We all understand the importance of good “people skills” when

it comes to our interpersonal communication – it helps us get

the results we need. Our communication determines the opinion

others have of us – knowledgeable or ignorant, pleasant or

rude, professional or immature. Most of the time this is in

face-to-face or telephone conversations where we have some

control over the impression we make on others.

When it comes to netiquette (Network Etiquette), it’s not as

easy to control how others perceive us, and yet it’s even more

important. Why? Because what you write and how you use email

can affect whether your email gets delivered, read, or

responded to – and what that response is! In addition, there

are numerous “technology traps” that are easy to fall into.

Have you ever seen someone accidentally send an angry or

sensitive response to a huge group of people by using the

”Reply All” key?

And before you say to yourself "I already know" and stop

reading this article, realize that every single one of us could

benefit from a few simple reminders on the proper use of email,

not just from a personal view but also from a business

standpoint. If you're doing business on the internet – and

using email to communicate with your customers – then this

article is a must read for you! You may already know many of

these tips, but even the most experienced user will find a few

rules you were not aware of or have fallen into the habit of

breaking.

Think, write, and think again.

Email is a static, one-way channel – unlike live communication,

there’s no way to get immediate feedback (from facial

expressions or voice responses) to know if we are being

effective or even understood. So think twice before hitting the

send key. Is there ANY chance that the recipient might

misinterpret what you want them to understand? Do your thoughts

come across as abrupt or angry? Could this email accidentally

affect your reputation? The hastily written word may lack

feelings and the true emotion you intended. You might be

smiling as you type, but your note could come across as

sarcastic or mean-spirited. Remember – there’s a person on the

other end, not just a computer.

Use a meaningful subject line.

This is the first thing your reader will see, so use the space

to help them understand the contents of the email even before

they open it. Using the same rule from above, type in a subject

that relates to the message you're sending, rather than leaving

the subject blank. Without a subject line your note will

probably be seen as another piece of junk mail – not everyone

will recognize who you are just from your email address. Many

internet service providers (ISP’s) filter out suspicious

looking email, and a blank subject is a big red flag. Also, try

to avoid generic words like "Hi" or "Check This Out" to avoid

having the recipients spam or virus software delete your

message!

The beginning, and the end.

Always use a salutation, even if it’s short. Start your message

with "Hi", or "Hello", or "Dear", whatever works best for the

intended recipient, and whatever reflects your personality.

Think about this: when you call someone on the telephone, don't

you say "Hello" before telling them what you want? Email

messages should be no different. At a minimum, address the

email to the person.

Don't forget the end of your message too! Always sign your

messages with your name, and say "Thank You", or "Sincerely",

or something else appropriate. You can even setup a signature

in your email program that will automatically display your

information at the bottom of every email message you send. For

directions, use your email programs help file and do a search

for signature.

Protect your recipient’s identity – use “To:”, “CC:” and “BC:”

properly.

There are a few simple netiquette rules for using the address

fields in email.

If your email is being sent to just one person or email

address, place it in the "To:" field. This should be the person

who is responsible for sending you a reply.

When your email is being sent to more than one person and all

the recipients truly need to know who else is receiving it, put

all the addresses in the “CC:” field.

For email sent to multiple recipients who have no real reason

to know the names and email addresses of everyone else to whom

it is being sent, put all the addresses in the “BCC:” field.

(Some email software requires at least one address to be placed

in the “To:” field. Put your own email address in the “To:”

section if this is required.)

By default, not every email program has the BCC field available

for viewing. If you cannot see the Bcc field in your program,

check your programs help file for directions.

Give memory a helping hand.

When replying to emails, include a copy of the prior notes

you’ve traded with the person on the topic, don't just send a

new one. I may receive 50 emails a day that need a reply and

it’s not always possible to remember every single

'conversation' with every single person. Please don’t make your

reader go looking through their ‘sent items’ folder or email

‘recycle bin’ to refresh their memory!

Use the ‘Read Receipt’ sparingly.

In some cases, it's crucial for both parties to know that a

message was received. However, in normal day-to-day activities

you should not request a read receipt for every single message

you send. It's annoying to the recipient to have to click that

pop up box every time they get your email. And it is an

invasion of privacy. Don't forget – just because they have

received it doesn't mean they have necessarily read it, so

receiving a read receipt doesn't actually prove anything other

than that the message was received. And for day to day

communications, is that really necessary?

