Clear concise email marketing, written directly and to the point, following proper etiquette will raise your reputation and help build your business.

The first thing to consider with any email marketing campaign is not to offend anyone. Insult a potential customer with your message and they are sure to delete your message. Do not let this happen to you!

Email etiquette is very important, and a message that is not only well written, but written correctly earns respect and keeps your readers interested in the topic.

Here are some important guidelines to follow when writing emails to gain trust, earn respect and keep your readers interested and wanting more.

Always wrap your lines at 65 characters or less

When your readers are looking at the computer screen for extended periods of time their eyes may become fatigued. Causing them discomfort and possibly losing interest in what they are reading. The short span of characters reduces eye fatigue and also helps to maintain their attention.

Some email clients will enforce line wrapping of received messages to around 65 characters. If not properly formatted your message will arrive looking all cut up and unprofessional.

You can achieve the 65-character limit by simply hitting "enter" at the end of the limit. When using Word as you email editor in Outlook, you can set the right indent to around 5 inches. If you are using Outlook Express you can set the line wrap to any character width you choose.

Never use all capital letters

On the Internet and in email messages, using all capital letters is considered yelling. It's okay to write some sentences and some words in all caps to stress a point, but do not over do it.

People buy from someone they trust. Emails in all capital letters are perceived as being written by someone uneducated, and have an appearance that damages the credibility of an offer and whomever presents it.

Always, always check your spelling and grammar

I am sure you would have been influenced by an email selling you something that had noticeable spelling and grammar mistakes. I am also sure you would have influenced in a negative way.

Your target audience will judge you and your product offer by the quality of your presentation, in this case that is your email message. Remember you need to make a good first impression. If that first impression is full of typos and bad grammar you will lose your creditability and most likely a sale.

When you're in business for yourself, your image is your reputation. That reputation is the reason people buy from you.

It's essential that you create an honest creditable image in the mind of your prospects. Sending emails filled with errors will destroy your image and your business.

Know your target audience and speak to them

Write your emails with your prospects point of view in mind.

Remember you are asking them for their time to read it, so do not fill it with what you want them to do. Write your message by giving them the benefits of your offer. Features of the product do not sell as well as what's in it for them.

The main goal is capturing your prospects attention from the start and keeping them focused on your message by giving them what they want. Doing that following these simple email marketing basics will increase your business and build your reputation.