 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
9 Tips To Help You Write More Powerful Emails
1. Make the effort to learn about the etiquette (these days known as "netiquette") involved in writing emails. There are loads of good reference websites and books about the internet which will tell you the basics. I know it might seem a bit precious to attach so much importance to social niceties when the internet is basically very informal. However, whether we like it or not many people do take online etiquette very seriously. So if you're writing emails for business, you should assume that your recipient may well be one of those... 2. Never send and preferably don't even try to write an email if you're angry, upset, drunk, or otherwise not in total control. If you have a heated conversation with someone on the telephone you can sometimes fudge things over. But with emails, once you hit "send" whatever you've written is there, carved in tablets of stone, for as long as the recipient wants to glare at it. The old adage about "counting to ten" before responding couldn't be more true here. Only send angry emails if you can handle, or really don't care about, the recipient's resultant feelings! 3. One thing that you may not think of is that it can be useful to consider carefully the time you send your emails. To begin with it's always a good idea to avoid sending emails that coincide with the Monday morning rush and Friday afternoon lethargy. In addition, I've occasionally found that emails sent to companies over the weekend end up getting lost in cyberspace. And on a rather more subtle level, if your recipients see that you're sending emails on a Sunday morning or late at night, they may feel they can interrupt you for a business talk at the same times. Although you may think it's cool to impress a client that you work all hours, your partner won't when the same client calls you on the phone at midnight. 4. Because almost everyone at some time or another has been infected with a computer virus, people are understandably wary of attachments. I never send attachments to anyone I don't know very well, and equally never open attachments unless they're from people I know well. And then, some contemporary viruses and worms clone themselves on to genuine email names and addresses, so even an email purporting to be from someone you know might just be infected. When in doubt append text to the body of your email message, or contact the recipient beforehand and make sure they're happy to receive it as an attachment. 5. Layout of emails is something few people pay attention to, especially if (like me) their system uses text only. However even with simple text a sensible layout can make the whole thing more readable. Above all, you should avoid writing emails that sprawl all the way across the screen. Those are very hard to read and to be able to see everything properly as text, your reader may have to fiddle about changing fonts. The safest format to use consists of lines no more than 65 characters long. That fits, works everywhere and makes the email much easier on the eye. 6. Your subject line should focus on what's in it for the reader so it grabs their attention. You'll find that the best way to do that is to include some sort of benefit. For example, if you're writing an email about a downwardly-revised project budget, instead of saying "Project X -- revised costs" say "Project X -- costs reduced by XX%"). If there isn't a genuine benefit to use, try to make it interesting and intriguing anyway. Also, avoid the words most hated by spam filters like "free," "subscribe," etc. 8. As far as writing style is concerned, here more than with any other medium it's very, very helpful to write as people speak. In addition, it will make your email clearer and more concise if you leave out all but essential adjectives and adverbs. Keep your sentences short, and only ever include one main idea or thought per sentence. Paragraphs shouldn't consist of more than 6 sentences max -- fewer if possible. And if you list more than a couple of items, use bullet points. 9. If you write emails for business, make good use of the signature facility that goes after your name. It's surprising just how many people fail to use that facility properly - yet it's an excellent opportunity for you to put across a few words of promotion. Because the email signature appears at the end, your recipients are not likely to be irritated by it. In fact provided that it contains useful contact information it will be seen as a helpful addition to your message. And even if your email is text only you can still make it look reasonably smart. Canadian-born Suzan St Maur is an international business writer and author based in the United Kingdom. In addition to her consultancy work for clients in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia, she contributes articles to more than 150 business websites and publications worldwide, and has written eleven published books. Her latest eBooks, "The MAMBA Way To Make Your Words Sell" and "Get Yourself Published" and available as PDF downloads from BookShaker.com. To subscribe to her free biweekly business writing tips eZine, TIPZ from SUZE, click here. (c) Suzan St Maur 2003 - 2005
