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Hi everyone, I thought these pointers I received from a listserve I'm on might be worthwhile in our various deliberations via email - some of which I'm still learning myself :) Cheers, Leo ------------ >Top 7 Recommendations For Professional Email Netiquette > >1) Don't use all CAPS: > You may think that using all CAPS may seem attractive, but using > all caps is found to be amateurish if not completely annoying. > Think about it. If you open a message that has only a few starting > sentences that are all caps, you more than likely delete it as > spam. Professionals and new users alike are so accustomed to seeing > this poor "eye-catching" technique in their "junk mail" every day > that most of us delete them out of habit. > >2) Keep your signature file down to 6 lines or less: > If your message was deserving enough to earn my attention, > congratulations! I have read it and I have read your name at the > end. To that point you have gained my attention. Don't make the > mistake of thinking that I want to read another entire paragraph > of your ad material. Keep your "sig" file short with the > essentials and keep my attention. Your name, your email address, > your URL, your Web site name and a short catch-phrase advertising > your product or service. Don't scare me off with too much text > when I thought I was done. > >3) Please double space between paragraphs: > Even if you don't consciously realize it yet, your brain requires > "breathers" and looks forward to that line break. Now, maybe I > have been at it too long, but whenever I receive emails or > newsletters where a new paragraph is simply indented with no line > break between, it becomes slightly overwhelming and never-ending. > Do your reader(s) a favor; double space between paragraphs and > give them time to absorb what you have said so far. > >4) Subject headings are for "identifiable" subjects: > "Hi" doesn't cut it with me, mister. If I don't recognize your > email address or the name that shows in place of it, why would I > open yours out of the other 100 I have received. If you have an > important message for me, use a short (5 words or less) phrase, > which makes it clear why I should open your email. If you're > emailing other professionals, remember that many of us receive > such enormous amounts of junk mail that we must sometimes delete > mail based on the "subject heading" alone. I'm sorry, but unless > I know you, I just don't have time for "Hi." > >5) Please don't forward your trash to me: > Short of spamming me with your useless promises of riches, the > easiest way to get blackballed from my email is to send me useless > garbage to fill my mailbox. If I did have the time to feel lonely, > I'd join a chat room. If I'm feeling humorous, I have a wife and > a 5-year-old to entertain me. If I want my horoscope, I'll look > it up myself. I don't need to see your jokes, your chain letters > or your personal thoughts on religion. If you have something > genuinely beneficial, great. But don't send your garbage to me! > >6) Reply with the original message attached please: > How many times have you received a message that says nothing > but "yes" or another anonymous message that makes absolutely no > sense to anybody without the question attached. Unless you are > carrying on a conversation back and forth that you know will be > answered immediately, don't assume that I'll know what you're > talking about. It could be days before I get to your reply. Some > of you may have a photographic memory, but others of us have > trouble remembering what we had for dinner last night. So please > include the original message so I can refresh my memory on our > discussion. > >Top Mistake of this Writer: > >I held this one for the end because this was and occasionally still >is my own number one mistake. Being a highly passionate person, I >can react, or should I say overreact to something on the spur of >any given moment. One of the many reasons I picked this work is that >I have to time to think before I (virtually) speak. I have to admit >that keeping my big mouth shut was always the hardest thing for me >to accomplish. Apart from being passionate, I am also very opinionated. >Although these can be admirable qualities in some circles, working >through email offers me the time to think about what I say before I >put my foot in my mouth. ---- >Today's article was submitted by "Wild Bill" Montgomery. _________________________________________ Leo J. Deveau Executive Director Chebucto Community Net, Halifax, N.S. Canada ____________________________________ "The organic is not digital." _____________________________________
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