Effective Emailing George D. Darnell, CRM

E-Mailing Layout What is E-mail How to Make an Effective E-Mail Few common email habits that cause problems Structure of E-Mail Style Some other important aspects Discussion E-Mailing

What is E-Mail Text-based mail sent via the computer from one person to another A Push Technology It waits for You It is One-to-Many and almost Free

How to Make an Effective E-mail Selecting Your Audience Correctly Using Distribution Lists Composing Your Messages Make the heading meaningful Keep each message short and clear. Start each message by stating its purpose/context

Few common e-mail habits that cause problems Changing the topic without changing the subject. Including multiple subjects Misaddressed recipients Displaying addresses of recipients who are strangers to each other Replying vs. forwarding George D. Darnell, CRM

Structure of E-Mail Addressing Subject Message Text Attachments Signature

1. Addressing It’s the address of the recipient Use BCC to protect Email addresses unless everyone knows each other Maintain address book George D. Darnell, CRM

2. Subject Precise headline for the message Makes easier to handle of e-MAIL Avoid sending e-mail with No subject George D. Darnell, CRM

Ineffective subject lines Date: Hi 9:17 am questions 10:11 am Meeting 12:44 pm One more thing........... 3:02 pm Some thoughts 4:21pm

Effective subject lines Date: Party planning meeting rescheduled for 3pm 9:17 am Help: I can’t find the draft for the Smith Paper 10:11 am Reminder: peer-review articles due tomorrow (3/30) 12:44 pm Questions about Sociology 210 project 3:02 pm Congratulations to Jennifer for winning Nobel Prize 4:21pm

Re: Question about Smith paper (was: please help with this!) 10:11 am Subject: Date: Re: Question about Smith paper (was: please help with this!) 10:11 am Change subject lines when necessary Subject: Date: Re: Re: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: [hrfac] Reminder: Deadline for Spring Semester Is Jan. 15]] 9:17 am Remove extra email prefixes

3. Message Text Keep the message focused and readable Keep it short Brevity and clarity Use paragraphs Break into paragraphs; skip lines between Avoid fancy typefaces George D. Darnell, CRM

Message Text ( cont. ) Use * * to highlight text if you must Write in standard professional English with Capitalization and correct spelling Quote back using contexts Identify yourself clearly to cold contacts. Hello, I am…The reason I am writing… Hello, so-in-so suggested I contact you…

Poor Email Content Jon, Hey, I was just thinking about the meeting we had about the new workshop you were planning for next week about resume-writing. I think that we may have forgotten to include all of the students who might benefit from this workshop. There are several groups of students at the School of Public Health that were not on your list. Of course you may have added them to you list since our last meeting. Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the students from the Epidemiology program were on our list of included students. She also wanted a list of all of the included departments from the School of Public Health. Can you send me a list of all of the included student groups? I can then send the relevant information on to Sara because she needs this information by tomorrow. Thanks, Rachell

Better Email Content Jon, Can you send me a list of the students included in the resume-writing workshop by tomorrow? We may have forgotten to include all of the students who might benefit from this workshop. There are several groups of students at the School of Public Health that were not on your list. Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the students from the Epidemiology program were on our list. I will send her that information tomorrow after I get the list from you. Thanks, Rachell

4. Attachments Use sparingly. Cut and paste relevant parts of attachment into text of Email. Use URL links instead. Upload attachments to website and cite URL. http://www.scribd.com/ is a free service. George D. Darnell, CRM

5. E-mail Signature Use an appropriate signature Brief (4-5 lines) Informative provide all contact information Professional do not include pictures, quotes, animations Effective Emails RMU 3-19-08

Style Threads Multiple replies can get out of hand, but continue them to maintain the tread. When they start to drift start a new thread with explanation. Forwarding stuff, e.g., chain letters Avoid; annoys most people Wait 24 hours Write, but don’t send Don’t reply at all and let them wonder George D. Darnell, CRM

Style (contd.) Offer to speak by phone or in person; Email is not a good tool for “clearing the air.” Never say in Email what you wouldn’t say in person or would not like to see in the press or defend in court Once you hit “Send” you have lost control of the Email You can never be certain that it was erased from all locations. Think of all Email as Permanent. George D. Darnell, CRM

Some other important aspects Confidentiality and Security Managing Emails ( E-mail overload Management )

Confidentiality and Security Protecting yourself Unencrypted Email is not secure and may be monitored All laws governing copyright, defamation, discrimination and other forms of written communication also apply to email. Password recovery methods Never include personal or financial info in an Email Install a good security suite on your personal computer Use strong passwords George D. Darnell, CRM

Confidentiality and Secuity (contd.) Use encryption and digital signatures for important Email Have a separate free Email account for newsletters, white paper registration, etc. Delete browser history, cache, cookies, use rids and passwords after using a public Internet connection Back up your Email. George D. Darnell, CRM

E-Mail Overload Management A problem that affects nearly everyone with an e-mail account Automated filters will never catch all of the spam Problems from E-mail Overload Takes longer to find a specific message Stressful to look at

Ways to manage E-mail Overload Choose your service provider wisely Do Inbox CHECK on a regular basis Organize Email into folders Keep a copy of all sent Email Review and clean out folders periodically George D. Darnell, CRM

Questions and Comments? Discussion Questions and Comments?