5 Points To Consider Before Sending An Email

Photo by m-c

Email has been around since the 1960’s, since that time, billions of Emails have been sent and received across millions of different computers worldwide. To this day, Email continues to increase in popularity till it eventually reaches a point where it will take over the world every single address in the world will be taken up. Even the competition between sites offering Email services has been a never ending battle ever since it began.

As a blogger, employee, student, or any other type of Internet user, you will definitely have sent an Email throughout your lifetime. OK, one Email may be a bit too little, try hundreds or thousands of them (maybe even hundreds of thousands)!

Since Emails are a such an extremely quick way of communication and are mostly used for that exact purpose, you probably never thought twice before clicking the holy “send” button. Even though there are many different types of Emails (funny, informative, updates, etc.), there are occasionally certain cases where you need to follow a few pointers that will help protect your from any trouble and embarrassment.

As a blogger, I’m sure that you came upon a time where you needed to communicate with someone for any type of significant business, if you haven’t, be sure to keep the following points in mind for when the times comes

By the way, the type of Emails this post talks about are the important ones such as business related, work related, first time you contact someone, etc. As for the casual daily Emails, be my guest and “lol” till you drop!

1. Did You Use Txt Speak?
I don’t know about you, but I’m sure this could qualify for one of the Internet’s most annoying habits ever. Basically “txt speak” is when people write like this: “I need 2 go, pls tell me if u wnt 2 go”, or something like that. This type of writing is pretty hard to decipher and can be a huge time waster depending on how “txty” it is.

Seriously! I’m sure those few extra letters needed to complete the word don’t take up that much time to type

2. Did You Mention Your Dog Or Aunt?
The world is becoming a busier place everyday, it’s up to you to adapt to it. When you send someone an Email, make sure that it’s as short and simple as possible, no extra fluff. If you are sending your client an apology trying to explain why you weren’t able to meet the deadline, he doesn’t want to hear about your Aunt Hilda or your dog. The only thing he cares about is knowing when you will be able to complete the project and anything you’ll be doing to make it up to him.

So next time you are writing an important Email, cut the crap and get right to the point.

3. Did You Use Proper Grammar And Capitalization?
Using a period, comma, or any other punctuation mark is essential, but only at the right place . If you aren’t asking a question, then why do you need a question mark at the end of your sentence? Even if English is not your first language, have someone with more knowledge proofread the Email for you. Remember, first impressions last.

Another thing you should be aware of is using proper capitalization. This isn’t really that hard to do, just make sure all the proper nouns, abbreviations, and first letters of all sentences are capitalized. Another place where capitalization comes into play is in the “subject” area of your message. Be sure to capitalize the beginning of every word, this gives the message a higher sense of professionalism and makes it appear much more dramatic.

4. Were You Friendly? How Friendly?
Smiley faces and other similar emoticons are not very appropriate in Emails that you’re about to send to your boss or client. Unless you have a really good relationship with the person you are Emailing, I would say that , , , , etc. are a bit unprofessional and childish.

5. Do You Have Any Idea Who You’re Talking To?
When you start your Email with “Hey Mate,”, that will probably make the person you’re Emailing feel that you do not respect him since you don’t even know his name. This occurs most when you are Emailing a blogger using his contact page. You definitely have no excuse not to know the blogger’s name when all you had to do was check out his about page.

Don’t do stupid things when they could be avoided ever so easily

These are just a few of many points that you should consider before sending an Email, what do you usually pay attention to before clicking that holy “send” button?