Email marketing pivots upon: create an email list, keep expanding it, and use it to bring customers back to your web site, where you convince them that your product, your service, and your value are outstanding. Your web site is where you will make the sale; the email is what will bring customers there.

Email marketing must be done correctly for it to work well, and there are some basic rules to follow.
If done incorrectly, or if you ignore the basic rules of email marketing (at your own risk!), then you can actually drive others away from your list, and the “unsubscribe” button will be clicked on all too often.
To avoid this, follow these basic rules, and you’ll see your lists expand, and have happier clients for your home business.
1. Never ever SPAM
2. Collect addresses in a responsible manner
3. Provide contact information
4. Provide a link to your website
5. Use good grammar
6. Be honest in your communications. Don’t trick people into opening your email
7. Be polite, and offer your customers a real benefit for reading your emails.

Email marketing is currently the most commonly used online marketing tool. The reasons are abundant. Nothing can beat it when it comes to marketing success. Many marketers have attained success using this powerful marketing tool.

Here are 10 great benefits for Email Marketing:

1.  Cost effective.
2.  A great opportunity to build strong business relationships.
3.  This is a great strategy to enlarge your mailing list.
4.  You will be able to filter vital information regarding your customers.
5.  It is a well known fact that email beats all forms of communication transmission in terms of speed.
6.  Providing instant information and immediate resolution of complaints.
7.  The ability to service immediate requests from customers who are extremely special.
8.  The speed of email helps you to establish relationships with your customers very easily.
9.  The easiest form of communicating your latest products and services, special offers, bonuses and discounts too!
10.  You are also able to provide fast information by making use of your email links leading to your marketing copy.

Using quotation marks, dollar signs and exclamation points in subject lines will frequently trigger mail filters, as well as using all capital letters (shouting). Never put a toll-free number in the subject line and never use a font size larger than 18 point, or you could trigger some Spam filters.

Update Your Lists Frequently

Another feature of email marketing and list management is vital: checking and updating your list frequently. This is best done automatically. For instance, if a subscriber chooses to “unsubscribe”, your email list manager should immediately take them off your mail list, to prevent accusations of “Spam”. Failing to update your list can cause you to be blacklisted with their ISP. It’s essential to include an “unsubscribe” link in each email that you send out, and to honor this request as soon as it occurs.
Also, non-deliverable mails need to be looked at. Is it due to hard-bouncing (wrong email address/domain name?) or is it a soft-bounce (misspelled name?) In some cases, the address is no longer valid, and should be taken off the list. Most automated list managers will delete emails after a certain number of attempts that get bounced back.

Getting off Blacklists

Even the most legitimate mailings may cause some customers to cry “Spam”. They may forget signing up for your newsletter (even though it was a double opt-in subscription), or have selective memory about signing up to receive email promotions in return for downloading that great free software at your web site.

In these cases, it can help to keep careful records of your opt-ins. If you get blacklisted by an ISP (or even yours, if you are accused of spamming!), show them your records: on January 15, 2009, a customer using the email address blah blah@randomISP.com.au signed up for my newsletter from the IP address (give IP address). This lets the ISP know that you are responsible, and that someone from that ISP DID sign up to receive emails from you. In most cases, the “blacklisting” will be dropped.

By paying careful attention to subject lines, and avoiding those that trigger email filters, your emails have a better chance of reaching your customers, and not being filtered out. By emailing responsibly, and keeping good records, you can avoid accusations of Spam, and enjoy interacting with your customers via email.
Some of the more commonly used phrases that ISPs and mail clients filter out include:

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Email marketing is a process of promoting a product or service or an idea by sending direct emails to a target audience. It is not SPAM.
• Sending e-mails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.
• Sending e-mails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately.
• Adding advertisements to e-mails sent by other companies to their customers, and
• Sending e-mails over the Internet, as e-mail did and does exist outside the Internet.