While you may be using a email newsletters to promote your business, a personal touch can go a long way. In fact, many people like to know that there are human beings behind the actual business, so you`ll be boosting your company`s reputation in their eyes.

To really make your email newsletters work for your business, you`ll want to add a little bit of yourself into the mix. A short anecdote or just a line about what you are up to will help you connect to your audience of subscribers. That connection can make a huge difference in how they see you.

Think about it for a moment. Where would you buy if the price was the same? A completely professional shop run by robots or a shop where the salespeople are human beings? Pretty easy choice, right?

Using your email newsletters to promote your business doesn`t mean you should write like a robot. Add a touch of personality and you`ll be amazed at how much better your readers respond.

You don`t want to bore your readers with your email content, but often there is just so much to say that it can be difficult to keep it short. When you realize you`ve run on too long, what can you do? Here are a few tips on shortening your email content.

• Cut out personal info. This probably isn`t necessary and if you are just chatting about your trip to the beach, it can be taken out to shorten your email content.
• Add subheadings. This helps make the email content easier to read. People like to skim, so this will give them the important points.
• Use bullet points. Again, easy for skimming. Also all the information is more concise with bullet points.
• Take one sentence out. By removing a sentence from each paragraph (an unnecessary one) you`ll find that your content is better written, as well as shorter.

Just because your email content is long doesn`t mean people won`t read it. However, you do need to break it up with bullet points, or consider making it shorter. Easy to read is always good when it comes to email content length.

You`ve heard the rules on writing great subject lines over and over. And chances are, you pretty much stick to them in hopes of boosting your open rates. But what if I were to tell you that sometimes supposedly “bad” subject lines actually end up pulling in more readers?

Making an offer in the subject line is often considered spammy and poor taste. BUT, it can work for you if you have an established brand name. Let`s say you see an email from Office Depot offering you a 50% discount in the subject line . . . wouldn`t you want to check it out?

Other poor subject line tricks that can work include the following:

• No call to action. Sometimes the newsworthy headline is worth opening the email for.
• Boring subject line. You`d be surprised at how many dull, but informative subject lines have made it to the top 10 list!
• Too informal. While you might feel that your email should appear to be from a business, sometimes that friend feel is enough to get people to open the email.

Not all rules have to be followed all the time. Try experimenting with your subject lines and find out which ones work best with your particular audience.

As an FYI to everyone, here is a new email marketing spam law as follows:

In May 2008 the Federal Trade Commission(FTC) released its Statement of Basis and Purpose and Final Discretionary Rule (“final Rule”) on the CAN-SPAM ACT. This statement contains four new rules, and also contains some clarifications and guidance to the text of the original act in the form of the Statement of Basis and Purpose (SBP). You can read the FTC press release, and you can find the full text of the update here. The new rules go into effect on July 7th 2008.

Please visit the following link or more useful information:
http://constantcontact.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/constantcontact.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3083

Have you ever used video in your email marketing campaigns? It`s a well known fact that website visitors love video and many website owners and blogs are starting to use video to convey information faster and in a more interesting format.

Here`s an interesting case study on using video with your email marketing.

masterIT connected the video to an email marketing campaign. This email video campaign had a 31% open rate and a 22% click through rate — far stronger results than a typical email campaign. Drake used Emma (”a way cool email marketing firm based in Nashville,” he says) to manage the campaign.

Video is far more dynamic than simple text or even audio. It allows the reader to absorb information via more than one sense and this can really be a good way to convey information that just isn`t going to make a lot of sense when written. Some things are better shown than written.

If you want to add extra interest to your email marketing campaigns, consider using links to video content on your website.

We all know that many list rental services aren`t really legit. They glean email addresses from any website or blog they can find, including forums, and then sell that as a proper opt-in list. While these businesses may not stick around too long, they are often here long enough to mess email marketing campaigns. Don`t let it be yours . . . here`s how to spot a bad list rental service.

Age: If the list rental service is too young, be very wary. Many of the non-legit sites out there are only up for a short period of time before they close and set up under a new name to continue their business.

Complaints: Do a quick search on the list rental company name and find out if there are any complaints online. If it is a scam, you will likely find more names that the service has used before.

