Plain text vs HTML Emails, which one do you use?

I guess I misinterpreted the subject line of this thread... I thought it was about text vs HTML email, but it's really about how to handle affiliate links...

Depending on which autoresponder you use, your links get automatically cloaked (in those ugly, endless links that are kind of scary to click on). At least in HTML emails (I think). I know Aweber seems to do that.

But if you use anchor texts in other autoresponder programs (i.e., 1shoppingcart), with your official affiliate link, many people can still see where it goes.

What I tend to do and recommend to do is one of two things:

1) Create a redirect link on something like Pretty Link or another domain shortener/redirect creator program, i.e., MyQuickLink.com/lotsatraffic [just a made-up example, not a real link!]

2) Or, if it's an affiliate program I promote a lot and longterm, I actually buy a domain name for it (often a .info) and redirect my link through that.

Either way, people HAVE to click on your link because there's no way they would otherwise know where to go.

And the beauty of this is that it will work no matter what you use, i.e., it'll work in HTML and also in text emails. And most autoresponders offer both of these anyway, and you should use them both too, because there are still some email programs that actually prefer text emails...

So if I get you right you send them both an HTML message and plain text while linking text in the HTML message and using a URL shortener on the plain text one?

Using Aweber

If you want to include images inside your emails

that can link to a product / service

and follow up messages that include pictures of

your product or services..

You use html.

If you are just writting plain text with

htmls links to products

or affiliate links.

You use plain text emails.