It does seem to come down to two alternatives – rules or inspiration.

Of course as with most things, both need to be used at some time. For example I would always argue that if writing to a person who has not opted into your email list you should ensure you write short paragraphs which have a real buzz and excitement in the first few words (as in “The best solution is” and that sort of thing).

But I am concerned about the wholly mechanistic approach to emails, which says, you may only use x number of words in a sentence, you should never send out on a friday, your subject line must contain one of the following key words and so on….

The fact is that every time such rules come out, a lot of people who lack the creativity element in writing emails, follow the rules slavishly – and the results are dull.

In essence, the rules that apply to the sales letter apply most of the time to the email, and the only reason for mentioning emails here is that people who comment on emails tend to be more rule orientated than people who comment on sales letters.

There’s an article “How to write the perfect sales letter” which appears on the Hamilton House site in the How To section (www.hamilton-house.com – click on How To on the left) which sets out what I mean. If you are looking at ways of enhancing your response rates, it contains a few thoughts that you might find interesting.

Tony Attwood