Poorly composed messages reflect poorly upon both you personally and you as representative of your business. If you are moonlighting with your own business, a poor first impression, even from something as innocent as an e-mail message, can kill your chances of winning that client.

Fortunately, there a few things you can do to ensure that your e-mail message is both professional and effective.

1. Let It Simmer: Never send a message as soon as you are finished typing it. Do something else for at least ten minute -- let it sit overnight, if possible -- then come back and reread and edit message. Looking at it again with a "fresh eye", you will be more likely spot errors.

Opt-In Newsletter

This is where folks often start. That's great. I'll repeat what everyone else has already said. You need to have an opt-in newsletter. You need to have signup box prominently displayed on your site and you need to publish a helpful newsletter about topic of your market often (preferably weekly). This will help you build long-term return traffic to your site. It will also build a sense of community with your visitors. You will eventually cease to be just a website and become a person that your visitors respect and get to know.

Yes; it is discouraging when you only have a handful of subscribers at end of your first month. Hang in there. It's all worth it. Do you think it takes too much time to write articles for your newsletter? Use articles submitted by others. More on that later...

Customers

Is it OK to email your customers? Absolutely. Is it OK to email them your newsletter? No; not without permission. Is it OK to email them an advertisement for your latest product/service. Yes; it probably is... But hold on just a minute. You have a relationship with this customer. It's far better if you recognize and respect that relationship. They purchased something from you. Why not drop them a personal note every once in awhile and ask them about your product/service. Ask them if they are happy with what they received. Ask them if there is any way you can improve your product/service. Go ahead and let them know about your newsletter. It's OK to mention your product/service. Tell them where they can find more information if you think it might help them.

These are your customers. Treat them with respect they deserve and they will likely become repeat customers. Blast email advertisements at them and they might or might not buy that product, but you will have missed a chance to build a relationship with them.

Inquiries/Prospects

You need to have contact information on your site. This needs to include either an email address or a form to submit questions and other inquiries. People who email you are prospects. Is it OK to email your prospects? Absolutely. In fact, I recommend that you email them a response IMMEDIATELY upon receiving their inquiry. I always return prospect email same day.

Is it OK to sign them up for an auto-responder that blasts product information at them for next several weeks. Yes; it probably is... But I think you are really blowing another opportunity if you do. Instead, why don't you spend some time and honestly answer their question. Once again, you have removed illusion of faceless website and replaced it with a one-on-one discussion.

Feel free to send them a follow-up email in a couple of day if you don't receive an order or another question from them. Ask them if they have any other questions. It's OK to send them yet another email in a week or two. Be helpful and shoot for solving their problem or answering their question.

Link Requests

Having a resource directory of sites in your market is a great idea. It's a great way to build traffic (by trading links with other sites in your market) and a great way to provide a free resource to your own visitors. If you have a link directory, you need to have a simple form to request a listing in your link directory. That form should have an email address.

You can have a checkbox on your form to signup for your newsletter. This will increase your opt-in subscribers. You should also promptly add listing and send them an email to tell them about it. Is it OK to try to sell your product/service in your email? Probably; but I don't recommend it. You have so many more valuable things to talk about. This is a webmaster in your topic area. They may or may not be interested in your product. They WILL be interested in their listing in your directory. Remind them of URL to your links page. They may also be interested in your affiliate program. Feel free to tell them about that.