These days, so much as getting people to click open an email can be pretty tough. After all, a significant portion of emails go straight to the spam folder, whether or not permission was given. Spam is just so much of a problem that the filters have to be pretty tough and not every subscriber checks that folder regularly or even at all.

But there are things you can do to improve your chances of getting that email opened, read and hopefully acted upon.

The first thing to do is take a look at your list. If it’s not opt-in, or better yet, double opt-in, your response rate is likely to be dismal. Frankly, if your “subscribers” didn’t opt in to your particular list you are likely to be accused of spamming. So start out with a clean, opted in list.

Every time you send out a newsletter you need to pay attention to your subject line. Is it going to get that newsletter opened or ignored?

If your newsletter’s quality is well known you may be able to get by with a standard subject line. This is a very rare situation, however, and depends on readers opening it often enough to find out that your newsletter is worth reading, and your name worth remembering. Not easy to do if they don’t open it the first few times you send it.

You are generally much better off sending a newsletter with a relevant subject line. Don’t be too deceptive with it or you’ll probably offend or annoy your readers. But you do want to intrigue them enough to read the whole thing and take action.

You will also want to know what triggers the spam filters. If you use lots of punctuation, such as !!! you are likely to get into trouble with the spam filters.

Certain words also set them off. You’ve probably seen the newsletters that try to get around this by changing “free” to “fre.e” and similar variations but this carries a risk as well because the spam filters are always getting better and can see that not only are you using a common spam word, you’re trying to hide it.

Review your newsletter for readability. People do not like long blocks of text on their computer monitors. It’s just hard to read. Break it up, make your paragraphs short.

Think before you go HTML in email. Not only does this increase the odds of the spam filter eating it, but it can be hard to predict how exactly the HTML will render. It also leaves you open to the temptation to put in all kinds of irrelevant headers and graphics. Emails should load fast and the early text should be there at a glance.

Make it easy for your readers to take the action you desire. If you’re selling a product make it easy to find the link.

Don’t sell to your newsletter list too often. Make sure you’re providing enough quality information that your list is comfortable with you as a knowledgeable person, not just a salesperson. With a good reputation you can make people realize they need the products you recommend.

If you’re recommending a product that has a prewritten salesletter for you to send, consider rewriting it.

This is particularly important if you are taking part in a big product launch and all the big names are promoting the same thing. Do you really think you will look good when your readers realize that you just cut and paste the message? Try to stand out more.

Always be sincere in your newsletter. Don’t try to sell just any product. Every time you sell a substandard product it impacts your reputation, even if you aren’t the one who made the product. Your online reputation depends on people trusting you.

Building a responsive list is not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort. However, once it is built there is nothing like it for building a healthy online income.

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