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Say More Than Thank You Most Websites are gathering e-mail addresses. When you submit your e-mail address, you will be redirected to a thank you page. 5 Quick Tips to Get Your Ezine Rolling in the Right Direction Publishing your own ezine is critical to establishing a long term and successful Internet presence for you and your business.Your own ezine will allow you to build customer loyalty and your public image to your target audience. Just Write an Email How did you sell your last product? Imagine that I am a newbie writing you an e-mail after reading your ebook. How would you answer the question? I bet you could send me a 300 word reply in no time. Paradigm Shift for the New World In the business world, the primary focus is on selling products and generating sustainable and profitable income. In any organization, the results are dependent on the activity of the organization sales, the quality of the product and service as well as the approach to advertising and marketing. Successful Email Marketing No doubt email is still the best way to get a quick response from your prospect. Big companies on the web have realized this that they have implemented free email address service on their web site. Build Your Opt-In List Today There are many services available to help your with building a opt-in list. I am going to show your how to start building your opt-in list starting today right now this very minute. Interview With Michael Murray: Autoresponder Basics This interview is with Michael Murray, the author of a top selling ebook titled "Autoresponder Basics." Michael is also involved with many excellent affiliate programs. New Realities for E-Mail Marketing Spam e-mail is no longer the mild irritant it once was - it's clogging corporate networks and ISP mail servers and has become a real productivity drain, forcing corporate and consumer e-mail users to spend 20-30 minutes a day dealing with this deluge of junk! According to recent figures, unsolicited bulk e-mail now makes up to 36% of all e-mail, up from under 8% just over a year ago. And, what's worse, more and more legitimate e-mail is not getting through to recipients due to Spam filtering taking place via ISPs and/or corporate networks. Why Does Nobody Visit My Web Site? After endless hours of writing, designing and programming your brand new web site is ready for prime time. You tested your shopping cart software and you made sure that all your external affiliate links have your affiliate id. Email Etiquette III Further to my previous issues this subject continues - part III.This month I'll share on Topic Changes and Read Receipts. The Ultimate Self-Promotion Tool Is Right at Your Fingertips: An E-mail Newsletter If you're looking for low-cost ways to promote your business (and aren't we all?), I hope you've considered publishing an e-mail newsletter, or "e-zine." Here are six darn good reasons why you shouldn't wait any longer: An e-zine is the perfect way to STAY IN TOUCH with your clients and prospects on a regular basis. How To Set Up an Ezine Encyclopedia Do you read all your Ezines? Or do you file them away in special folders and then forget about them?I used to be like that.When I first started subscribing to ezines I was amazed at the quantity of valuable information that was available for free. Using Internet Direct Mail To Increase Your Company's Profits "I want to sell my company's products on the Web, but how do I get potential clients to visit my site," a client asked recently. The answer is a strategy that has proven extremely effective for many different businesses?Internet Direct Mail. The Power of a Referral Script The key to the success of e-commerce is in the combination of the power of viral marketing, permission marketing and one to one marketing.Have you ever heard of Amazon. Save Time By Creating Email Signature Templates If you're like me, there are certain types of email that you send out regularly that follow a set form (client follow up notes, meeting notes, email article submission, etc). These can be irritating to have to recreate from scratch every time, but the tried and true method of creating a seperate document-file template, then sending that out as an attachment, may not always be appropriate. Twelve Tips for Successful Opt-in E-mail Newsletters An opt-in e-newsletter is one of the most effective marketing tools you can use because it is fast, personal, and inexpensive. Many small businesses are using e-mail newsletters to introduce themselves to new customers and to communicate with existing ones. BlackList Monitor Gives Businesses Options to Ensure Opt-in Email Gets Through Email may be fast becoming the preferred means of business communications and marketing, but, according to Karen Fegarty, it is only an effective tool if your messages are getting through to your opt-in clients. This is not always the case. Analysing Autoresponders An autoresponder is an automatic or software-mailing program. Why would you want that? Because whoever you are, you don't have enough time, and an autoresponder will maximise your time potential. Email Marketing Losing Its Effectiveness? The Alternative Is Desktop Marketing! You've heard of email marketing, but it isn't what it used to be. With today's abundance of spam and even opt-in email solicitations, your messages are competing against hundreds of incoming messages daily. Should You Publish a PAID E-zine? Many of my clients ask me whether they should publish a paid e-zine instead of a free one. My answer is the classic consultant's answer: "It depends.
|
|
|
 |
 |
