E-Mail

                The Most Important Online Communication Tool in Your Marketing

                                         Toolbox

 

              By Terry Williams

 

              In the online world, e-mail is the most important contact you have with prospective clients,

              current customers and business associates! After all, e-mail is all about communication, so

              CLARITY should be your ultimate goal. Have you ever thought about what your recipient

              thinks about YOU and YOUR BUSINESS, based upon the e-mail messages you send them?

              You might be very surprised!

 

              Rate Your E-mail Writing Ability

 

              Take A Quick Little Self Test

 

              I recommend trying this quick 5-step e-mail self test before you send out your e-mail:

 

              1. Write the e-mail and when you are finished, run it through a spell checker.

 

              2. Read the e-mail back, out loud. If it is a long e-mail, print it out to make this task easier; if

              not, just read it from the screen.

 

              3. Make any corrections that are needed, then take a 5 minute break and do something else,

              then read it out loud again.

 

              4. Make any additional changes and decide if it is the way you want it to go out.

 

              5. Send the e-mail.

 

              It may seem like quite a bit to go through, especially if you are sending out a lot of e-mails

              every day but I think you will find that your outgoing mail will become more effective and it

              even could create a few sales in the process. Once you get the hang of it, you can probably

              remove step 4 and possibly step 3 to shorten the process.

 

              Some Tips For Writing More Effective E-mail Messages

 

              Before we get into the message of the e-mail itself, we need to discuss the SUBJECT, TO

              and FROM sections of the e-mail first. These three items have a major effect on the eventual

              outcome of your e-mail message.

 

              1. E-mail Subject Line

 

              When you are browsing through your incoming e-mail, how do you decide which ones to

              look at first, or at all for that matter? By the SUBJECT! Just as in ad headlines, the SUBJECT

              is the most important part of your e-mail message. So how do you get your e-mail looked at

              first?

 

              • Always include a subject line in your e-mail.

 

              • Make the subject line meaningful to the recipient. This is where you use keywords about

              the content of the message. Don't use all capital letters as it is commonly considered as

              SHOUTING. Use words that invoke an emotion if possible.

 

              • If you are replying to a message but are changing the subject of the conversation, change

              the subject too - or better still, start a new message altogether. The subject is usually the

              easiest way to follow the thread of a conversation, so changing the conversation without

              changing the subject can be confusing to the recipient and could cause your e-mail to be

              deleted.

 

              2. E-mail To & From Headings

 

              Use personal names if possible. Most e-mail programs allow you to use a textual string that

              is attached to your e-mail address. Look in the help file of your e-mail software to find out

              where to place your name. A personal name attached to your address identifies you much

              better than your address will by itself.

 

              • Use a sensible personal name that identifies you to your recipients. Once you build

              goodwill with this name it will be worth a fortune.

 

              • Use personal names of your recipients. If someone re sponds to you using their own

              personal name, reply back to them with the same personal name. This will create a more

              personal relationship with whom you are communicating.

 

              3. The E-mail Format

 

              You want to format your message length and content based on the conversation and the

              tenor of the communication. Your personal messages will look and feel completely different

              than your business messages and if you are only making a quick query, then keep it short

              and to the point.

 

              • Keep the content on subject. If you need to change the subject in the middle of the

              message or branch off onto a totally new and different direction, then it's often better to

              send a new message.

 

              • Use capitalization sparingly. Don't type your message in all CAPITALS, it's extremely

              difficult to read and considered by many as SHOUTING. However, you might want to use a

              short stretch of capitals to emphasize a point.

 

              • Use correct grammar and spelling. Mes sages should be clear, concise and to the point.

 

              • If your e-mail program supports fancy formatting (bold, italic, etc.), be careful not to over

              kill. There are still quite a few e-mail programs that cannot display these features and your

              e-mail looks terrible to the recipient (they will also receive all the codes and no formatting).

 

              4. E-mail Replies

 

              How many times have you received an e-mail with the entire original message in cluded in

              the reply? These e-mail messages take quite a bit of time to download. Here is the

              appropriate way to reply to an e-mail:

 

              • Include just enough of the original message to refresh the recipient's memory. Also, you

              want to set off the original context with a marker.

 

              • Always check the TO & CC headings. I'm sure you have received an e-mail with 50 or more

              e-mail addresses on it, usually spam, and someone hits the reply button and doesn't remove

              all of the addresses and everyone gets back the same message. This is not only careless but

              annoying.

 

              • Make sure before you reply, that a reply is really warranted.

 

              5. E-mail Courtesy

 

              E-mail is all about communication with other people and some basic courtesy goes a long

              way.

 

              • Use please and thank you.

 

              • Make sure you send someone at least a quick "I received your request and will get back

              with you by tomorrow" type message.

 

              • Use smiley faces to put body language and emotions in your e-mail messages.

 

              • Praise someone in public and chastise in private.

 

              6. E-mail Signatures

 

              Most e-mail programs can automatically add a signature to the end of your messages. Make

              sure your signature announces your USP, identifies who you are and includes contact

              information (phone, fax, URL are usual). Keep your signature short, four to seven lines

              maximum.

 

              The Bottom Line

 

              E-mail is one of the most important marketing tools any business utilizes for writing and

              communicating. Always remember that you are dealing with people and people come in all

              shapes, sizes and personalities. Like any other tool, e-mail should be used with purpose and

              care! If you apply the "quick little self-test" provided, you will be well on your way to

              mastering e-mail. HBM

 

              Terry Williams has been marketing online for over two years and his articles have been

              published in numerous ezines and is a leading expert in online marketing. He publishes a

              Free Bi-Weekly Online Newsletter "Internet Marketing Issues". For a free subscription,

              e-mail subscribeimi@intersuccess.com, or visit http://www.intersuccess.com/imi/. He has

              also written two books, "Discover Online Marketing Success" and "Advertising On A

              Shoestring". You can review the details of these books and also some of Terry's

              Information Reports by visiting his web page at:

              http://www.intersuccess.com/bkstore/newsindex.htm.