"Work outside of LinkedIn. Work outside of email."
A mentor said that to me a couple months into my career transition. At the time, I didn’t get it. After 142 days, I finally do.
The old way
In previous searches, outreach looked like this: export LinkedIn connections, identify my inner circle, hunt for missing emails, draft a note in Google Docs, BCC groups in Gmail. Human but clunky. Personal, but hard to scale or track.
The new system
This time I built something different:
- Imported my full LinkedIn export
- Cleaned and filled in emails
- Tagged contacts by relationship type
- Logged recent conversations and notes
- Planned a Fall Update for 250+ people
Gmail + GMass + HubSpot together
I thought I’d send the update from inside HubSpot — but it’s designed for either 1:1 emails or mass-marketing blasts with legal wrappers. What I needed was Gmail’s flexibility, GMass batching and tracking, and HubSpot’s organization.
That’s when I found the HubSpot BCC address — a hidden gem. Send any email, BCC that address, and the thread logs to the contact automatically. Now we’re talking.
The workflow:
- Build the email in Gmail
- Batch and track with GMass
- Log every message in HubSpot via BCC
- Watch the replies roll in
Results: 277 emails sent. 100%+ open rate across batches. 20 thoughtful replies. Everything logged for future outreach.
The shift that mattered
I’m no longer living in my inbox. I’m working from my network. Instead of "inbox sort," I now operate from "most recent contact" sort in HubSpot — with full email threads, action items, follow-ups, and options to reply from HubSpot or Gmail.
Not bad for a homegrown CRM + Gmail system. More importantly: it’s personal, repeatable, and built for relationships — not just reach.
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