E-mail is the new direct mail. A few years ago, direct mail marketers were harping on the benefits of mail outs and circulars sent through the U.S. postal system. But the rising cost of postage and paper have made direct mail costs to prohibitive for many businesses. E-mail, on the other hand, is a much less expensive alternative. Unfortunately, SPAM laws make sending out e-mail to just anyone too risky and many businesses are leery of trying it.

I won’t deny the risks, but you shouldn’t shy away from e-mail marketing just because it is risky. There is a way to make it pay for your business. It’s called permission marketing. Your job as marketer is to get the permission of your prospects to market your products and services to them through e-mail. To do that effectively, there are some things you need to lay in place before you start. Consider this:

• You need a highly-optimized website with well-written copy
• You need an e-mail marketing opt-in form on your webite
• You should have a free digital product or give something away for free in exchange for your prospect’s personal information
• An auto responder system should be in place so that you can manage your contacts more effectively
• You must follow up with every prospect on a regular basis

E-mail marketing isn’t hard, but there are strategies that work and strategies that don’t work. I encourage you to get to know them.

Are you making one of these common email design mistakes? Many people do and they could really improve their email marketing skills by fixing them.

1. Sending your email as an image. Many email marketers find that it is easier to simply design the newsletter as an image to avoid the hassles of HTML. Plus, images look the same, no matter which email server your subscribers use. But there are some major flaws in this method, the main one being that more and more servers are actually blocking emails that only consist of images. So, think twice before taking the easy way out.

2. Not including a text based link back to your website. Having the URL in plain sight means people are more likely to click on it than a cloaked link, but many email designs don´t include this vital factor. If your email newsletter is one that lacks a text based link, add it in today.

3. Forgetting to include Alt-text. If your images don´t load, the alt-text is what tells your reader what the content of the photo or illustration is. Without it, they will just be looking at big blank spots in the email design.

If you are making any of these mistakes, it is time to reevaluate your email design and try to improve it. It´s never too late to fix your email design.

Every email marketer wants better open and click rates. After all, that´s what makes your business tick, right? Here are 3 very simple techniques that will help you boost your open and click rates easily.

1. Deliverability. If your emails aren´t getting through, your open and click rates won´t go up. Make sure that your emails are CAN-SPAM compliant and that your email service is a reputable one. Ask new subscribers to add you to their email list to guarantee delivery of your emails.

2. Your “from” line. Does your email pop out when readers are scanning their inbox? If your “from” line reads something like Get Fit Now! you have far less chance of improving open and click rates than one that is more personal like “Gene Garrison” or more descriptive without being spammy like “Fitness Techniques”.

3. Timing. What is the best day for emails in your target group. If you cater to a Christian crowd, Sunday probably isn´t your best opportunity to get those open and click rates up there! You might need to test different days, but finding the right one is worth it, you could really boost your active readership.

Three very easy techniques that you could start applying today. They work and you might be surprised at the improvement in your open and click rates.