According to a survey by Doubleclick, the "average" consumer receives 308 e-mails each week. Of these, 62% (191) are considered to be spam. Most of these e-mails will be deleted unread.

So, if you're one of the many internet marketers using e-mail to promote a product, service or opportunity, how will you ensure that your e-mail messages get opened? What can you do to keep your prospect's finger off the delete key?

The answer is provided by the same survey and may surprise you initially. According to Doubleclick's survey, 63% of consumers base their decision on whether to read or delete an e-mail based upon the information in the "from" field. Simply put, most people check to see who sent the e-mail before they decide to open it or not.

Think about it - isn't that what you do? Don't you generally tend to read e-mails from people you know and trust in preference to others?

So how, exactly, do you first become known to and then become trusted by your prospects? Certainly this is something that's easier said than done - but it can be done and it's well worth the effort.

First of all don't spam. You will become known to your prospect -but for all the wrong reasons. Your e-mail messages will be deleted unread and you may lose your ISP account.

Use permission e-mailing. Build a list of opt-in e-mail subscribers. Use a sign up form on every page of your website. Use a special "gateway" page where people can join your list. Give away free e-books, reports, white papers etc. as an incentive to join your list.

Provide your subscribers with useful information. Don't bombard them with a daily hard sell and don't send them information or offers unrelated to the original topic in which they expressed an interest.

Intersperse your information with relevant offers which they may be interested in.

It's that simple. Build your opt-in list and provide your subscribers with real and valuable information. Yes - it takes time and effort, two commodities which many internet "marketers" seem reluctant to invest - but the results are worth it.

Hamish Hayward
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