Thanks for the reply Ben.

There is the underlying truth that I am writing the emails for my financial benefit, but I guess I’m lucky that I don’t rely on the profits I make from recommending products and services to put food on the table, or pay for the X2B’s (soon to be ex-wife) latest handbag, so I have the luxory of being able to write in the format/style that I enjoy, with the intention to try and both educate & entertain/amuse.

If I can help some to either find the right tool they need, avoid one that they don’t, or do seomthing their online business needs, and at the same time bring a smile to their face, then I figure I’ve done something worth while.

I can appreciate that for many people starting out building alist and an online business, they may not feel that they can afford to do that and need to concentrate on “promotions”, but I believe (and my ctr figures seem to support this) that this approach is simply not as effective in the long run.

It does work for a short while, when your subscribers are new to a list, but as they see the same thing from many other marketers day in and day out, it all becomes “gray”.

(hmm, it’s been a long day and I seem to have started rambling, I beter wind this up…)

I guess I’ll stick with adding my own “colors” to my emails and see where it leads..

I think that much of it depends on why someone is joined up to your list. If they are joined up for amusement or entertainment then they would want that catered for and would be happy to have a long email – as long as it is interesting.

Other reasons why they may receive your emails is:

1. Want your recommendations on what is hot in the market place
2. Want your tips on how to succeed online

In my opinion, at the end of the day you need to decide why you are writing the emails and what you are trying to achieve. If you are writing these emails for financial reasons then you should do testing (as you are) and decide what makes you the most money.

You may find that pitching in every email makes you more money or only pitching once a month makes you more money.

However, I believe that you are not in it for just the money and as evidenced by both your emails and your blogs you do continually give good content.

Anyways, at risk of hijacking this post, I will bid you farewell!