Email Etiquette

Chances are if your living in the twenty-first century your using email for most of your business transactions. Unfortunately, regardless of age group or email experience I still see tons of emails lacking the basic "requirement" of good email correspondence. I'm sure we all have our own pet peeves but I am going to address some of the most common mistakes I see or have been guilty of in the past.

1. Salutations. Much like a traditional letter, your email SHOUKD contain a proper salutation. Now, just in case any of you are not familiar with this term the saturation is the way you address your email. Unlike a letter, it's not normally addressed as "dear _____". Simply using the person's first name is acceptable in most cases: "John," "Jane," or "Mr Smith" are proper ways to begin an email. Why is this actually important even though often overlooked? I'm often copied on long email strings through my business without clear salutations it becomes increasingly confusing who is actually being addressed in the correspondence.

2. Names. While we are on the subject of names let's talk briefly about the importance of getting the names right. In email correspondence you have the advantage of being able to really check your facts before pushing send. Make sure your have double checked the name of the person you are emailing. Check for proper spelling and versioning. For instance do they go by Daniel or Danny? Calling someone the wrong name in an email is aside fire way to make a negative impression In a hurry.

3. Capital letters. Unless you MEAN to shout or specifically need extra emphasis avoid using all caps in an email and certainly NEVER WRITE COMPLETE SENTENCES IN CAPS. See how annoying that is??

4. Run on sentences or no punctuation. Seriously this one blow me away. Poor grammar is one thing but If you refuse to use punctuation in an email then don't expect me to attempt an interpretation. This may seem farfetched but I've received countless emails totally laving any type of basic punctuation. It's lazy and it's unforgive-able.

5. Responses and communication. The lack of communication in email correspondence is surprising. If you receive an emai, acknowledge it. Even if you aren't in a position to really 'answer it' at least let the sender know that you received it in a timely manner.

Because email correspondence seems a bit more "casual" and laid back it's easy to overlook some of these things in your communications. The next time you peruse your inbox keep these things in mind and craft your emails carefully and with diligence.