Email 101 or How To Give Good Email
(c)1996 to 2001 by
Frank Bauer
The purpose of this article is to help you be more productive, efficient and successful using online services. The commercial use of the Internet is no longer taboo. The question is not whether to use the Internet for business, but rather HOW to use the Internet for business.
You hear a great deal of talk about the World Wide Web, FTP and Newsgroups, but by far the largest use of the Net and online services is for Email. Regardless of your plans for using online services, you will need to make good use of electronic mail. This article focuses on this aspect.
Screen Names
Everyone
who signs onto an online service has an Email address or screen
name. This is usually a series or combination of letters and/or
characters. My screen name for America Online (AOL) was FrankBaGer.
If someone sent me mail from outside AOL, they used the full Email
address of FrankBaGer@aol.com. Upper and lower case do not matter
as Email addresses are not case sensitive. BTW: I can now be reached
at frank.bauer@million-mall.com.
If you’re online, you already have a screen name, but you may be able to have several without creating a new account. AOL allows up to five.
It’s
important to have an easily identifiable and UNIQUE screen name.
Avoid using lots of numbers. It’s best to find something that
identifies you and/or your business. An good example for a company’s
Internet address is info@add2it.com (to get info about Add2it.com). Isn’t that easier to remember and keyboard
than Braylo4971@aol.com or RTIN7629@metronet.de ?
If possible, avoid the use of O’s and zeroes when it might not be clear whether it’s a number or a letter. It’s often very hard to tell the difference.
Brevity and Speed is Key
Anyone receiving mail from you will appreciate you being direct and to the point. This applies to ALL communications such as newsgroups postings, etc. People are busy, they are paying for their time online and they will not take kindly to lengthy Email messages. Short, clear sentences are always best. They’re more powerful, too.
Be sure to answer your mail promptly. This is a medium of speed, and if you take several days to get back to someone, you will have missed much of the value and possibly offended someone in the process. If you won’t have time to respond as completely as you would like, use the "Reply" feature on your mailing application and at least acknowledge the receipt of their message and when and how you will be responding.
Be Colorful and Conversational
Writing in a friendly and conversational manner will help get your mail read. People will enjoy reading what you have to say and look forward to your future communications. Use a colorful and folksy style. It’s okay to write things like "gonna" instead of "going to."
Humor is a powerful communicator. I encourage you to use it. However, be careful. The person reading your message will not have the benefit of seeing your face or hearing your tone of voice to help them get your real meaning. Your attempt to be "cute" could come across as being sarcastic, critical or condescending.
In all your communications, just remember to be yourself—nobody else is better qualified.
Etiquette and Netiquette
Cyberspace can sometimes be as cold and heartless as outer space. Many people think that just because they are communicating with a "faceless" person that they can say anything they want and be extremely impolite in the process. They can, of course, but it doesn’t build good will and that’s what you want. Business is a network of communication against a background of relationships. By being polite and courteous, you will go a long way toward creating worldwide relationships that work for you.
The wilds of the Internet are ruled by a frontier kind of justice. You may get flamed by rude and arrogant people from time to time, but don’t stoop to their level. Like someone once said, "Never wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty—but the pig will like it."
I believe that with every utterance, we’re either building up or tearing down. It’s never static. Your messages represent who you are and what you stand for, so make them something to be proud of.
It’s also best to avoid using all caps in your messages. ALL CAPS IS LIKE SHOUTING AT SOMEONE. And it’s not appreciated. Caps are also harder to read.
It’s OK to use abbreviations like, "looking 4ward 2 seeing u this pm" with people you know well, but ALL messages should use proper grammar and, of course, be spelled correctly. There’s a whole slew of abbreviations that you will see used in Cyberspace. BTW—By the way. IMHO—In my humble opinion. TPFIC—tongue planted firmly in cheek, etc. Have fun with them.
Off-line Composition
Most online services allow you to compose and read your mail off-line. This reduces your hours online and you will be more relaxed and take more care with your composition and responses when you know the meter isn’t running.
