I spend just a few seconds deleting or filing most of the others. A starting point for determining whether we even want to open a message is to look at who sent it. The next big indicator is the all-important subject line. It can range from a single word to a sentence, but shorter is better. I read that message.
Subject lines are also where E-mail psychology comes into play.
Businesses are increasingly using E-mail to improve customer support, a subject covered in this week's lead news story by senior editor Jeff Sweat. But E-mail is only effective when used appropriately. Actually, I don't mind all broadcast mail. But I don't like to get hit with the same messages from the same sources every day. Spam disguised as personal mail.