When you blast out a pretty email to your customer list, does it come out pretty? 

Maybe not.

A clear majority of people now use email programs that block images from displaying, by default. This can affect your layout.

This is how it looks when you don't take the proper steps. It looks sloppy and interferes with your message.

And here is a better-formatted email. The images are still hidden, but the layout works and the selling copy is presented in the desired hierarchy.

For comparison, here is the email once images are "allowed" by the recipient -- either by a one-time clicks of "allow images" or "always display from this sender" i.e. whitelisting.

What You Can Do

• Create special accounts at Gmail and Yahoo just for testing emails.
• Ask your marketing people to design emails that lay out properly when you (the sender) is "untrusted" .
• Use a better email broadcast service, like Campaign Monitor or MailChimp. They have lots of testing tools, advice, and templates for designing good emails.