I may be completely off-base but has anyone tried emails with NO images vs emails with images, and see what the difference is? Whenever I get an email from a company initially, I see blank images, especially on top of the fold, and in the body. That turns me off, so I just delete the email, or glance over it and delete it... It's just plain ugly.

However, if I am able to start reading the content right away, that gives me a chance to click through. Now, of course some emails need images, like Groupon. But I'm talking about unnecessary stuff like your huge logo.. I don't need to see that in every single email you send.