4) Article Ideas and Research Material.

Looking for material for a new article? A quick scan through some of your old email messages should turn up several topic ideas and research material.

5) Info-Product Material.

The same idea also can be applied toward product creation. Some of your previous original writings may be incorporated - along with other original material you create - in a new information product.

6) Testimonials.

What about those emails you've received from customers who've raved about your product or service? If you haven't already, drop them a line thanking them for their kind words and ask them for permission to quote their testimonials in future marketing efforts. Likely, more will grant permission than not.

7) Potential Joint Venture or Networking Partners.

Networking with and arranging joint venture partnerships with other Internet entrepreneurs who market products or services complementary to your own can be an effective marketing strategy. Your email folders likely contain many good candidates that you might approach on an individual basis.

Note: There are so many joint venture possibilities that you likely won't have time to pursue them all. You'll have to be selective when choosing JV partners.

8) Site Improvements.

One commonly overlooked fact is that same web site can look very different from one computer system to another. Sometimes visitors may send an email to let you know of these or other usability problems they've experienced on your site, which you may be totally unaware of. Such feedback can reveal ways to improve sales effectiveness of your site by making it more user-friendly.

In Closing...

Before you delete all those old messages archived in your email program, it can be well worth time it takes to scan through them to see how you might apply some of above suggestions. You may uncover some very valuable "nuggets" whose value you have previously overlooked!

I'm unwilling to leave it there. Now let us address those who have web sites and ignore them by allowing old outdated stuff to remain online when it takes only seconds to change it. How about those, such as my favorite newspaper, who post email addresses at end of every story written by staff reporters to enable readers to contact them and then routinely ignore, and let go unanswered, reader email comments. Not so much as an autoresponder suggesting they can't respond to all emails!

Shall we consider things such as corporations soliciting email applications from job seekers - Then not responding to let those potential employees know resume, application and cover letter were received? Shall they expect to hear back from that HR department by email or snail mail? Fagetaboutit. Not gonna happen.

There seems to be a universal disdain and/or fear of emailed communication. I wrote last week of a lack of response from my senator and congressman to email queries to their offices about bills being considered related to privacy and cc'd president on note. I'll allow small credit for those autoresponder generated messages sent within seconds back to my emailbox. But this week I saw a story in San Francisco Chronicle that suggested "Lawmakers Lament Lack of Letters From Constituents".

The reporter, Washington correspondent Carl Nolte, even wrote, "Feinstein, for one, has encouraged constituents to send email, since her regular mail has been cut off." Sheesh! This after I got back my note from her last week stating, "Currently I've received approximately 30,000 letters and emails which, because of closure of Senate office buildings, my staff and I have been unable to open and process." Today autoresponder failed to return that same (or any) response.

What does that mean? I emailed a response to reporter and don't expect an answer. They just don't respond (or autorespond).

Probably that they have gone back to normal position of ignoring email. It is time to take a serious look at whether we will accept email as legitimate and deserving of responses, or if it will remain entirely realm of spammers, scammers and hoax-spreading-urban-myth-generating-pass-this-on-silly blathering goofiness. We should just disable "Forward" function of email and rid ourselves of those annoyances.

I suggest that either email deserves legitimacy, respect and ANSWERS, or that we abandon it entirely.