This overly casual attitude to e-mail seems to be quite widespread -- and not just among 18-24 year olds. Much of e-mail I receive (from both friends and business colleagues) is poorly written. Now this may be defensible in personal correspondence, but sloppy writing has no place in business.

Remember, you are JUDGED on way you write.

Well, yes ... and no.

Sadly, Internet has seen an increase in number (and intensity) of hype-mail. You know sort of thing: "Secrets Revealed - Earn $10,000 a Week, Starting Now!!!"

Such over-the-top methods may have worked for a short time, but people have developed a healthy cynicism about these "offers" and now any business that sends out letters with unrealistic promises is going to lose credibility fast.

So, how do you get your message across to your potential customers and maintain your credibility?

There are five key points to remember when preparing your sales material - all equally important:

People Like Dealing with Other People In early days of Internet, all small businesses were enthralled by notion that they could portray themselves as huge enterprises. So you'd find sites that never used a singular personal pronoun, ever. It was always, "contact us"... "send us your suggestions" ... "our staff are waiting to ..." and so on. I know, because I did just this when I started my own site. Like so many others, I felt customers would only want to deal with a Big Operation.

But, people like doing business with other people, not with huge conglomerates. We're a gregarious lot, we humans, we enjoy company of our fellows, so make it clear in your message that you are a real person. Don't be embarrassed to admit that you're sole operator, in fact, this is a very positive benefit for many customers because it ensures that they'll receive personal attention.

People Are Busy Despite all we were promised back in 70s and 80s, technological advances have not led to increased leisure time, but just opposite. Studies have shown that majority of people are working longer hours now than they were two or three decades ago.

This means that time is precious, so don't waffle. Get straight to point in your message. Tell your prospects in first sentence what it is you're offering and why it will benefit them.

People Like Directions This is directly related to previous point - people don't have time to play guessing games with you. Tell them, exactly, what you'd like them to do and they're much more likely to do it. Don't leave them looking for a missing page which explains reason for message, state it up front. Don't make them search for phone or fax numbers to call, list them clearly. Don't make it necessary to type in an e-mail address or URL, put in a hyperlink if you're sending out e-mail messages.