bad-domain-salesThis morning we received a sales email promoting a domain for sale. What struck me is how badly it was composed. It is a text-book example of how NOT to write a domain sales email. First, here is the email, then we will analyze it:

Hello,

 
Want to start your own marketplace for buy/sell of ‘Websites & Domain names’?
 
We have a very special web domain name, ideal for selling of ‘Websites & Domain names’ viz.

WebDomain.Market

WebDomain.Market is a new generation, short & smart web domain name, the most suitable for a marketplace for buy/sell of websites & domain names.
Send us your inquiry today to own & acquire the premium web domain name- ‘WebDomain,Market‘ before it’s gone forever.

Inquiries from Start-up & Corporate companies, Digital & Web agencies and Domain brokers will be solicited. 
Thanking you,
India Online Corporation
Mumbai, India

Here are the mistakes in the above domain sales email and why it will go straight to junk/spam folder:

  1. Poor quality domain. Dot market extension is still very obscure. The combination of ‘web’ plus ‘domain’ is not the best combo, especially considering the extension.
  2. The email does not include my name. Shows that the sender did not vet me, but just sent the exact same copy to mass recipients.
  3. The email was sent to a bunch of “guessed” emails ending with @domainmarketpro, such as info, sales, contact, etc. Sales is what got through, but it shows again, that the recipients were not vetted and makes the email look like spam.
  4. The email tries to sell the extension as well as the left side of the dot: “WebDomain.Market is a new generation, short & smart web domain name…”. Whenever you have to sell the extension then you are fighting an uphill battle. The benefits and value of the domain with the extension must be obvious to the buyer, like vacation.rentals.
  5. The salutation looks spammy as well. There is no personal name. “India Online Corporation” is not a real company (just search it). And the free gmail and rediffmail emails at the end support that this is not a real business but likely a spammer. No phone number, no business website, no name, etc.
  6. Typing the domain into the browser lands you on a private domain marketplace. So it makes it confusing. Since there is no sales website in the email, who is selling the domain? I checked with that marketplace and they say it does not belong to them, yet it is listed in their inventory. (Correction, they said they are brokering it but the email was not from them). Again, more confusion which leads me to distrust this email even more.

When you send a cold sales email, meaning that the recipient(s) did not approach you, you must put yourself in their shoes. The first question is, “Is this email directed to me or is it spam?”. Next is, “Is this from a legitimate, trust-worthy source?”. Finally, “Is what it contains of benefit to me?”. If the recipient can answer “yes” to all three questions, then you are very likely to elicit a response.