by Simon Clarke
Writing emails has become a regular routine for millions around the world. It is a common, easy, cheap and practical way to communicate, particularly for business communication.
But whilst writing an ordinary email may be easy, creating a professionally constructed electronic message requires a bit more attention. Do you rate yourself as an effective and professional email writer? Following are some guidelines to assist you construct more professional emails.
Subject Line
The starting point of a good email is the subject line. In a common office, people may receive dozens of emails a day: eZines, notifications, SPAM, personal messages and work-related content.
Within the work-related context, it’s common that emails get rated according to the sender (whether it’s from a boss or a subordinate, for example) and the subject line. Emails that have generic and uninteresting subject lines will likely be the last to be opened and/or replied, or simply deleted.
To write an effective subject line, you need to communicate the importance of the email from the receivers perspective (not what’s important to you). The reader should be able to quickly acknowledge what it’s about and how he or she will respond. Avoid vague subject lines. Also avoid writing offensive content or using exclamation marks on subject lines as they may be blocked by email filters.
Strucuture and Formatting
If you are sending an email with multiple messages or perspectives, you must think about how you will structure them. Most people read emails quickly and may reply to them without reading all the content.
To avoid points being missed, make sure the structure of your email is concise, allowing your reader to easily see what they need to before they click “reply” or simply close the message. A strong leading topic sentence or introduction will often overcome this problem.
Language and Intention
Keep your language readable from both semantic and formatting perspectives. Use standard spelling and capitalization, avoid all-caps (”online, all-caps means shouting”) and avoid jargon.
Be personal. If you are writing to a person or company, identify the name of the receiver(s) and direct the message to them. Many people have an aversion to receiving impersonal “To Whom It May Concern” messages, particularly if it’s sent with a commercial objective.
Be kind. Avoid being aggressive or using excessive criticism. If you are feeling emotional, take a break and write later. With the ease of writing emails, many people get carried away in a message when they are frustrated or emotional - only to regret it later.
Be formal. Using a “smilie” face or abbreviations such as “LOL” is not deemed appropriate in a professional email. Your level of formality will depend on the context of the message and the person receiving it: write accordingly.
Attachments
Only attach documents to emails if it’s strictly necessary. Attachments can be nuisances in messages. They not only increase the likelihood of a virus coming with the email; but also require more download time and take up space on other people’s computers.
If you can simply copy and paste the content of the attachment with the regular email message, use this option. Bear in mind that emails with attachment can also be blocked by SPAM filters.
Sending Rules
This is the ABC of professional emailing. When sending a message to large groups, use the “BCC” function instead of “CC” so that receivers are not be able to view other people’s email addresses.
This is particularly important when sending mailouts with personalised mail merged messages (when you want your reader to have the impression this email was tailored and send only to him or her).
Avoid the “reply all” function. Many people have got into major problems simply because they have failed to observe this. One click can have dire consequences.
Finally, avoid taking too long before replying to an email; especially if the message was in an urgent tone. If you are unable to attend to the message anytime soon, you can write a courteous message such as “I am busy at the moment, but I will reply as soon as possible.”
Simon Clarke has over 15 years of experience as a writer, entrepreneur and business specialist. He is also the founder and Director of the Life Coaching Institute.
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