Price: Are the prices too good to be true? This is one area where it is worth it to pay a little higher and get quality emails that you can actually use and benefit from.

Finding a legit list rental service may take some time . . . there are a lot of bad ones out there. These three tips will go a long ways toward helping you find a good service and avoiding the bad ones, though. Take the time to research a bit an densure that you are getting the best email list possible.

When email marketers are just getting started, the world of email marketing seems big and challenging. There is so much information out there that it can be difficult to process and understand what you should be trying and what simply isn`t worth your time. While you may find reading blogs and ebooks to be a very useful practice, there are times when having someone to help guide you is very useful.

An email marketing mentor is someone who can teach you what they know, and also give you a sounding board to bounce ideas off of. While your mentor certainly doesn`t have to be someone rich and famous, it never hurts! But for many, simply speaking to someone who has already been through the beginning process can be very helpful.

Finding your way through the maze of email marketing information doesn`t have to be quite so difficult and it can actually be fairly simple if you have someone who can help you out a bit and point out the best information and sources.

Where can you find an email marketing mentor? Try writing someone you respect and asking them a couple of questions. If they seem willing to help out, you can ask them if they would be interested in mentoring you. Not everyone will, some people are really too busy, but it`s always worth asking!

Sometimes the muse is with you when you`re writing email content, sometimes it`s not. And when it`s not, you`ll find that your ideas for your email content simply aren `t coming and it can be a real chore to write anything that is remotely useful or meaningful.

How do you inspire yourself to continue with some great email content? Here are a few ideas:

• Read blogs on your industry. This can help spark an idea. While you shouldn`t copy anything, using someone else`s writing for inspiration is fine.
• Dig through your archives. Go back a year or two and see what you haven`t written about in a while. It might be worth an update in your email content.
• Get away from the computer. Sometimes writing with a pen and paper in the park can inspire new ideas. Also, a stroll through the mall might spark something for your email content, you never know!
• Watch television. Often you can find some good anecdotes on TV or in a movie and these can help make your email content more exciting.
• Read other email content. This can really help. Reading what other email marketers are writing can actually stimulate some great content on your end, too.

Email content isn`t always easy, but it helps if you know how to find some inspiration for those days when nothing is coming to mind.

Email newsletters can take up a lot of time. Time that could be spent coming up with new websites, ad campaigns and publicity ideas. So, of course, it is in your best interests, as an email marketer, so speed up the process of getting your email newsletters out. Here are a few suggestions:

• Hire a writer. This can really make all the difference in speed, particularly if you struggle over what to write each time your email newsletter needs to go out.
• Find a good email list program. This is vital. Having a service that can handle the frequent email newsletters that you send and that allows you to queue newsletters will help save you a lot of time.
• Build a template. Having the basic template saves a lot of time when you are writing email newsletters. Just fill in the spaces and hit send.
• Get an email newsletter service. There are services that will provide everything you need to get your email newsletters out quickly and easily, without fuss.

Speeding up your email newsletter production will free your time up for other things . . . like earning more money!

Whether you are just getting started in email marketing or already have some experience under your belt, chances are you are always on the lookout for more information. Which is likely the reason you are reading this right now.

Email Marketing Learning Sources

• Ask other email marketers. Be brave and write an email with some of your pressing questions. Send it to an email marketer that you admire and you might be pleasantly surprised.
• Read email marketing blogs. Blogs like this one are a great source of email marketing information and they are frequently updated, making this a great way to gain knowledge.
• Join a mailing list. While there are plenty of email marketing newsletters around, you can also benefit from signing up for other types of email newsletters and seeing how people are actually putting their methods to work.
• Social network. This might not sound like an area that would help you with learning, but when you are connected through Digg or StumbleUpon, you`ll make friends with similar interests. When they find something interesting on email marketing, you`ll know about it.

There are plenty of places to learn email marketing basics, but don`t forget, even if you`ve been playing the game for a while, it`s possible to learn more. In fact, education should be a part of any email marketer`s success plan, so get out there and start learning!

Brand name spam is when an email marketer uses a big name brand to get past the spam filters. While this doesn`t always work, seeing a subject line with “Lowe`s” or “Wal-Mart” in it tends to grab people`s attention. But is it a good way to go?

