Hi Linda, I agree with most of the posts here. Now when are you going to let us in on YOUR way? Lorraine

I look first at the From tag and open most anything from a friend or someone whose name I at least recognize. But anything that starts with a pitch had better be something I'm looking for anyway, or I don't read the rest. If the recognized name becomes linked with nothing but sales spam, they get tagged as spam and go straight to email hell, never to be opened again. Fool me once... Yeah, Linda, when are you going to drop the other shoe? I've got email to send, lol. Cheri PS, what a smart program! I wondered whether to put that asterisk in, and the post editor did it for me.

Hi: A LOT of you got this one spot on. 1) The very first field people look at is the FROM field. --> If the name is recognized in a good way, the email gets opened. --> If the name is recognized as a junk sender, it's deleted. 2) If the name isn't recognized, the subject line gets a glance. --> If it sounds like junk mail, it's toast. --> If it doesn't sound like junk mail, it might be worth a look. And, Cheri made a good point. If a "recognized" name earns the reputation of sending junk, spam or too many 'offers,' they become a "name to delete." It really shows that the most valuable thing we have online is our reputation. Your name has the power to get emails opened - or deleted - in a heartbeat. Makes a person really think about what they send to their list. : ) Linda P.S. Here's another fun survey. A study group of thousands of 'average consumers' were asked to define spam. The number one answer was "Spam is anything I don't want in my inbox."

Good discussion Forumites, ================ "And, Cheri made a good point. If a "recognized" name earns the reputation of sending junk, spam or too many 'offers,' they become a "name to delete." ================ Yeah, I thought that was a really good point too. I get so many emails from the "guru" set - if I mentioned the names you would know who I mean - and most of them are peddling bloody rubbish. Most start out with junk like: "My good friend Johnny Rotten is pre-releasing a fire sale of all his greatest hints and tips to drive hundreds of thousands of qualified leads to your website and he's doing it from his seven million dollar yacht. Blah, blah, blah..." Linda and I discused this in an email last year and she made an excellent point. It went something along the lines of when the coyotes are starving they come closer to town and get bolder and bolder for food scraps. These so-called "expert gurus" are becoming more and more audacious which means that they are becoming more and more desperate to make sales. For example, they offer a guru e-book for $49 but it comes with, wait for it... 37 bonuses valued at $12,799. Yeah? Well I fugure that's $12,799 worth of crap that I don't want anyway. And the $49 e-book of traffic secrets is probably just a re-badged hotch-potch of more junk that doesn't work. Some "gurus" have even resorted to abusing people and calling them names like "sh*tweasels." One of the biggest names in marketing does just that. Imagine that! And they want us to buy their trash. I don't think so! Good work Forumites. Best Wishes Gary Simpson

Hi Linda, You said, It really shows that the most valuable thing we have online is our reputation. Your name has the power to get emails opened - or deleted - in a heartbeat. All I can say to that is a big "Amen!" There are a lot of people here in the Adlandpro community who need to visit your forums. I just received an invitation from another member who claims to be "Lifestyle Coach" and "Mentor" who hasn't even done me the honour of finding out ANYTHING about me before sending me a "Welcome to Adlandpro" invitation to be "friends" to basically look at all the wonderful "stuff" he's pushing. IF that person happens to read this thread, and REALLY wants to be my friend, perhaps there still is a chance with a friendlier and less obvious approach. Basically, I've had it up to here with people who introduce themselves to me via email, forums or phone with, "Hi, I'm ME - I'm great - I'm successful - buy my junk - join my junky get-rich-quick scheme!" They would get a LOT more response with, "Hi, I'm me - what interests you?" (I better stop....) :-) Thanks for another great thread, Linda. God bless, Dave