E-mail Etiquette: 5 Important Tips – Part 2
3. Be Sure You Know Who Your Communicating With
This is pretty straight forward. When you write to a family member, you usually use an informal casual style. When you write to a co-worker, or employee, you use a semi-casual or informal style, whichever is more appropriate.
Email etiquette dictates the correct writing style to use.
For business purposes you can always be safe starting your message with “Hi (first name)”.
If you know that you are dealing with a Doctor, Professor, Congressman, or other professional; show respect and proper e-mail etiquette by using their official title with their last name, and write your e-mail in a traditional formal style.
Who you are emailing, what you are emailing about, and where you are e-mailing all dictate what email etiquette is appropriate. Social norms also influence e-mail etiquette.
Using a person’s first or last name, is probably an individual call, and is a matter of preference.
Many businesses use generic email addresses which makes properly addressing your e-mail somewhat difficult.
If you can’t find someone’s specific business e-mail address, just write the first line to read: “Attention (person you want to write to)”.
If you don’t have the person’s name to contact, use: “To whom it may concern“.
E-mail etiquette requires appropriate respectful communication and even though “To whom it may concern” sounds outdated, it beats using “Hi there“.
When you are writing a useful, professional, e-mail to someone; it always pays off determining their exact e-mail address, so that you can use proper email etiquette in your correspondence.
4 – Write Something Compelling Enough To Keep Your Reader’s Attention
The ease and speed of email correspondence, sometimes causes E-mail etiquette to go out the window. It’s way too easy to send off a quick email without giving it enough thought.
Sending an email to the wrong address, can lead to the loss of a potential client or sale.
When you communicate; write in a clear, concise, friendly, professional manner. Be careful not to come across as being arrogant, or too demanding, like some internet marketers have a tenancy to do.
Be businesslike and matter of fact to get your point across, but also be courteous and use proper e-mail etiquette.
5 – It’s important to mind your manners!
E-mail etiquette requires that when you ask for something, say “thank you” in advance. Always mind your manners and use “please” when appropriate.
Be polite if you are presenting a problem to a company. Remember that it probably wasn’t the person you are e-mailing that caused you the problem, so be respectful.
Honey attracts more bees than vinegar; so be considerate, show a bit of empathy, and you will accomplish a lot more in the long run.
E-mail etiquette doesn’t require you to be the world’s greatest writer, but remember that successful affiliate marketers spend a lot of time testing their e-mail communications on their clients. I’m sure they didn’t use “Hi Guys …” or “Hey There!” in their e-mails, to build these successful relationships.
I hope these 5 important tips on email etiquette help you with your e-mail communication skills.