Spam is spam, no matter how you get it into the inbox and just because you use a special brand name to ensure that it is going to get past the spam filter doesn`t mean you`ll necessarily get more sales. In fact, it could ruin your reputation.

You don`t use techniques like this? Excellent, but that doesn`t mean they can`t be sneaking in anyway. If you sell solo ads and ad space, make sure you check what people are trying to run in your email newsletter. Even if the solo ad has nothing to do with you, this could destroy what people think of you and in email marketing, that could mean losing everything.

Brand name spam is still spam, so keep an eye out for it and be sure not to mislead your readers with this type of headline.

When there is more than just one person working on email content, it tends to get a bit disjointed and it can be easy to accidentally reproduce something that your writing partner has already touched on. That`s why brainstorming sessions are so useful.

When doing a brainstorm session, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Write everything down. Even if you don`t know if it is a good idea, write it down. Ideas that don`t work out right now could be useful in the future and accepting everything will keep the creative flow going.
• Remember to fuel your brain. Whether on donuts or a veggie tray, make sure that you have food and drink available to help keep you alert as you brainstorm.
• Build on email content ideas later. The initial brainstorming should be just spitting out as many ideas as possible. You can critique and develop the best ones later on in a second brainstorming session.
• Lock yourselves in. Find a quiet location to do your thinking and come up with more email content ideas. A board room can be ideal, but anywhere that you can work without interruptions is fine.

Email content can be difficult to come up with at times, but the fact is that when you have more than one person working on it, you really should make use of the extra brain! Doing a brainstorm session and then assigning ideas is a great way to ensure that your email content is never dull.

When you are first starting your opt-in list, it may seem like a bad idea to divide your list in two, especially if you only have a handful of subscribers. However, it really is the best thing you can do, no matter what stage you are at in the email marketing game.

The most common reason to divide your opt-in list is to keep the active subscribers on one list. Your tactics for getting people to buy should be quite different between those who have already bought and those who have never answered a call to action in your emails.

Subscribers on your opt-in list who have already bought something from you have proven that they trust you enough to go ahead and pay you money for what you are recommending. This is a big deal and one that should be taken advantage of.

Once someone has bought from you, they are far more likely to buy again, so it is a matter of presenting the right offer. Now, it makes sense that it will take less convincing to get the sales opt-in list to buy than those who have shown little or no interest in buying from you.

Consider it. You could end up earning more by splitting your opt-in lists.

Email content often gets left by the wayside. Many email marketers get distracted by things like spam filters and the subject lines that they forget the actual email content also matters.

People may open your email for the subject line, but if your email content is lousy, they will think twice before reading another email from you. Many people don`t actually unsubscribe, but they just delete the emails from people they aren`t interested in reading. Don`t let that be you!

Making sure that your email content is quality is key to keeping readers interested. While your subject lines are important and getting through the spam filter is also important, your email content will end up helping the reader decide if your emails are worth reading or not.

Email content matters. Make yours great and you`ll keep them coming back even when your subject lines suck.

There are a lot of email marketing tips and techniques out there. Some of them are very good. Some of them use trickery to try and get your website visitors to sign up for your list. It`s more common than you think and if you are considering using these techniques, I`d have to advise against it.

3 Shady Email Marketing Tactics

Using the default check box. This is a very common trick, where email marketing experts set up their information request forms to automatically check the opt-in check box. When someone unchecks it, the form resets for any slight error and rechecks the box.

Weird wording. Just because you include a link to unsubscribe in your email doesn`t mean you are good to go. You shouldn`t bury it in a mess of links, use weird wording so no one understands that this is the actual way to unsubscribe, etc.

Tricking readers. This is all too common these days. You are asked to provide your email to access a weekly tips newsletter or something of the sort. Then, rather than receive your tips, you are bombarded with ads several times a day! Definitely a bad idea.

Not only are these email marketing tactics rude, they can also cost you. People who can`t find an easy way to unsubscribe or who haven`t really signed up for your emails will be annoyed and likely to hit the “Report Spam” link instead of trying to opt out.