As the recipient of these emails, you know it's easy to hit the delete key to empty your inbox. So, how do you grab your potential customer's attention before he erases your email from his screen?

You need to engage him quickly and give an incentive to act before he has a chance to hit "delete." Here are 7 effective ways to do so:

1. Make it fun. Just as you are attracted to people with an engaging, fun, light-hearted personality, you'll be instantly attracted to email copy that has the same tone. Serious, bland, monotone copy is an instant turn-off, but playful, funny, creative copy will pull them in every time.
2. Make it compelling. Right up front, give them something they have to act on quickly. Offer a coupon they have to redeem within a few days, or a free item with purchase or a free consultation. This will give them incentive to read further.
3. Make it informational. Be sure your emails are right to the point, informational and value-added. If you have a restaurant, you might want to include a recipe or if you sell to other businesses, a white paper might be of value. This will help your readers look forward to your emails.
4. Keep it short. Get to the punch line quickly, or you'll lose your audience, regardless of how cleverly you've written your copy. Engage, compel and sell your customers quickly before another bright, shiny object catches their eye.
5. Include links. If you're keeping it short, you're probably not giving them all the information they may need to make a purchase. Give them the opportunity to learn more about you by including links to your website, social media accounts or blog posts.
6. Include a call to action. If your copy is fun and engaging, they may forget they're being sold on your product or service. Remind them why they need your product or service, and how quickly they need to act to get the deal you're offering.
7. Give your newsletter a consistent format. Once you've hooked your readers, you want them to read your newsletters time and again. So be sure they can recognize your newsletter's style immediately so they don't hit "delete" or even worse, "unsubscribe."