Former Community – We Moved
🆕 Coached community here, for posts & feedback public community here.
An example of manipulative cold emailing (this one was hilarious)
If you were in my shoes and you got this email, what would you think?
Would you feel like this was indeed a genuine reader who started out looking to learn how to network or a marketer looking for a lead?
P.S.
For more context, this guy says my emails (and that's plural/more than one) have been going to his spam/junk folder. But, the screenshot he shows is of the email that all new subscribers receive to confirm their subscription which means that he hasn't confirmed yet and, therefore, hasn't actually received any emails from me.
If you were in my shoes and you got this email, what would you think?
Would you feel like this was indeed a genuine reader who started out looking to learn how to network or a marketer looking for a lead?
P.S.
For more context, this guy says my emails (and that's plural/more than one) have been going to his spam/junk folder. But, the screenshot he shows is of the email that all new subscribers receive to confirm their subscription which means that he hasn't confirmed yet and, therefore, hasn't actually received any emails from me.
B has reacted to this post.
Quote from
B on February 15, 2023, 8:03 pm
Seems totally scripted... and badly so!
I see the following signs:
- it's too long;
- your name in the subject from an unknown sender sounds manipulative;
- the word "quick" at the start doesn't match the longness;
- he uses a fake takeaway ("I initially thought of not saying anything...");
- it closes with a fake "power-protection" ("IF you have the capacity for more clients");
- it probably is irrelevant to the content of your initial email!
Seems totally scripted... and badly so!
I see the following signs:
- it's too long;
- your name in the subject from an unknown sender sounds manipulative;
- the word "quick" at the start doesn't match the longness;
- he uses a fake takeaway ("I initially thought of not saying anything...");
- it closes with a fake "power-protection" ("IF you have the capacity for more clients");
- it probably is irrelevant to the content of your initial email!
Lucio Buffalmano and Ali Scarlett have reacted to this post.
Lucio BuffalmanoAli Scarlett
What Bel says, plus:
- The date of the confirmation email is today (maybe he just signed up so he could say that? There may be at least some manual work on his side. And I wouldn't exclude he clicked "spam" himself just so he could take that screenshot :S)
- Tries too hard to self-frame as "good and ethical", often a red flag for me
- The "scammer triangle" : easy money, fast, simple (with the false qualifier / prove yourself to me that's easy to answer "yes" to)
What Bel says, plus:
- The date of the confirmation email is today (maybe he just signed up so he could say that? There may be at least some manual work on his side. And I wouldn't exclude he clicked "spam" himself just so he could take that screenshot :S)
- Tries too hard to self-frame as "good and ethical", often a red flag for me
- The "scammer triangle" : easy money, fast, simple (with the false qualifier / prove yourself to me that's easy to answer "yes" to)
Ali Scarlett and B have reacted to this post.
Yeah, that's exactly how I felt too.
Plus, add to that the fact that I when checked my email list, it's been five days now and he still hasn't confirmed his subscription.
So, now, not only does this further confirm that he hasn't been receiving any other emails from me (so it doesn't make sense to say my "emails", plural, have been going to his junk/spam), but he also said he signed up to get my freebies which you have to confirm to get. (So, maybe he never wanted them at all, he only wanted to be able to send this cold email.)
Yeah, that's exactly how I felt too.
Plus, add to that the fact that I when checked my email list, it's been five days now and he still hasn't confirmed his subscription.
So, now, not only does this further confirm that he hasn't been receiving any other emails from me (so it doesn't make sense to say my "emails", plural, have been going to his junk/spam), but he also said he signed up to get my freebies which you have to confirm to get. (So, maybe he never wanted them at all, he only wanted to be able to send this cold email.)
Lucio Buffalmano and B have reacted to this post.
Quote from
B on February 16, 2023, 1:42 pm
Some additional signs I now see after reading your posts:
- sense of urgency conveyed by using the double interrogation mark at closing ("??"): implies "you've got to act now or I won't respond later";
- "every time I've tried it" is badly out of place: aimed maybe at describing things from the perspective of the receiver, it makes no logical sense, because if the "technique" worked, he wouldn't be "trying it once in a while", but would instead be always using it! So it seems to be a case of a failed attempt at "cognitive empathy".
Some additional signs I now see after reading your posts:
- sense of urgency conveyed by using the double interrogation mark at closing ("??"): implies "you've got to act now or I won't respond later";
- "every time I've tried it" is badly out of place: aimed maybe at describing things from the perspective of the receiver, it makes no logical sense, because if the "technique" worked, he wouldn't be "trying it once in a while", but would instead be always using it! So it seems to be a case of a failed attempt at "cognitive empathy".
Lucio Buffalmano and Ali Scarlett have reacted to this post.
Lucio BuffalmanoAli Scarlett
Quote from
Bel on February 16, 2023, 1:42 pm
Some additional signs I now see after reading your posts:
- sense of urgency conveyed by using the double interrogation mark at closing ("??"): implies "you've got to act now or I won't respond later";
- "every time I've tried it" is badly out of place: aimed maybe at describing things from the perspective of the receiver, it makes no logical sense, because if the "technique" worked, he wouldn't be "trying it once in a while", but would instead be always using it! So it seems to be a case of a failed attempt at "cognitive empathy".
Yep, your intuition is exactly right, Bel.
Yesterday, I wanted to see if he subscribed only to unsubscribe (which would look bad on him), so when I didn't see his email address in my list, I asked if he'd signed up using another one.
And, he expanded on that "you have to take care of this now" urgency that he was trying to instill:
Plus, the tone of this response feels different from his initial email, which makes me feel even more that his first message was probably a template.
Quote from
Bel on February 16, 2023, 1:42 pm
Some additional signs I now see after reading your posts:
- sense of urgency conveyed by using the double interrogation mark at closing ("??"): implies "you've got to act now or I won't respond later";
- "every time I've tried it" is badly out of place: aimed maybe at describing things from the perspective of the receiver, it makes no logical sense, because if the "technique" worked, he wouldn't be "trying it once in a while", but would instead be always using it! So it seems to be a case of a failed attempt at "cognitive empathy".
Yep, your intuition is exactly right, Bel.
Yesterday, I wanted to see if he subscribed only to unsubscribe (which would look bad on him), so when I didn't see his email address in my list, I asked if he'd signed up using another one.
And, he expanded on that "you have to take care of this now" urgency that he was trying to instill:
Plus, the tone of this response feels different from his initial email, which makes me feel even more that his first message was probably a template.
Lucio Buffalmano and B have reacted to this post.
