"As clothes make a man (or woman)", the way you dress up your emails can either make or break your career or relationship, too.
Not every email you send gets to its recipient; this is more of a fact than mere guess. Spam filters work double time, and what constitutes spam today has never been more defined. However the real email tragedy is ending up in the trash bin, as soon as the email is clicked open.
Writing is talent and not everyone shares it. Others are just born with the talent to organize thoughts on word.doc (or notepad) effortlessly, while most of us struggle to even come up with an idea of what to write about.
Unlike writing a story or an article, writing emails is a lot simpler. It is also a skill that anyone can learn. Talent can make learning easy for some, but sooner or later for everyone, writing emails effectively is a skill that we can all learn and master.
Emails for business purposes and those written for personal communication do not have the same format, but for effective results, they share the same rules:
1. Short and Simple. Emails, regardless of theme or topic should not extend beyond 65 characters, including spaces, across the page. Anyone who reads a wider span of text across the page can easily lose interest.
2. Use color sparingly. It's amazing how others can turn their emails into mini-Picasso portraits by using colored fonts and highlights to attract attention to their thought or ideas. Unlike the popular belief that colored fonts and highlights attract, they actually repel when applied on a page too much.
3. Use simple language and shorter paragraphs. Attention span is shorter when reading online. Definitely, emails delivered in simple language and in short paragraphs have more impact.
TIP: Smileys, interchangeably referred to as emoticons, work best in terms of expressing emotions with less words. You may consider downloading this software to aid you in writing emails, but choose one that is compatible with most email clients, such asYahoo! Mail, Gmail, Earthlink, Comcast and AOL, for wider options. Also, smileys that come in different sizes - small, medium or large – allow you to express your feelings accurately.
4. Don't "shout". The use of capital letters throughout the body of your email means yelling on the internet.
5. Take one last look before you press "send". Grammar and spelling rules are basic, but oftentimes these are taken for granted in both business correspondences and personal emails. Before you press "send", it pays to take one brief review and perform minor edits when necessary.
It always pays to do things right the first time as not every email merits the chance to be read the second time. It’s either the Reply button or the trash bin, and just a few rules in between can make the difference.
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