1. Make an effort to learn about the etiquette (now known as “netiquette”) involved in writing emails. There are plenty of good reference websites and books on the Internet that will tell you the basics. I know it may seem a bit worth giving so much importance to social niceties when the Internet is basically very informal. However, like it or not, many people take online etiquette very seriously. So if you’re writing business emails, you have to assume that your recipient might be one of those…
2. Never send and preferably don’t even attempt to write an email if you are angry, upset, drunk, or not in complete control. If you’re having a heated conversation with someone on the phone, you can sometimes sidestep things. But with email, once you hit send, everything you’ve written is there, carved into tablets of stone, for as long as the recipient wants to look at it. The old adage about “counting to ten” before answering couldn’t be more true here. Only send angry emails if you can handle, or really don’t care about, the recipient’s resulting feelings!
3. One thing you may not think about is that it can be helpful to carefully consider when you send your emails. For starters, it’s always a good idea to avoid sending emails that coincide with the rush of Monday morning and the lethargy of Friday afternoon. Also, I have occasionally found that emails sent to businesses over the weekend get lost in cyberspace. And on a much more subtle level, if your recipients see that you’re emailing on a Sunday morning or late at night, they may feel like they can interrupt you for a business chat right then and there. While 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. Since almost everyone at one time or another has been infected with a computer virus, it is understandable that people are wary of attachments. I never send attachments to anyone I don’t know very well, and I also never open attachments unless they are from people I know well. And then some contemporary viruses and worms clone themselves into genuine names and email addresses, so even an email pretending to be from someone you know could be infected. If in doubt, add text to the body of your email or contact the recipient beforehand and make sure they’re happy to receive it as an attachment.
5. Email design is something few people pay attention to, especially if (like me) your system uses only text. However, even with simple text, a sensible layout can make everything more readable. Above all, you should avoid writing emails that stretch all over your screen. Those are very hard to read and in order to see everything correctly as text your reader may have to change the fonts. The safest format to use consists of lines of no more than 65 characters. That fits in, works everywhere, and makes email so much easier on the eyes.
6. Your subject line should focus on what it contains for the reader so that it captures their attention. You will find that the best way to do this is to include some type 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: Reduced costs by XX%”). If there’s no 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 should be 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 (Keep It Short & Simple) principle comes in handy. With emails, you need to get straight to the point and stick to it. Someone who receives dozens of emails a day doesn’t have time to read many preambles. By making your point concisely, you will have the best possible chance of avoiding the unworthy fate of being removed.
8. Regarding the style of writing, here more than with any other medium it is very, very useful to write as people speak. Also, it will make your email clearer and more concise if you omit all but the essential adjectives and adverbs. Keep your awards short and only include one main idea or thought per award. Paragraphs should not be longer than 6 sentences maximum, less if possible. And if you list more than a couple of items, use bullet points.
9. If you write business emails, make good use of the signature feature that follows your name. It’s surprising how many people don’t use that feature correctly; however, it is an excellent opportunity for you to pass on some words of promotion. Because the email signature appears last, your recipients probably won’t be irritated by it. In fact, as long as it contains useful contact information, it will be seen as a useful addition to your message. And even if your email is just text, you can still make it look reasonably smart.