How to Set Up a Cold Email Sequence That Sends From Your Own Address
A cold email sequence sends a prospect an intro email first, then automatic reminder emails a few days apart if nothing happens. In FreshSignal these emails go out one by one from your own email address, and replies land straight in your own inbox. This guide walks you through connecting your mailbox, building the sequence, enrolling your list, and managing the run.
Before you start
- Professional plan or higher (the Starter plan includes proposals and CRM; lists, sequences and bulk email unlock with Professional)
- Your own email account (Gmail, Outlook, Yandex, etc.) — most providers require a one-time "app password"
- Email addresses of the people you want to reach — if you don't have a list, you can pick companies from the built-in database
- 1
Connect your own mailbox
Open "Account" from the left menu and find the "Mailbox (proposals & 1-to-1 mail)" card under the "Email Sending" section. On the "Choose provider:" row, click your provider (e.g. "Gmail / Google Workspace") and the host and port fill in automatically.
💡 If two-step verification is on, your normal password won't work; picking a provider shows a step-by-step guide on the card for getting an app password.
- 2
Enter your details and hit "Save & verify"
Fill in "From name", "From email", "SMTP username" (usually your full email) and "SMTP password / app password", then click "Save & verify". The system actually connects to your account; when you see "✓ Verified and saved — emails now send from this address." you're done.
💡 If you leave "Reply-to (optional)" empty, replies go to your from address.
- 3
Create a new sequence
Go to the "Automation" section in the top menu, open "Sequences" in the left menu and click "+ New sequence". Give it a name in "Sequence name (internal)", then write the first step's "Subject" line and message text.
💡 You can use {{ad}}, {{sirket}} and {{unvan}} variables in the text; write {{ad|there}} to use a fallback when the name is unknown.
- 4
Add follow-up steps and wait days
Use "+ Add follow-up step" to add your second and third steps; on each step, set how many "days later" it goes "After previous". Pick a condition from the dropdown: for example with "Send if previous NOT opened", anyone who opened your first email never gets that reminder, and the flow continues with the next step. Click "Create" when done.
💡 In practice 2-4 steps with 3-4 days between them is a good start; an unsubscribe footer is added to every email automatically.
- 5
Prepare your list
On the "Lists" page (in the "Email" or "Automation" section), create a list with "+ New list" and open it. Paste emails into the "Add contacts" box, or bring them in with "Upload Excel/CSV".
💡 No addresses yet? Use the "Add from our database" panel: pick a sector and province/district, tick "with email", hit "Search" — selected companies are added to the list.
- 6
Enroll the list into the sequence
In the "Enroll a list into this series" section at the bottom of the sequence page, pick your list and click "Enroll"; a message shows how many people were enrolled and the first email starts sending right away. Nobody is ever enrolled twice into the same sequence, so it's safe to retry.
💡 You can also do this from the list page: pick the sequence and click "Add to sequence".
- 7
Monitor and manage the run
In the "Enrolled" section of the sequence page, everyone shows a status badge: "active", "completed", "unsubscribed", "stopped". Use "Pause" to temporarily stop sending, "Resume" to continue, or "Archive / stop" to cancel the sequence entirely — an archived sequence sends no remaining steps.
💡 If you see the "sent from your connected mailbox" note at the top of the page, emails are going out from your own address.
- 8
Take repliers out of the sequence
Replies land in your own inbox; the system doesn't read your inbox, so it won't notice a reply by itself. To make sure someone who replied gets no more reminders, go to "Tools (coupons/legal/calendar)", enter their address under "Legal (suppression list)" and click "Suppress" — the sequence never emails that address again.
💡 If a recipient clicks the unsubscribe link in the footer, the sequence stops for them automatically; bounced addresses are dropped automatically too.
FAQ
Do the emails really go from my own address?
Yes. With your mailbox connected, sequence emails send from your own address and replies come to you; the sequence page shows a "sent from your connected mailbox" note. Without a mailbox, emails go from the system address (noreply) — not what you want for cold email, so we recommend connecting yours.
Will follow-ups keep going to someone who replied?
The system doesn't read your inbox, so it can't detect replies automatically. Add the replier's address on the "Tools (coupons/legal/calendar)" page and click "Suppress" so the remaining steps never reach them. For people who unsubscribe, complain, or whose address bounces, the sequence stops on its own.
How many emails go out per day? Is there a speed setting?
There's no separate daily speed setting for sequences: the first step sends right after enrollment, later steps follow the day gaps you set, and emails leave your mailbox one by one. To stay under your email provider's own daily limit, keep the list a sensible size or split a big list into chunks over several days.
I started the wrong list — how do I stop it?
On the sequence page, "Pause" stops sending temporarily and "Resume" continues where it left off. To cancel entirely, click "Archive / stop"; once you confirm, all active enrollments stop and no remaining steps are sent.
Ready? Start from the panel
Every step in this guide is waiting in the panel.