Let's face it, e-mail marketing is just as important as any other type of marketing. As a matter of fact, it may be one of the most important forms of marketing there is at the moment and for many years to come. However, there are still many people today who believe that e-mail marketing has taken the final plunge and is completely dead. To all of those people, let me tell you why you are wrong.

With the massive increase of internet activity each and every year, think about this: One of the first things new comers of the internet do is create an e-mail address. They begin to learn quickly that the internet really is a place that makes life much easier. Paying bills online, using membership on websites to buy and advertise products that get shipped directly to your doorstep, and only the good Man upstairs knows what else...

They have no other choice but to view their e-mail inbox as something that is just as important (sometimes even MORE important) as a real mailbox. In time, all of this develops a second nature to check their inbox once or twice a day - Sometimes even more. With the kind of exposure a person gets via e-mail, it is hard (if not impossible) for me to believe that e-mail marketing is dead... In fact, it is hard for me NOT to believe that a new stage of popularity in e-mail marketing seems to be taking place.

When most people think "e-mail marketing" they think of cheesy, LOUD e-mails that you can spot a mile away - But aren't we forgetting something? That is called "spam". Spam is not e-mail marketing. It is an insult -a pure mockery- of e-mail marketing. If you want to get down to the nitty gritty, spam is nothing more than a bologne-like substance that hardly anyone seems to want - in food form and in e-mail form. True e-mail marketing requires a legitimate opt-in list that gives the marketer permission to send news, advertisements, and promotional material.

What most people don't realize is that nearly all e-mail marketing is done through newsletters. Don't believe me? When you sign up for a newsletter for something like... Say... Your favorite band, beside non-profitable news, what do they usually send to your inbox? "Check out the new apparel now available in our online shop!" - Sound familiar? No? How about "New album coming out next week! Pre-order now!" - Ring a bell? No?! Are you even on any newsletter lists?!

All jokes aside, if e-mail marketing was truly dead, why is it that I can go to thousands of websites that offer a newsletter opt-in? Are they not aware that their customers and loyal fans and followers do not want to hear from them?

When you've got millions of people (and counting!) all across the world logging on and checking a virtual mailbox, usually on a daily basis... That is what we entrepreneurs call a HUGE market, not a DEAD one!