Email Setup

4 steps

The Email Setup Flow

Four things happen in order. Tap one to see what it covers.

01

Add a Subdomain

Never connect your main domain directly. Use a subdomain like reply. or replies. instead, so your main site stays untouched.

02

Verify DNS Records

Add a TXT record, a CNAME record, and two MX records, either automatically or by copying them into your domain provider.

03

Authorize & Wait for Green

Once records are added, authorize the domain and wait for everything to turn green, including the SSL lock certificate.

04

Warmup Stage

Send and receive real emails for a while first. The more you converse, the faster your domain sending reputation builds.

Key terms

Definitions

Tap any term to expand it.

A subdomain (like reply.yourbusiness.com) used to send email through the system, kept separate from your main business domain.

The TXT, CNAME, and MX records your domain provider needs so your subdomain can send verified email.

A gradual sending period after verification, sending and receiving real email builds your domain's sending reputation before you send in volume.

The certificate confirmation that makes your sending domain secure, the last thing to turn green during setup.

Your name, role, contact info, and photo, attached to every outgoing message like a digital business card.

In practice

Common Use Cases

📧

Subdomain Setup

Use something like reply. or replies. instead of your bare domain, so your main website is never affected.

✅

DNS Verification

Add records manually with your provider, or let the system find and authorize GoDaddy, Cloudflare, or IONOS automatically.

🔥

Domain Warmup

Email yourself and get replies flowing early, this both warms up your domain and tests that conversations tracking works.

✍️

Professional Signature

Add your name, photo, and contact info so every email looks like it came from a real person, not a system.

Help me do it

Things To Do

Finish these before moving to the next lesson. They only take a few minutes.

0 of 3 done

Add a subdomain (like reply.yourbusiness.com), never your main domain directly

Add and verify your DNS records until everything shows green

Send yourself a test email and reply to it to start the warmup process

⚡ Tips

Never connect your bare business domain, always use a subdomain like reply. or replies.
If anything shows red after adding records, just click verify again, DNS can take a few minutes to catch up.
The more you send and receive email early on, the faster your domain sending reputation builds.
Add yourself as a contact and email back and forth with yourself, it's a great low-risk way to test conversations.
Set this dedicated domain as your default so everything the system sends uses it automatically.

Check yourself

Quick Knowledge Check

Answer a few quick questions to lock in what you just learned. Miss one and we'll show you the right answer.

0 of 4 answered

What should you connect for sending email, instead of your main business domain?

The gradual sending period that builds your domain reputation is called ____.

True or false: you should wait for every DNS record to show green before moving on.

Your name, role, contact info, and photo attached to outgoing email is your ____.

Help me apply it

Try This With Your Favorite AI

Copy a prompt below and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or whatever AI tool you use. Fill in the bracketed details and it'll help you write your own version for your business.

🔥 Email Domain Warmup Plan

You are an email deliverability consultant helping me plan a simple warmup schedule for my newly verified sending domain. My context: - Roughly how many contacts I have and how often I plan to email: [insert your estimate] - My business type: [describe briefly] Give me: - A short day-by-day or week-by-week warmup plan - What kinds of emails are good for warming up versus risky this early - One sign that would tell me something's wrong and I should slow down - Keep the plan realistic for a small business, not an enterprise sender. Finish by asking me: "How many contacts do you have right now to start with? Tell me and I will adjust the plan's pace.".

✍️ Professional Email Signature Writer

You are a branding consultant helping me write a clean, professional email signature for my business. My context: - My name, role, and business type: [insert] - What I want people to do after reading my email (call, book, visit a page): [insert] Give me: - A short, professional signature block with name, role, contact info, and one call-to-action line - One sentence on why a photo helps (or doesn't) for my type of business - A version that's slightly shorter for mobile-heavy readers Finish by asking me: "Do you want a version with your calendar link built in? Tell me and I will add it using a trigger link.".