Your engine runs. Now you fill it. This is how you grow your email list, from people who already know you and from brand-new leads, without getting your domain flagged.
The big idea
Three buckets, and they never mix.
1. Said yes
People who paid or opted in through your lead magnet. Go straight into Systeme.io.
2. People who know you
Your own exported contacts. Allowed in Systeme.io, with a warm first email and a slow ramp.
3. Cold strangers
Scraped business emails, people who don't know you. Stay in your personal inbox, one at a time, until they reply yes. Never in Systeme.io.
The rule in one line: Systeme.io only ever holds people who said yes or genuinely know you. Everyone else waits in your personal inbox until they raise their hand.
How to do it — your own contacts
1
Export them
Google Contacts:contacts.google.com → select your contacts → Export → Google CSV
iPhone:icloud.com/contacts → select all → Export vCard (then import that into Google Contacts and export as CSV if you need a spreadsheet)
2
Import and tag by date
In Systeme.io: Contacts → Import, upload your CSV
Tag them in small batches by day, first 20 tagged Aug 21, next 20 Aug 22, and so on
👉 The date tags are your release schedule. Each day you email only that day's group, which keeps your volume small and safe.
3
Send the warm first email
Send this to one batch a day. Keep it personal and plain, like a note from you, not a designed marketing template.
The warm first email
Subject: quick note from me
Hi [First name],
It's [Your name]. We crossed paths somewhere along the way, and I've been building something I'm genuinely excited about: [one line on what it is].
I'd love to keep you in the loop as it grows, just the real behind-the-scenes of what I'm building and learning. You'd hear from me about three times a week, no spam, and you can leave anytime.
I also put together a free [your lead magnet] for [who you help]. Grab it here → [lead magnet link]
If you'd rather not get these, no hard feelings at all, just click here and you're out: [unsubscribe link].
Good to reconnect,
[Your name]
4
Check before you continue
Good signs: people opening, clicking, replying
Bad signs: spam complaints and bounces
Only send the next day's batch if the last one looked healthy. If it didn't, stop at 20 instead of burning your whole list
✓ Done when: your first batch is out, and the numbers look clean enough to keep going.
The free thing — your lead magnet
Give them something free, and they fully opt in.
Every email links to a free resource. When someone clicks and enters their email to grab it, they've just actively opted in, the strongest consent there is. They don't get added twice, they simply move from "a contact I imported" to "a fully opted-in subscriber." Tag them opted-in when they do it. Now even your imported contacts have raised their hand.
The formula that fits everyone: give away the first quick win of your paid product, as one simple resource. Whatever your app helps people do, the freebie is a small, done-for-you slice of that. Formats that work for any niche: a checklist, template, cheat sheet, or short guide.
Examples, so people see how to adapt it:
Learning platform → "The [Topic] Starter Kit: the 5 things to learn first"
Fitness → "7-Day High-Protein Meal Plan"
Real estate agent → "First-Time Homebuyer Checklist"
Bookkeeper → "Year-End Tax-Prep Checklist"
Notary / loan signing → "Loan Signing Day Checklist"
Consultant → "The 10-Point Website Audit"
Parenting → "Toddler Bedtime Routine Cheat Sheet"
👉 The catch-all: a free "resource vault", like "The [Niche] Toolkit: the templates, tools, and links I use to [get the result]", works for almost anybody and is easy to keep adding to. And if you're truly stuck: a one-page checklist of the first steps your product walks people through is a lead magnet for any niche.
Not sure what your free thing should be? Let real audience data decide. Paste this into Perplexity (or Claude / ChatGPT with web search turned on):
Prompt — Find my lead magnet
I'm building [describe your product or app] for [who you help]. I want to create a free resource (a lead magnet) that gets people to join my email list, and it has to solve a real, specific problem my audience actually has.
Search widely, Reddit, forums, online communities, product and book reviews, YouTube comments, and general search results, anywhere [who you help] talk about this. Find:
1. The 5 biggest pain points, frustrations, and recurring questions they have, in their own words. Quote real phrases where you can.
2. The one quick win they most want but struggle to get on their own.
Then give me 5 concrete lead-magnet ideas based on what you found, each as an actual title I could use (a checklist, template, cheat sheet, or short guide), with one line on why it would work.
Finally, pick the single strongest one to lead with and tell me why. Keep it specific to [niche], no generic advice.
The loop: run this prompt → build the free resource it picks → link it in every email → clicking it fully opts people in.
The rules
Aggressive marketing, done the smart way.
The legal footer is handled for you. Systeme.io adds the unsubscribe link automatically, and you set your mailing address once in settings (use a PO box if you'd rather not use your home). After that, your emails are compliant, no need to think about it again.
The four rules that are on you, the ones Systeme.io can't do for you:
Only email people who said yes or genuinely know you. That's the three buckets.
Warm up a new domain slowly. A new domain has no reputation yet, so ease in (schedule below).
Keep spam complaints near zero. This hurts you far more than unsubscribes. Warm tone plus an easy opt-out keeps them down.
Clean out bounces. Dead and mistyped emails drag your reputation down, so watch them and remove them.
The warm-up ramp, concrete numbers:
Days 1–3
20/day
Days 4–7
50/day
Week 2
100/day
Week 3
200–300/day
Week 4+
500+/day
Only move up a level if the last batch looked healthy, good opens, almost no spam complaints, few bounces. If it didn't, hold there or drop back down before you climb again.
What happens if you ignore this:
• Gmail and Outlook start sending your emails to spam, for everyone, including your paying customers and the fans who actually want to hear from you.
• Systeme.io can throttle, flag, suspend, or ban your account for high complaints or bounces.
• Your domain's reputation gets damaged, and that is slow and painful to repair.
In plain terms: one reckless blast can quietly break email for your whole business.
The balance: be aggressive with your marketing, that's how you grow. Just be aggressive the smart way. A slow ramp now earns you the reputation to email thousands later. A burned domain reaches no one. Protect the asset first, then scale hard.
The laws, just so you know the names:
CAN-SPAM (US) — Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act. The main US law. Be honest and let people leave, and Systeme.io covers the rest.
GDPR (Europe) — General Data Protection Regulation.CASL (Canada) — Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation. Stricter, they generally want a clear opt-in before you email. These only matter if you do a lot of business with people in Europe or Canada. For most of you, your list is mostly US-based, so it's not a big worry, and anyone finding you from those regions would have opted in through your site anyway.
👉 Coming later: prospecting tools you can connect to Claude to find B2B emails and prospects. That's for cold outreach from your separate inbox, not for loading into Systeme.io.
By the end of this video
Your list is growing, and clean.
Your warm contacts are in, tagged, and emailed in safe daily batches
Every email offers a free resource that fully opts people in when they click
Your domain stays trusted, so your emails keep landing in inboxes
Next: broadcasts and a nurture sequence, so you can email this list on a schedule and turn free leads into paying customers.