Basic Rules For Effective Email Marketing

 Copyright 2005 Ronald Gibson

If you want an email campaign to succeed, you don`t want to offend anyone when sending your messages. Turn off a consumer with your email and you can be sure they`ll tune out your message. Don`t let that happen to you

A message that earns respect has a better chance to make sales. That`s why our topic for discussion is email etiquette.

Train yourself to always -- and I mean always -- stick to the rules below when crafting your email messages.

RULE #1 - ALWAYS WRAP YOUR LINES AT 65 CHARACTERS OR LESS

Whenever you write an email, always format the lines so that they`re 65 characters, or less, across. To do this, you may need to do a "hard return" by hitting "Enter" at the end of the line.

Wondering why you should limit your lines to just 65 characters? Good question! There are two reasons why "less is more":

The first thing to remember is that looking at a computer screen for a long time causes "eye fatigue" for many readers. The shorter span of characters across the screen makes reading easier and more appealing to the recipient of your email message.

The other reason to go short instead of long is this: some email clients automatically enforce line-wrapping at 60-65 characters on received messages. If your email is wrapped at 70, the content will arrive all "chopped up." This makes it unattractive...and worse -- unappealing.

How do you get your lines to wrap at 65 characters? Some email clients, such as Outlook Express, allow you to set the line-wrap to any character-width that you choose. That means you won`t have to hit Enter each time after typing 65 characters. Makes life easier. You can also type 65 asterisks or dashes in a Notepad file to create a template. Then paste your email below it to see if any lines extend too far to the right.

RULE # 2 - BE CAREFUL USING ALL CAPS

How many times have you changed the TV channel to avoid listening to a screaming car salesperson? No one likes ascreaming salesperson...and no one likes a "screaming" email message, either. Odds are, when someone has over-amped the volume of their message by using too many capital letters(not to mention too many exclamation points and other punctuation) - you`re going to be turned off.

On the Internet, email messages written in all caps are considered yelling. It`s okay to write some sentences and some words in all caps, but don`t go overboard. (As you can see in this message, I`ve tried to use capital letters to help break up sections of the content from time to time).

Remember that consumers buy from a source they trust. Emails in all caps are perceived as "shady" or uneducated, and have an appearance that damages the credibility of an offer.

RULE #3 - WATCH YOUR Ps & Qs (Spelling and Grammar)

Would you be influenced by an email selling you something that had noticeable spelling and grammar mistakes? Sure you would...and the influence would be negative, not positive! When a consumer reads a sales message that`s filled with errors, they think to themselves, "Good grief, this person doesn`t even take the time to get his emails right. His product is probably the same quality as his emails."

When you`re in business, your image is your reputation and your reputation is the reason people buy from you or the guy down the block. It`s essential that you create an image of integrity, credibility, and honesty in the mind of your prospects. Sending emails filled with errors doesn`t hurt your professional image...it destroys it.

Follow these basic email marketing rules and you will dramatically improve your chances of being a successful email marketer.

About the Author

Ronald Gibson is a Web Designer and Web Marketer. He is the Webmaster of AffiliateUtopia.com, which offers information about some of the best money making opportunities on the Web. For more information, visit:
http://www.affiliateutopia.com/

 Ronald Gibson

More Articles 

Implementing an Opt-in List to Optimise Your Internet Marketing Success - James Halligan
In order to make a success of your website or online business, it is obvious that you will need customers. Although everyone who visits your page will not become a customer, they must have some interest in your product or service that brought them...

Affiliate marketing programs that can add value without costs to Web sites. - Eric T Brassell Sr
Many small businesses have found ways to earn money from visitors to their Web site, even though their sites are not equipped to handle Internet transactions. How? By joining an affiliate marketing program. After taking the time to create and...

Network Marketing Is Fun And Profitable - Terry Nicholls
Network Marketing, also called MLM or Multi-Level Marketing, can be one of the most fun and rewarding businesses today. Robert Kiyosaki said: "If I had to do it all over again, rather than build an old style type of business, I would have...

The Upgrading Power of Internet Marketing - Mira Marsellia
In an age when the number of overly financially distressed people increasing enormously, many people become extremely or very concerned about good financial education and look for other opportunity to upgrading their income. As featured at website...

Internet marketing and Public Speaking: Ten Tips for When the Twain Shall meet - Larry Tracy
Copyright 2005 Larry Tracy Internet marketing and public speaking? Not quite ham and eggs, is it? Those two phrases are rarely found in the same sentence. After all, many people decide to do their marketing in cyberspace so they’ll never be...

Effective or Irritating: The Use of Pop Windows in Internet Marketing - Morris Clopton
Copyright 2005 Morris Clopton A few years ago, pop-up windows were all the rage in Internet marketing. It seemed that every time one opened a web page they would be bombarded with offers for this or that. It had gotten to the point where surfing...

What’s The Best Network Marketing Opportunity For You? - Lana Hampton
Are you looking for a good network marketing opportunity? Want to tap into the secrets of Internet billionaires? Wish to be a top revenue maker? Then you should follow in the footsteps of successful marketers, and do what they do – find a network...

Internet Marketing For Sales Leads - Mike Law
Copyright 2005 Mike Law NO matter what business you are trying to build online, you will need sales leads if you are ever going to make sales, and sales leads are what you are trying to generate if you are marketing on the internet. In order to...

Are You Spending 75% of Your Time 'Marketing Your Affiliate Programs'? - David McKenzie
How important do you think it is to market your affiliate programs? Most would probably say it’s quite important. I would say it is the difference between success and failure for the affiliate. The more time you spend marketing your affiliate...

Network Marketing Online Saves Time - Lana Hampton
Network marketing online is a great way to do business from home, at your own time and pace. Moreover, the vast resources of the Internet are at your fingertips. You no longer have to start out locally, building gradually over several years to a...

How To Start Marketing Correctly And Avoid Failure - Charles Kangethe
How To Start Marketing Correctly And Avoid Failure ------------------------- (c) 2004 Charles Kangethe ------------------------- A Problem For Marketers ----------------------- Very often new marketers lack a solid success plan. Many start with...

MLM Network Marketing Training- MLM Leadership- The Two Golden Words.. - Doug Firebaugh
" MLM Leadership-The Two Golden Words.." By Doug Firebaugh Many a Leader in Network Marketing get into the business, and really go after it....they see where they want to go, and truly start on an excited journey to success....but little by little,...