The other day I tweeted the following:what is my responsibility to tell an adult they can’t write an email for $h*t and it’s hurting their business & brand?
Improper email etiquette is one of my bigger pet peeves. Here’s a few ways to make sure your email isn’t hurting your brand…
- Don’t FORWARD information: only my mom and mother in law can forward stuff en mass. And even then it’s usually deleted.
- BCC line. I gave YOU my email address, I didn’t give the 75 other people in your network my email address. Nothing will make me delete emails from you faster.
- “Open this attachment.” We all want people to click the link to read more, or open the attachment for more details. But give me the basics in the body of the email you thoughtfully crafted (“I’m excited to invite you to my workshop on June 2nd at 10 AM in Bellevue, more details and a link to register are at this link/in the attached flyer”)
- Asterisks, exclamation points & emojis- STOP IT!!! (see what I did there?). Alright I am the first to say that I do NOT understand emojis. And unless you’re a tween girl, they aren’t appropriate. Just because your AOL account allows them, doesn’t mean they are business professional. Sure, use images in your newsletter or blog posts, but I don’t need hearts and smily faces in my business correspondence.
- Your Email address: if you can own your own business and can afford the $10 URL, you can afford to set up a business email address. yourname@hotmail.com (or AOL, Gmail, etc.) is not appropriate. Yourname@yourcompany.com shows me you are in this business for the long haul and I might listen to what you have to say.
These simple tips will help save you from yourself and may even help you grow your business in the process!
Tracey Warren says
May 12, 2014 at 9:37 AMYes, yes, yes. Of course, last week I sent a group email and put all the addresses in the To line. I felt so bad after I realized I did it.
Won’t make that mistake again!