What separates ethical cold outreach from spam?

The line between ethical outreach and spam lies in intent, targeting, and respect for recipients.

Ethical outreach characteristics:

Genuine relevance: Contact only people whose role makes your offering potentially useful

Transparency: Clear about who you are and why you're reaching out

Respect: Brief messages that don't demand response

Easy exit: Immediate honoring of opt-out requests

Value focus: Offering something useful, not just extracting attention

Spam characteristics:

Mass targeting: Anyone with an email address

Deception: Misleading subject lines, hidden identity, fake personalization

Persistence despite signals: Ignoring opt-outs or negative replies

Self-interest only: No genuine value for recipient

Volume over quality: Numbers game ignoring recipient experience

The core question:

Would you want to receive this email if you were the recipient?

Would you be comfortable if your practices were made public?

Does your outreach add value or just extract attention?

The answer reveals whether you're doing outreach or spam.