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Monday, April 17, 2000
E-mail Basics
by Roopali Gupta

Roopali is from NIIT, India, presently in the US. The right person to bring us some practical tips on the right way to use your e-mail.

With sloppy or lazy e-mail habits, you risk undermining your expensive campaigns and you invite snickering among employees and outbursts from customers.

Here are the latest e-mail tips and a review of e-mail diplomacy:

  1. "Subject" should be specifically mentioned in the subject line. Also, it should be in context with the mail. One should avoid writing just 'Hi' (for business mails) or leaving the subject blank. This helps to convey the importance of the mail to the recipient. The mail should not comprise of multiple subjects. It's desirable to write separate mails for different subjects.
  2. When replying to or forwarding an e-mail, delete the extra information such as all the "Memo to," subject, addresses, and date lines. It improves the readability of the mail.
  3. When replying to a mail, mention the context of the response in the mail content also. Don't just send a bare reply that may read, "Yes." It's too blunt and confuses the recipient. It is advisable to delete the contents of the received mail in the reply. It keeps the mail smaller in size.
  4. One should start the mail by addressing the recipient, using either the 'First Name' or the 'Last Name'. Use a title (Mr., Ms., etc.) when using the 'Last Name'.
  5. Start writing the mail in a new paragraph and not from the same line where you have addressed the person.
  6. End the mail with normal courtesy using Thanks, Regards, etc. Sign off with your name. Give any other information (phone number, fax number, pager number, web site url, postal address, etc) which you feel will be useful to the recipient in reaching you.
  7. Use simple and short sentences using punctuations as needed.
  8. DON'T TYPE EVERYTHING IN CAPS. You appear too lazy to type properly. This is still a written medium. Follow standard writing guidelines as a professional courtesy.
  9. Do use Spell check before sending any mail. Spelling mistakes reflect a callous attitude.
  10. One should use bullets or alphanumerics when one is writing multiple points in the mail. It improves readability.
  11. 'CC' only when applicable.
  12. One should always check that the attachment has been actually attached before sending the mail. Number of times one misses to actually attach the files while we mention it in the mail.
  13. One should also scan the attachments for virus before sending them.
  14. It is better to make a link when mentioning a url. It helps the recipient to just click on the link and reach the desired site.