| |
| |
|
Email Marketing Information |
|
|
|
E-mail 101: The Dos and Donts
Even though many people have been writing e-mails for a few years now, you would be amazed at some of the pure gibberish that arrives in my e-mailbox on a regular basis. Many people seem to think that because they aren't dealing directly with another person (or as directly as they would be face-to-face or by telephone), all forms of civility and basic respect for the other person (i.e. the recipient), and the English language, can go out the proverbial window. Not true! Writing e-mails is still communicating. Both the recipient and the language still deserve your respect. The following Dos and Don'ts of writing e-mails have been adapted from my eBook entitled "Instant Home Writing Kit". The first version of these appeared in another one of my books "Internet Basics without fear!" (2000). E-MAIL DOS AND DON'TS DO... Use A Descriptive Subject Line There is nothing more annoying than receiving e-mails in your e-Inbox with no heading, or a heading that does not explain what the contents of the message is all about. When one receives multiple messages every day, the subject-line is important when reviewing and prioritizing e-mail that is in one's mailbox. Also, if you include a descriptive title, your message is almost guaranteed to be read before the ones with blank or meaningless titles. Tip: I even revise the Subject Line when I am sending a Reply, to reflect the essence of my response. This is especially useful if it's one of those e-mails that travels back and forth 3 or 4 times. Often, there is little relationship between the point of the first message and the later ones. So, try revising the Subject Line slightly each time to reflect the content of the current reply. DO... Use Opening And Closing Salutations Some people have forgotten that e-mail is interpersonal communication between human beings. Basic civility still applies. There is nothing much more impersonal than receiving an e-mail that doesn't at least say "Hello..." or "Hi..." for the opening; and "Regards..." or "Thanks..." or "Take care..." or "All the best...", or something similar as the closing. We can't personally sign the note by hand anymore, but we can surely personalize it a little bit by at least typing in the recipient's name and then wishing them the best. DO... Use Capital Letters Sparingly The use of all-caps is shunned on the Internet. It's called SHOUTING. Every once in a while a word or two in capitals for particular emphasis is ok, but avoid overdoing it. Tip: Cutesy little smiles and similar symbols, known as emoticons, should also be used sparingly. :-) I advise you not to use these symbols at all in business e-mails, unless the recipient is a friend or well-known to you. Just as with business letters, the principle underlying business e-mails is: clear and concise businesslike communication with a minimum of clutter. '-) DO... Check Spelling, Grammar, and Format Make a point to ensure that your e-mail is relatively readable. It doesn't have to be a work of art, but at least respect the basic rules of spelling and grammar. Most e-mail programs have a spell-checker option. Use it. Tip: For better readability, break your e-mail into short 1,2, or 3 sentence paragraphs with a blank line between paragraphs. (i.e. double hard-return). DO... Watch Out For "E-mail Rage" Many an e-mail has been composed and sent when a person was in an angry or upset state (referred to as "flaming"). Many people have lived to regret these indiscretions in the cold sober light of the next hour, or the next day. Remember, whenever the Send button has been clicked, your e-mail is gone. Tip: When you compose an e-mail while in an "upset state", it is always a good idea to save it as a draft for an hour or two and then read it over carefully at least once before sending it, just to make sure you are communicating what you really want to, in a clear and respectful way. DON'T... Forward Junk Mail To Others From time to time, people to whom we have given our e-mail address will have momentary lapses in judgment (yes, even friends and family) and will forward "junk mail" to you. These are often long rambling stories, urban myths, scraps of wisdom, chain letters, collections of jokes, or such, that are prevalent around the Net. This is the equivalent of opening your regular mail box at home and finding it loaded with unsolicited and unwanted promotional letters and advertising flyers. Would you forward those to your friends or family? Do you? I didn't think so. When you receive one of these in your e-Inbox, DO NOT forward it on to someone else. Kill it then and there. This kind of unsolicited junk mail is known as "spam", and is definitely not acceptable on the Net. If a friend or acquaintance sends one to you, politely e-mail them back asking if they would please be kind enough to remove your name from their distribution list for that type of item. Explain that you are already inundated with this "type" of unsolicited e-mail. Usually, they will take the hint and accommodate you. DON'T... Think That E-Mail Is Instantaneous Believe it or not, e-mail is not as reliable as a telephone call when it comes to timely communication! The Internet is a loosely connected network of computers and telecommunications equipment owned, operated, and managed by many independent companies, institutions, and government organizations. Your e-mail must often travel a complex and circuitous route to get to its destination. For example, if someone schedules maintenance on a computer or a piece of equipment on the network that your e-mail must pass through, your message may be delayed and you won't even know it. Also, who is to guarantee that the intended recipient even checks their e-mail regularly? Many people only check their e-mail every few days. So, if your communication is urgent, use the standard telephone. It is still the only way to be absolutely sure that a message has been received at a particular point in time. DON'T... Forget To Check Your E-mail Regularly There