Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, you name it — e-mail is one of the next great American institutions, for sure. It puts all that Western Union, FedEx, and DHL stuff to shame. Why? Because it’s free.

But know this: e-mail is dangerous. While it’s a powerful tool, it can be easily misused. There’s no other demonstration of how power corrupts on the internet than e-mail. And if you’re starting an online home business, be careful: e-mail marketing is one of the most important devices you can use, but if you’re not using it right, it can kill your business.

Image via CrunchBase

Thankfully, there’s one big secret to successful e-mail marketing, and it’s simply this: permission.

The simplest request to ask for an individual’s permission to send e-mail is just about as simple as asking your neighbor if you can put a letter in his or her mailbox. It won’t hurt anything, you won’t lose anything of value for doing it, and the worst that could happen is the person could just say ‘no,’ which really isn’t that big a deal.

Getting someone’s permission to e-mail is important, because you don’t want CAN-SPAM penalties for constantly sending mass e-mails to people that don’t really care to receive anything that has to do with marketing.

CAN-SPAM penalties are serious. Imagine what it would be like to not be able to write your advertisements for your business, not be able to use your voice and talk about your services. Essentially, you’re mute.

That’s what would happen if you get blacklisted for e-mail spam. No one would receive your messages at all.

All you need to do — is ask for permission!