re you interested in losing 30 pounds in 30 days with a new scientific weight loss method? What about taking out a home loan from a person you've never met at an institution you've never heard of? Or helping out a foreign businessman who needs to transfer some money into your bank account? How about ordering free Viagra over the Internet?

Messages that offer all this and more deluge most e-mail inboxes. Unsolicited e-mail, or "spam," is now part of everyday life, and despite the best efforts of Internet service providers and network specialists, it looks like the flood of unwanted e-mail won't end anytime soon.

However, e-mail remains a quick and cost-effective way to legitimately market products or services. Use a Web-based service to send out mass e-mail on your behalf for a small fee. Or use the tried-and-true method: Copy and paste e-mail addresses into a new message and then send a large mailing from your office e-mail account. The only cost is the time it takes to create the list and click "Send."

In a spam-filled world, how do you ensure that recipients read, forward and maybe even act on important e-mail marketing messages rather than deleting them?

Following are some tips:

Serve the Audience Before Selling to Them

An unpleasant thing about most marketing e-mails is that they focus on pushing products, not providing information. Today, when people want to buy something, they know exactly where to drive, walk or click to make their purchases.

So flooding their inboxes with hard-sell marketing offers is an ineffective way of growing sales and a surefire way to shatter trust. Sending pushy, advertising-heavy unsolicited e-mail communicates that you see marketing prospects as dollar signs, not people.

Instead, "front-load" messages with interesting, well-written and newsworthy content that will encourage recipients to keep reading. Once you've built a rapport with readers and have given them something useful to read, you'll have more success with sales-oriented messages.

Write for an Online Audience

When writing e-mail copy, keep it short, snappy and focused and above all, get to the point quickly. Make the subject line of the e-mail succinct and benefit-oriented.

For example, write "Four Ways to Sign More Merchants Today" or "Easy Tips That Will Cut Your Processing Fees in Half." (Think of headlines on glossy magazine covers; they're short, intriguing and promise big benefits for little effort.)

Keep the body of the e-mail, or an included article, brief and to the point. Let's put it this way: There's a reason that e-books haven't made public libraries and bookstores extinct. It's not fun to spend time squinting at small text on the computer screen.

In this industry, reps want to be out of the office closing deals, and merchants want to be with customers conducting business. Don't take up too much of their time (or give them headaches) by forcing them to read long e-mails. They simply won't do it.

Remind People Why They Receive the Messages and How to Stop Them

One easy way to make e-mail stand out in a sea of spam is to remind the audience that you provide them with something useful.

This is actually quite easy to do. Simply add a line at the end of each e-mail that explains they receive it because they subscribed to a list and/or expressed an interest in the industry.

Just below that line, include an even more important line: an option to unsubscribe with one click. While you hope recipients will rarely use this feature, the upside is that you make the list stronger by eliminating subscribers who aren't really interested in the messages.

Letting readers know that unsubscribing is something easy and painless that they can do at any time and will go a long way toward building trust with your audience. It's also the law: The federal government's CAN-SPAM Act, passed in 2003, requires an easy opt-out option for recipients.

Stay on Top of Subscriber Lists

Check, double-check and triple-check e-mail addresses to make sure each one is exactly right. Spelling really counts here. For instance, Nancy will most likely receive postal mail addressed to "Nancy Wexler" at Cynergy Data, but e-mail sent to nancyd@synergydata.com will bounce back.

Also remember that people change e-mail addresses frequently. Be proactive about seeking out new addresses and updated contact information for all subscribers; messages are useless if they never reach the intended audience.

Let the Web Site Do the Hard Work

Finally, resist the temptation to over-explain things in e-mail. Remember the rule about getting to the point right away? Save particularly complex or graphics-heavy communications for the Web site.

For example, let's say you send an e-mail about a new set of procedures. Which is the preferable message: One that details what to do and when to do it, complete with screen shots and technical jargon, or one that announces that the procedures are available, explains the high points, and offers a link to a training Web site with more information?

Bulky, lengthy e-mail with multiple images can take a long time to load, particularly for readers with slower computers or dial-up Internet connections. Providing a quick rundown of the most important information, with a link to more in-depth explanations on the Web, is a much simpler, more effective way to communicate. Recipients can print, save and read the information at their convenience.

Use these tips to construct your next e-mail campaign and you will achieve more results and satisfy more readers than ever. If you'd like to provide feedback on these tips or share some others, send us an e-mail; only make sure that the message has a clear, catchy subject line so it gets our attention.

Nancy Drexler is the Marketing Director and Sam Neuman is the Communications Specialist of Cynergy Data, a merchant acquirer that distinguishes itself by relying on creativity and technology to maximize service. Cynergy offers its ISOs VIMAS, a cutting edge back-office management software; TrackIt, a ticketing system that makes responses to customers fast, accurate and efficient; Brand Central Station, a Web site of free marketing tools; plus state-of-the-art training, products, services and value-added programs, all designed to take its ISO partners from where they are to where they want to be. For more information on Cynergy e-mail Nancy Drexler at nancyd@cynergydata.com .