Guest Author - Jill Browne

It's easy to sign up for travel newsletters and find your email in-box full of things every day.

Worth it? Maybe.

On the plus side, you get deals delivered right to you instead of having to go out and search the worldwide web anew.

But, there are many newsletters and most of the content will be completely irrelevant to you. It takes time and effort to look at them, even if it's just to delete them.

The trick is to try to find the ones that are actually talking about deals you might really want. Sounds easy, doesn't it?

With modern marketing being what it is, it's likely that the people you want to buy from are already trying to sell you something. You fit the profile of their target customer. So, in a way, you can be a little bit comfortable that if you are getting offers from businesses, they probably do have something worth looking at. The exceptions are the ones who spam the world - and nobody wants to be on their mailing lists.

Here are some strategies to make email newsletters work for you.

1. Set up a free email account that you use for times when you're giving your email address out publicly. Use this whenever you sign up for something.

2. As with any spam, use your email filters to block senders you don't like.

3. Don't be afraid to unsubscribe from lists that you don't like. If you've made your one visit of a lifetime to Nepal, there's no point in reading about deals on flights to Nepal. Sure, enjoy reading books about Nepal by all means. But don't waste your time reading about places you don't want to go.

4. Think about the services you will be interested in using in the next one to two years. Sign up for their newsletters and special offers now, for two reasons. First, you will get the feel of the offers that come out - the price, the place, the timing. Second, you will be one of the people who actually hears about the deals you want. Wouldn't that be nice?

There is no one-size-fits-all travel newsletter that will work for everyone. The trick is to get on the mailing lists that will suit you.