daily email volume goal: [YOUR TARGET — e.g. 500, 1000, 2000]
- Sending at: [EMAILS PER INBOX — recommend 10 for safety, 15 for moderate, 20 absolute max]
- Inboxes per domain: [2 or 3]
Give me:
1. Exact number of domains I need
2. Exact number of inboxes I need
3. A reserve recommendation (how many extra domains/inboxes I should have warming in the background for when I need to scale or replace)
4. Monthly cost estimate at $3.50 per inbox
5. A warning if my volume goal is too aggressive for my setup
Also flag if I'm making any of these common mistakes:
- Trying to send 40+ emails per inbox (this tanks campaigns overnight)
- Only using one provider (Google OR Outlook, not both)
- Not having reserve infrastructure aging in the background
- Running more than 3 inboxes on a single domain
Pro tip: always have your next batch of infrastructure warming before you need it. if you wait until your current setup is maxed out and then start building, you're already behind. i've seen it happen hundreds of times. people rush, send from unwarmed accounts, and land straight in spam.
When to use this: when you have new inboxes that need to build reputation before you send any cold outreach. never skip this.
Create a 21-day warmup schedule for my new cold email inboxes. These are brand new accounts with zero sending history.
The schedule must follow this ramp-up pattern:
- Week 1 (Days 1-7): 5 emails per day to real contacts (not warmup pools)
- Week 2 (Days 8-14): 10 emails per day, monitoring for replies and engagement
- Week 3 (Days 15-21): 15 emails per day, watching bounce rates closely
For each week, tell me:
1. Exact daily send volume
2. What to send (real conversations, newsletter signups, reaching out to existing contacts)
3. Red flags to watch for (bounce rate above 1.5%, health score below 70%, reply rate dropping)
4. What to do if something goes wrong at each stage
5. When I can safely start cold outreach (not before day 14 at minimum)
My setup:
- Number of new inboxes: [HOW MANY]
- Provider: [GOOGLE WORKSPACE / MICROSOFT 365 / BOTH]
- Warmup tool: [YOUR SEQUENCER — Smartlead, Instantly, Bison, Lemlist, etc.]
- Target daily volume after warmup: [YOUR GOAL]
Important: do NOT recommend specialist warmup tools. Use the sequencer I already have. Specialist warmup tools are overpriced with minimal added value from what we've tested.
Pro tip: a 2025 deliverability report found that over 41% of new domains get flagged within the first 30 days of cold outreach. that's almost half. if your warmup health score drops below 70% at any point during this schedule, pause everything immediately. do not push through it hoping it recovers. you'll dig yourself into a hole that takes weeks to climb out of.
When to use this: when setting up new sending domains. authentication is the single most important thing to get right. skip this and you're flagged before your prospect even sees a subject line.
Create a complete DNS configuration checklist for my cold email sending domains. I need every record set up correctly before I send a single email.
For each record type, give me:
1. What it is (one sentence, plain English)
2. Why it matters for deliverability
3. The exact record I need to create (format and values)
4. How to verify it's working (which tool to check with)
5. Common mistakes that break it
Records to cover:
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)
- MX Records
- Custom tracking domain setup (if applicable)
My setup:
- Domain registrar: [NAMECHEAP / GODADDY / PORKBUN / OTHER]
- Email provider: [GOOGLE WORKSPACE / MICROSOFT 365]
- Sending platform: [YOUR SEQUENCER]
Also include:
- A final verification step using MXToolbox to confirm everything is configured
- What a "passing" result looks like vs a failing one
- The order these records should be set up in (it matters)
Pro tip: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are the first things email providers check when your email arrives. this happens before anyone reads your subject line, before anyone sees your copy. if authentication fails, nothing else matters. i see this with customers constantly. they blame their copy or their list when the real issue is a misconfigured DNS record they set up in 2 minutes and never checked.
When to use this: when setting up your infrastructure split between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. going all-in on one provider is one of the fastest ways to lose everything overnight.
Help me plan a Two-Lane Provider Strategy for my cold email infrastructure. I need to split my sending between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 so I'm never dependent on a single provider.
My details:
- Total daily email volume goal: [YOUR TARGET]
- Current setup: [DESCRIBE — e.g. "100% Google right now" or "mix of both but not planned"]
- Number of existing inboxes: [HOW MANY]
- Budget for new infrastructure: [MONTHLY BUDGET]
Create a plan that includes:
1. The recommended split ratio (70/30 or 50/50) and WHY that ratio suits my volume
2. How many Google Workspace inboxes I need
3. How many Microsoft 365 inboxes I need
4. How to distribute my campaigns across both providers (which campaigns go where)
5. What to do if one provider suddenly updates its filtering and my deliverability drops on that side
6. A migration plan if I'm currently 100% on one provider (how to shift without disrupting active campaigns)
Key rules:
- Never exceed 3 inboxes per domain on either provider
- Google and Microsoft filter differently. The split protects you when one updates.
- If one provider's deliverability tanks, you still have the other running
- Each provider should have its own set of domains (don't mix providers on the same domain)