Let us create a 3D eBook for you!
Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com

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.

7. Online writing has to be kept concise and clear, largely because the screen is a particularly unfriendly reading medium for most people's eyes. If only for that reason the KISS principle (Keep It Short & Simple) is useful. With emails you need to get straight to the point and keep to it. Someone who receives dozens of emails per day doesn't have time to wade through a lot of preamble. By making your point concisely you'll stand the greatest possible chance of avoiding the undignified fate of being deleted.

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:

eMail Marketing - Google News

If you don't like people you're screwed - Birmingham Weekly


If you don't like people you're screwed
Birmingham Weekly
If your email marketing is a bunch of pretty HTML formatting, have you looked at your site on a Blackberry? Go a little more old-school, more plain text, ...

Adults Texting More, but Teens Still Rule - MarketingProfs.com (subscription)


MarketingProfs.com (subscription)

Adults Texting More, but Teens Still Rule
MarketingProfs.com (subscription)
... covering email marketing, social media, search engine marketing, e-commerce, and mobile marketing. Also check out The State of Social Media Marketing, ...

and more »

Learn Innovative Approaches to Evaluating Marketing Efforts; Harte-Hanks to ... - Business Wire (press release)


Learn Innovative Approaches to Evaluating Marketing Efforts; Harte-Hanks to ...
Business Wire (press release)
Harte-Hanks has spent the last 30 years evolving and perfecting its methods for effective, multichannel direct marketing including digital and email ...

and more »

New Experian CheetahMail report highlights missed opportunities in ... - Econsultancy (press release)


Marketing Week

New Experian CheetahMail report highlights missed opportunities in ...
Econsultancy (press release)
Experian CheetahMail, Europe's leading email marketing provider, today released a report highlighting best practice advice for brands engaging in ...
Multi-channel marketing fails to reach right audienceMarketing Week
Marketers not reaching right audience with multi-channel effortsEquimedia Marketing News

all 5 news articles »

IntelliClick For Goldmine Email Marketing Adds On-line WYSIWYG Editor - Online PR News (press release)


IntelliClick For Goldmine Email Marketing Adds On-line WYSIWYG Editor
Online PR News (press release)
Goldmine email marketing users can further use IntelliClick to track and analyze website visits to give site owners a comprehensive picture of their ...

and more »

Integrate Email Marketing with Facebook - Practical Ecommerce (blog)


Integrate Email Marketing with Facebook
Practical Ecommerce (blog)
Notes are Facebook's version of a blog and are a useful container for any type of content, including email marketing messages. Email broadcast - Use the ...

and more »

Email Marketing: 3 'Best Practices' to Ignore - Practical Ecommerce


Practical Ecommerce

Email Marketing: 3 'Best Practices' to Ignore
Practical Ecommerce
I am the email marketing manager for S&S Worldwide, a large retailer of crafts and school supplies. Over the years, I have encountered many "email best ...

Constant Contact adds social sharing to email platform - BtoB Magazine


ABC15.com (KNXV-TV)

Constant Contact adds social sharing to email platform
BtoB Magazine
Email marketing company Constant Contact has added features to its platform that integrate with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The new features include ...
100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech EventsMashable (blog)
Over half of all companies using social mediaGlobal Gold Internet Services
Third of small businesses use social media daily to promote their companiesTurk Internet
Tips from the T-List -Business Review USA (blog) -TAXI Design Network
all 111 news articles »

Study Finds Customers Value Email, Facebook and Twitter as Collaborators, not ... - EON: Enhanced Online News (press release)


Study Finds Customers Value Email, Facebook and Twitter as Collaborators, not ...
EON: Enhanced Online News (press release)
93 percent of online consumers subscribe to email marketing messages, 38 percent are fans of brands on Facebook and 5 percent follow brands on Twitter. ...

and more »

Contactology Releases New Email Marketing Tool for Publishers and News Media - PR Web (press release)


Contactology Releases New Email Marketing Tool for Publishers and News Media
PR Web (press release)
Contactology, a provider of email marketing software and online survey technologies, announced today the successful implementation of its Recurring Sender ...

and more »

NewsScape Domain Is For Sale - $3,500 For Enquiries eMail Us

© www.NewsScape.biz 2010

home | site map | links

 

eXTReMe Tracker