Cut and Paste
Assuming you are using a windows environment, you need to become proficient at cutting and pasting for Email messages. Often, you will have information in documents that you will want to include in the body of your Email. It’s easy to do with cut and paste. Take some time to learn the keyboard shortcuts and study the Windows manual on using these features. It will save you lots of time in the long run.
Attaching Files
I also recommend learning how to attach files to your Email messages. They should be files in either clean text, or else be in a format that you know your recipient can read. If you attach a Word 6.0 file and your friend is using an older version of PFS or even a newer version of WordPerfect, they may not be able to read the file. ASCII or plain MS DOS Text is the safest.
Flashmail
AOL has a feature available starting in Version 2.0 which allows you to log on, send your mail and retrieve your mail in "flashmail sessions." Other services have similar features, although they sometimes charge extra for it or you must buy a special program. Flashmail or its equivalent will save you a great deal of logged time. You can have Flashmail log on for you automatically several times a day if you want. If you don’t have AOL Version 2.0 or newer, get it now. The graphics are better and it comes equipped with Flashmail. You can download it or have AOL send it to you at no charge. It’s a must.
Unsolicited Mail
There’s a lot of controversy about sending unsolicited mail to people. It’s done all the time, but it’s clearly frowned upon. If you do it, you will likely get flamed, reported to your service provider, letter bombed (massive mail sent or faxed to you) or all three. It does work, though, and I have responded to many of them asking for more information. If someone does it more than a couple of times, I let them know that I don’t like it and if they do it again, I will report them to their service provider. I haven’t reported anybody yet. If you do it, keep your messages short and apologize for the intrusion. Expect to get flamed occasionally.
There is, however, a pretty slick way to talk about your business unobtrusively. You can respond to people’s ads requesting information about what they are selling and include a "by-the-way" (BTW) with information about what you have to offer. Keep it short and you will not likely get into any problems. Of course, you have to deal with all the info they will send you, but it’s usually good research.
Another trick is to respond to anyone who sends you unsolicited mail with a "reply" that includes your services and product information. It’s quick and... hey, you never know.
Blind Carbon Copies
It’s possible to send your Email messages to more than one person at a time. You can do this by adding additional names to your "TO:" or "CC:" lines. You can automate this to some extent by developing frequently posted address book groups. See your mail program for additional details.
Many
programs also have the capability of using a blind carbon copy.
This means that the other recipients will not see the entire list
of the others who are receiving the same message. This can be
very useful as well as save space on your recipient’s Email message.
AOL does this by enclosing CC Email addresses in double parentheses
separated by commas. Example: ((fb@million-mall.com , gold-team@juno.com,
WLC757@aol.com)) You may also want to CC yourself from time to
time to see how your messages look after they have gone through
the electronic pipelines.
Member Directory Information
Most online services have membership directories or profiles. It’s important to have as much useful information in your membership profile as possible. By useful, I mean information that helps you to market what you are selling—like yourself. Before some people will answer you ads or send you money, they will sometimes look you up to see if you are who you say you are. It adds just a little more credibility. If you have the right words in your file, you may also get some inquiries about your company just from people scanning directory profiles.
Signatures
I recommend that every communication include your "signature." A signature is an opportunity to do some advertising in a way that is considered proper by almost everyone on the Net. I show an example of my own signature at the end of this article. You can have 6-8 lines of type with information about who you are, where you are and what you do. You can have it in a separate file and just insert or paste it onto the end of your Email messages. If done properly, it can be a valuable marketing tool-especially on newsgroups .
As in all things with computers and being online, nothing will help more than putting the time into exploring and practicing. It’s well worth the investment to capitalize on this incredibly powerful medium that is really just coming into its own. Have fun with it. I hope this information has been helpful.
--
Frank
Bauer is the publisher of the More4you Newsletter
and webmaster of the $1,000,000 Web-Mall.
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