Throughout the day professionals spend a large amount of time behind a computer screen composing and answering emails. It can become easy to get a little "lax," thinking we don't need to use spell check, opting to abbreviate instead of writing out an entire word, forgetting a signature line, or sending without a subject. These "shortcuts" can unknowingly hurt your reputation as your correspondence is a reflection of you and your company. The following tips will ensure you're sending effective content that will be noticed, read and acted upon.
- Make your subject line do the heavy lifting. These few words often determine whether your email will get opened or not. State in simple, concise language what you are writing about. Don't try to jam four different topics and an invoice in the same email; no doubt something is bound to get lost in the shuffle. Use one or two topics per email, and state simply in the header what you will be addressing in the body. If it's time sensitive, add that phrase in the subject line as well.
For more etiquette tips, read Diane's blog, Business Etiquette: Reducing Email Clutter. Connect with her here on the Huffington Post, follow her on Pinterest and "like" The Protocol School of Texas on Facebook.