With all types of advertising, you've got to structure it for what it is.

What does that practically mean? Think about when you get a normal email from a customer or a supplier in the course of your working day. Most people will scan it for the jist of the contents and then, either straight away or sometime later, come back to it and read it carefully if it's important or significant enough.

Email has an immediacy to it that demands attention. At the same time, because just about everyone can send email and so much email out there is rubbish and wastes recipients' time, people won't look at it for that long. You've got a short window of time (perhaps a few seconds) to grab their attention and then persuade them to do something.

In the same way you'd never see Argos trying to put hundreds of its products on a double-sided A4 leaflet instead of a catalogue because it wouldn't be right for what they're trying to do and it would be too difficult for the people who get it to use it, try not to cram your email with dozens of products or services.

The fewer products you have and the simpler it is for the recipient to pick up straight away what you want them to focus their attention on, the better chance you have. This is because it works within the normal amount of time people are prepared to give to an email and because it's a size that won't scare email filters.

Try to offer as many different methods of payment as possible in your email. It's exactly the same principle you have when you run your business.

If you can offer accounts, brilliant. In these times of economic downturn, your offering accounts could be the thing that swings a customer in your favour if they can't get it from their existing supplier.

If you can accept debit or credit cards, fantastic. Remember, you're trying to get someone's business by taking it away directly from their competitors..