My friend Eden Sunshine, the business process guru, calls many of the “solutions” to which entrepreneurs are attracted, “bright and shiny things.”

Certainly the marketing moves that bid for our attention almost daily can fairly be said to fall in the same category. They look good – and attributes the media salesperson or online “wizard” ascribes to them are, indeed, enticing. But before plowing precious dollars into a tactic that seems to be a quick fix, cool off long enough to consider how it does – or doesn’t – complement your overall marketing strategy.

Sometimes that pig in a poke disguised as a “sure cure” is better left alone to burrow its way into somebody else’s well-conceived marketing plan.

To survive, let alone be a category leader, adequate numbers of prospects must be developed. This cannot be accomplished through time-and-energy-draining two-way communication, either face to face or on the phone. Publisher McGraw Hill has estimated that the average sales call requires approximately 45 minutes, and that an average of three calls is required to close a sale. That’s simply inefficient. Prospecting is what marketing – the one-way communication element of sales – is ideally suited for. Whether by e-mail, surface mail or online, your sales success likely be in direct proportion to your one-way outreach.

Huh, you say?

Well, it’s true. We all have a savings account of energy. Some days we may spend little beyond brushing our teeth and flipping on the TV, yet on other days we seem to have an energy surge.

Come nightfall, those low-energy days may leave us dissatisfied, while at the end of a high-energy day we look back with satisfaction. I can’t account variances in “brain wattage,” but I do believe the following:

The greatest energy producer is motivation, whether it’s a desire to produce, excel or merely survive. Determine that you are going to make this one of those more productive days. How about doing something especially for a friend, client or customer, and surprise them by sending it to them . . . TODAY.

Then, surprise me by telling me how that worked.

Really good e-mail marketing should inform, instruct or provide other types of relevant, useful information for recipients. Those that merely scream, “Buy this!” give e-mail marketing a bad name; you know, that nasty “s-word.” More people prefer to get their information by e-mail than any other way. But remember, what people really want is to be helped – not hustled!