Use your tools…Email Tips

by Kera McHugh

Today: a quick lesson in email etiquette. Yes, there is a bit of protocol involved in effective emailing.

1 – DO NOT send email to a stranger without identifying yourself and how you got their email address in the first few lines. No one wants unsolicited email any more than YOU do, so make sure the recipient knows it’s not spam by giving them as much real information about yourself and your connection to them as you can.

2 – AVOID typing your email in ALL CAPS. It’s hard to read, and for the old users they’ll think you’re mad at them… CAPS=ANGER or excitement. Occasional use for impact and emphasis are ok, especially if you’re using a plain text email client.

3 – SIGN your emails. You may not need to use your full signature file everytime, especially if it’s personal mail to your best friend, but at least put your name, so that they can be certain who it came from. In particular, if you’re using a web-based email address (hotmail, yahoo, etc) and your name/domain isn’t in the address.

4 – DELETE excess copy in your replies. There’s nothing that will fill up your email box faster than a message that’s gone back and forth and has 20 messages piled up in it. Take out the stuff that is extra, or if it’s long, just keep the top 2 messages in the reply. If you need more for reference, use snippets of the message where required and delete the rest. Your ISP and correspondent will thank you. (note, if your ISP account has a transfer limit, huge email will affect it.)

5 – USE plain text! Yes, MSWord, richtext and html email is pretty and fancy and those nifty stationeries are cool, but they take time and memory to look at. Be kind to your fellow emailers, and use plain text.

6 – ANNOUNCE that you have included an attachment if you HAVE done so. That will assure your recipient that they haven’t received something unexpected, ie. VIRUS.

7 – USE your subject line effectively. Make it relevant to the main subject of the email, so that when you and your recipient are looking for specific information, you can sort in your inbox, rather than have to look through individual messages.

That should be enough. Basically, the golden rule applies to email as equally as it does to every day life… don’t send email you wouldn’t want to receive, and make it as easy to manage/read as you would prefer to get.

Happy emailing!