is nothing more frustrating than sending an e-mail to someone and then having them tell you on the telephone a week later that they haven't seen your message because the last time they checked their e-mail was a week ago! If you want people to take your e-mails seriously, make sure that you take theirs seriously too. So, check your e-mail regularly; at least every two or three days. The bottom line to all of this is simple. Remember that e-mail is just another form of interpersonal communication. People deserve the same amount of respect and civility as you would give them in a telephone call or a regular letter. © 2005 by Shaun Fawcett Shaun Fawcett, is webmaster of the popular writing help site WritingHelp-Central.com. He is also the author of several best selling "writing toolkit" eBooks. All of his eBooks and his internationally acclaimed f-r-e-e course, "Tips and Tricks For Writing Success" are available at his writing tools site: http://www.writinghelptools.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Create Gold With Email Promotions - Part 1 First make sure that the people you are sending your offer to are actually interested in what you are offering.Often people contact me and ask me to promote their product to my list. Youve Got Mail It seems that Google is revolutionizing the Net in more than one way. Recently they announced that they will be offering a free email service called Gmail. Reach Out and Slap Someone I got my first email account way too many years ago. I was working for a large Chicago bank in the 1980s, when they introduced an electronic message service for internal communications. Why Email Marketing Matters According to a study by the Winterberry Group, email marketing brings in $15.50 per dollar spent. 7 Autoresponder Marketing Strategies To Automate, Build and Grow Your Business Did you know one of the most important tools in your Internet marketing arsenal? Sometimes it does sound trivial but it is one of the most powerful marketing strategies available on the Internet. Why is that? It's simply because it does everything in the background but this is how it becomes extremely profitable. Free Email Accounts - Pros and Cons Free email accounts are great if you want to hide your identity. They are great to sign up for free stuff. How to Structure an Email Follow Up Series Marketers the world over use follow up autoresponders toincrease sales. But, many struggle to write a compellingmessage series. Internet Advertising: 20 Magical Ways To Convert Website Visitors to Subscribers Do you publish an e-zine or newsletter? If you answer yes, you may already know how difficult it is to build your subscribers' list.Most people use fake or throw away e-mail addresses. 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. How's Your E-mail Etiquette In a fast moving global economy, e-mail offers you the convenience of being able to quickly get your message across to your colleagues or clients at any hour of the day or night. The Internet revolution has had the unintended effect of decreasing the use of oral communication and increasing the importance of text - particularly e-mails - as the primary means of business communication. Building Relationships Takes Time: Overcoming the Overnight Surge Urge Whenever we talk to a new or a "we hope to land soon" client, we are careful to stress the relational aspect of newsletter marketing. In fact, we go lengths to tell people that it takes time to build a list, time to develop trust, and time for people to feel comfortable enough to make the contact to initiate a purchase. Three Steps To Building A 50K Email List In Less Than 90 Days One major asset that every internet or affiliate marketer needs is a big email list. There is a saying in the marketing world that states that "the money is in the list". All I Really Needed to Know About List Building I Learned From Stephen King! I have always been an avid reader of Stephen King's writings over the years, he's one of the few authors that I can safely say I have read everything he has written. Granted, I am a couple of years behind, but I do manage to catch up as I get the time and opportunity to read him. The Game Is Changing, Are You? It's happening. Again. Creative and Profitable Ways to Use Autoreponders An interested visitor who has been strolling through your site has finally come to just what she is looking for and is about to make a purchase. It's a sunny afternoon, and her cat, who happens to be sitting on the moss under the visitor's large fifty-year-old snow-rose bonsai tree, suddenly jumps down, and the priceless tree topples over. 11 Creative Ways You Can Use Autoresponders 1. Pick 4 or more articles you've written that have a common theme and put them in an autoresponder series. Email Laws That Could Bring You to Jail Even if Youre Not Spamming First things first, I'm not a legal expert and so this article DOES NOT represent any legal or professional information and nor can I guarantee its accuracy. I only wrote this article to introduce you to these email laws that might affect us, email marketers. Plain Jane Email Equals Flat Results Years ago, when email was just emerging as the incredible marketing tool it is today, everything was done in plain text. Since not everyone uses the same email program, and not all of them are compatible with the others, messages often ended up looking like nothing but jumbled pieces of nonsense. Why You Need a Newsletter If you're a small business owner you definitely need promotion. And, if you're a freelancer-you ARE the product-so you'll ultimately need self-promotion. Newsletter Template: Should You Use Them? There is currently a huge demand online for newsletter templates. In fact, if you are a graphic designer looking for some new work to do, you should really think about creating some newsletter template and selling them on your site!Presently, most companies have there own website, that is not necessarily making them that much money, so they are trying to find other ways to increase there revenues online.
|
