But maybe there's some other reason you think the free work or email is spam?
Agreeableness and openness to new experiences are 2 of the 'Big 5' personality traits. Some people are very likely to see everything as an opportunity, assume positive intent, and want to give someone a chance. If one thing doesn't work out, it was one thing, and the next thing is completely different. I imagine cold emails work very very well with these people. Lots of these people exist.
I'm not on the same side of the spectrum for either of those traits. I usually see these things as a waste of time I didn't ask for. My own experience with sales people makes me distrustful of their intentions. If one thing doesn't work out, I think all the next things that look like it won't work either. Cold emails don't work for me; case studies, hands-off demos, etc. where I am researching you, I have approached you, and I feel like I am controlling the engagement with you, work better.
I'm naturally introverted, but I actively overcompensate for it. Over a decade ago, i tried to open my mind to chance conversations. I'd engage in any conversation with anyone -- cafes, grocery stores, etc. Unfortunately I ended up just getting invited to MLM meetings and occasional proselytization. Folks doing the proselytization were actually genuinely friendly, though I wasn't interested in converting. The MLM folks were the worst.
Eventually, I ended up back where I started -- only taking random conversations at work or technical events or set social events (e.g., sports)
That said, I think cold email is often abused (like any selling, promotion, or advertising can be) where many actors take it too far. This is another factor that I think gives cold email a bad perception by default. It’s just much easier to do things at scale and play the numbers game, so that’s what gets us here.
The first time I received one of these lead agency emails I was actually open to trying it and responded to it. After the thousandth time of receiving the same message, it goes to spam without a second thought.
Is 'they are sending me a cold email' not enough?
I'd trust the content of a cold email even less than info from car salesmen if that were possible.
I don't know you and never asked you for what you consider free work (which is basically some stupid script fetching data). Your trash isn't free work for me, just someone trying to make easy money.
As a side note, most agreeable people trying to sell shit is a terribly rude buyer. If you don't believe me, start replying to cold emails selling something back to them. Even better, use a different email and send a cold email too.