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But always remember that not everyone has software that can display HTML e-mails. Many people still read e-mails on older character (non-graphic) screens. To these people, an HTML e-mail just looks like a bunch of unintelligible computer code.

Now, if there's one sure-fire way of getting someone to click that Delete button, it's because you've sent them an e-mail that they just can't read. Click - they're gone forever!

So here's the question - do you send plain text messages that everyone can read but has no formatting, or beautifully formatted HTML messages that only some of your subscribers can read?

The answer is simple - offer both. The best autoresponder systems have a way of storing both plain text and HTML versions of each follow-up message. You then give your subscribers the choice when they are signing up. This is usually simply a case of clicking an option on your sign-up form or putting their choice in the subject of a blank e-mail to your autoresponder.

This might seem like double the work. Yes, there is extra work involved in setting this up. However, the message text is the same for both types so the vast majority of the work (actually writing the message) only needs to be done once.

My preferred method is to write the plain text version in a text editor. You can use Notepad. I make sure that the editor is set to automatically wrap at 65 characters. This I call my "source" message. Because it is managing the wrapping for me, it is easy to add and delete text without worrying too much about the formatting. This is the file I open and edit if I need to make any changes.

Then, the plain text version that gets incorporated into my autoresponder is the same text but I've got my text editor to convert all the soft line-breaks into hard breaks. I save this as a separate file because it's quite difficult to edit a file that's been saved in this way.

But why do you need to save it with hard line breaks?

Well, if you've ever received a plain text e-mail that seems to have line breaks in all the wrong places, it's because it was not saved with hard line breaks. It's a pitfall that's easy to avoid with as decent editor. I use EditPlus - check out:

http://www.editplus.com

When I am happy with the plain text, I fire up my HTML editing software (eg FrontPage, Dreamweaver) and turn my plain text message into an HTML masterpiece! I copy in the text from my source file (the file with the soft line breaks) and let the HTML editing software re-format it. Then I add all the graphics and other bells and whistles that I want.

When this process is complete, I have three files:

- the plain text source code (with soft line breaks)
- the plain text for pasting into the autoresponder software
- the HTML file

So finally, when I create my autoresponder, it's simply a case of copying and pasting the plain text (with hard line breaks) and HTML code into the autoresponder software. It really does just take seconds to do this.

The bottom line is, if you always produce both plain text and HTML versions of your autoresponder messages, you can be sure that everyone will be able to receive them in a format they can read by following the simple steps I've described.

See you tomorrow for Tip 6. It's about giving your subscriber a way out of your sequence. You're not trying to back him into a corner, are you?