Collect' Em: With the low cost of email communications, email trumps more costly marketing methods such as direct mail and telephone. A study by Jupiter Research found email campaigns targeted with web analytics can produce 18 times the profits of broad mailings. Relentlessly collect customer and lead email addresses all the time. Use a contact management program to handle your growing list.

Remove Barriers: Customers want fast and easy communication from companies they want to do business with. Your website contact page should have your email address. Asking web visitors to fill in a form to send a simple mail will stop many in their tracks. Gather more customer information once you have gained the initial contact. If you are worried about being spammed, invest in a good spam protection program.

Avoid Sensitive Issues: Never handle sensitive issues by email. The chance for miscommunication can make matters worse. There are times when you need to pick up the phone or set up a face-to-face contact instead of taking the easy way out with email. When you are full of emotions, stay clear of your email.

Handle at Once: Don't fall into the trap of reading emails and thinking I'll respond later. Later never arrives and soon your inbox is full of important and unimportant mail. Scott Allen, Co-Author of "The Virtual Handshake" recommends "Most people configure their email reader to interrupt them every time an email comes in. This means you are interrupted throughout the day. Instead, we suggest keep your email reader closed most of the day. Only check email once a day."

Use the 10 Second Rule: We all lead busy, time-pressed lives. Receiving a long-winded email with one big paragraph creates a response to file for later use. Readers have a tendency to skim and miss critical details. Before you send out your email message, edit down to short sentences, add bullet points, and be concise. When someone opens your email they should be able to know within 10 seconds or less what your message is about.

It's the Law: Know the rules of using email in the business world. Be aware of the laws and regulations in your business, industry, country, and state surrounding email usage. Our world is becoming increasingly transparent and customers expect your small business to handle their data in a private and confidential manner.

Incorporating these 6 simple business email tips will put you on the road to effective email management. Spend the time to master the essentials of email. Once the habit is established your small business will be email savvy.

Most email marketing software has features that assist the user in the process of organizing contacts, creating campaigns, and scheduling communication. In addition, the software usually provides features, such as an "unsubscribe check" that assist in complying with the CAN-SPAM law. Email Marketing software can also provide tracking functions such as how many people have opened an email, how many emails bounced-back, how many people visited the hyperlinks provided in the marketing message, and how many people actually purchased something as a result of the email. Each email service provider has their own take and approach to these different features some of the most common are listed below

The common features are listed below:
* Ability to create and send personalized email using data from a customer database.
* Ability to import customer lists
* Split campaign testing and segmented lists
* Surveys
* Automatic unsubscribe and bounce-back handling
* Ability to authenticate to SMTP and POP servers or send directly with an internal server
* HTML and plain text editor for creating messages
* RSS Feeds
* Reporting features such as bounce-back, opens, and link click reports
* Tracking abilities such as tracking who has opened the email, usually by using a web bug

Email Marketing Software refers to a computer application which provides the ability to send bulk email to target audiences. The intent is usually to send newsletters or promotional materials to opt-in lists of subscribers, although the software can be used to send unsolicited email. The software typically includes a database that stores contact information, campaign statistics, and message history. The interface provides features necessary to run an email campaign, such as message sending, contact entry, contact importing, and reporting. Software packages range in price from free, to about five hundred US dollars. Some companies charge a monthly fee. There are also enterprise solutions that can cost thousands of dollars a month to manage large enterprises mass marketing email campaigns.