All 5 recommendations
Est. prices as of Mar 13, 2026
#1 · Mailchimp · Most Overhyped
Cold Email Blasts via Mailchimp
$20/month
Send 1,000 semi-personalized emails and hope 0.5% convert
- ✓ Dirt cheap entry point
- ✓ Templates make it effortless
- ✓ Technically legal if you follow CAN-SPAM
- ✗ Spam folder placement is guaranteed
- ✗ Destroys your sender reputation permanently
- ✗ Converts at <1% because recipients never asked for it
#2 · Various (Apollo, Hunter, Instantly)
LinkedIn Connection Spam Bot
$50-150/month
Automate adding 500 strangers weekly with generic 'let's connect' messages
- ✓ Automated workflow saves time
- ✓ Some people do accept connections
- ✓ Easy to scale to absurd numbers
- ✗ LinkedIn actively bans these accounts
- ✗ People know it's a bot and ignore follow-ups
- ✗ Wastes their time and yours
#3 · Various (ConvertKit, Unbounce)
Clickbait Landing Page Copy
$99-300/month
'This one weird trick' gets clicks but not customers
- ✓ Short-term traffic spike possible
- ✓ Low barrier to implementation
- ✓ Works on 2% of the internet
- ✗ Creates trust debt you'll never recover
- ✗ High bounce rates tank algorithms
- ✗ First-time visitors never return
#4 · ZoomInfo · Budget King
Purchased Email Lists from ZoomInfo
$5,000-50,000/year
Pay thousands for emails of people who actively don't want to hear from you
- ✓ Massive volume of contacts immediately
- ✓ Technically 'B2B compliant'
- ✓ Feels like you're doing something
- ✗ 30-50% of emails bounce or are fake
- ✗ Recipients never opted in and will report as spam
- ✗ ROI is consistently negative
#5 · Facebook, Google, TikTok · Hidden Gem
Aggressive Retargeting Ads (8+ impressions/day)
$500-5,000/month
Follow someone across the internet until they buy or block you
- ✓ Actually converts better than cold outreach
- ✓ Reaches warm audiences
- ✓ Measurable and optimizable
- ✗ Feels invasive and creepy to most users
- ✗ Ad fatigue kills performance after 3-4 weeks
- ✗ Damages brand perception despite conversions