URGENT!

The boy who cried wolf. Do not send all your messages as

URGENT, or HIGH PRIORITY. If your recipients keep receiving

messages marked that way, then eventually the red exclamation

point loses it's effectiveness – except to reinforce how

important YOU think you are. Reserve these messages for those

that are of utmost importance!

Avoid special formatting.

For your day-to-day messages, don't use colored email

backgrounds, colored fonts, special fonts, images or other

"pretty" type of formatting to your messages. Keep them clean –

this makes it easier for the intended recipient to read them and

reply. It's best to send messages in plain text to ensure

everyone will be able to read them, since not everyone has

their email set to receive html emails. You would be amazed at

how bad your note may look to someone viewing their email on a

handheld device or an older computer. By keeping your emails

clean, they will also load much faster for the recipient!

Don’t SHOUT!

If you type in all capital letters, your reader will see this

as yelling, or they will think that you were just too lazy to

use proper text formatting. It’s also hard on the eyes – did

you know that it takes longer to read something written in all

caps than it does to read something that is properly formatted?

Proof, spell-check, and use proper formatting.

Poor writing skills are a direct reflection on you! And the

reader never forgets the person who writes an undecipherable

message. Spell checking will prevent most misspelled words, but

you should always proof your email in case you've written the

incorrect word (that was spelled correctly). For example, month

and moth, where and were, all look correct to a spell-check

program. Use proper capitalization, punctuation and formatting.

Break your paragraphs when the subject changes, or if they

become too long. Don't use excessive formatting (too much bold,

too many exclamation points and question marks, etc.) Too much

of anything will make your message harder to read. You want to

make your message easily readable, as well as understandable.

Proofread it to ensure it make sense, and never assume the

reader knows what you mean, always spell it out for them. The

time it takes to proof and spell check is minimal compared to

the lasting impression you will make if you don't take the

time.

Take the time to send a reply.

Even when someone emails you something that doesn't need a

direct response, follow up with them in a timely manner just to

let them know you received their message. It’s amazing how often

people will ask for advice, and not even reply with a short

“Thank you” when they receive their answer. A simple message

telling the sender is sufficient. And this lets them know you

did receive it, that it didn't just get stuck in cyberspace

somewhere.

If they didn't request it, don't send it!

No matter what you think may be acceptable, you cannot email

someone about your product/service without their permission.

Unless they request that you send them an email, or you have

previously done business with them, then it is illegal to send

them an email, period. Any recipient can easily forward your

email to their ISP and report you for sending unsolicited email

messages (SPAM).

This report would result in the immediate removal of all your

websites/email address from most servers. You would then join a

list of “prohibited senders” meaning that servers would not

allow any messages attached to your domain name to be received

by their customers - the people you are sending your messages

to.

You might be thinking, “but I get emails every day about

products/services that I didn't request information about.”

Sending unsolicited email messages (SPAM), is kind of like

speeding. Lot's of people do it, but it is against the law, and

no matter how long you may get away with it, you are bound to

get caught!

Compress, Compress, Compress!

If you are sending an email with several large attachments, it

is often better to send them in a few separate emails, so that

you don’t send a document that is too large to even open. Or,

you can try compressing your messages into a zipped file. It

doesn’t reduce the size of images or pictures very much, but it

works great for text, spreadsheet and program files. This is

very easy to do, and will make your file size much smaller, and

make the recipient much happier. Check out www.winzip.com (for

those on pc).

Hoaxes as helpful hints.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do not

forward everything that gets sent to you. We've all seen them –

the chain-letter emails that promise if you forward to x number

of people you'll get paid, or you'll win something, or you will

be lucky forever. It's all a hoax, a scam, and the only result

is huge numbers of email transmissions that slow down servers

all across the country. If you receive one of these emails from

a friend, reply to them (in a very nice way) and explain to them

why this isn't true, or ask them to stop forwarding them to you.

Virus, or virus advice?

Many viruses are spread by email masquerading as warnings about

– a virus! If someone forwards you a virus warning, which

usually contains instructions for removing a virus from your

computer... check google.com for that virus BEFORE doing

anything. Chances are, it's also a hoax, and if you do remove

that "bad file" from your computer, you're actually removing a

necessary component crucial to your system!

Wow, that was a lot of information to take in at one time, but

I congratulate you for sticking it out and reading the entire

article. Please share it with your family, friends and

colleagues.