Let’s face it, email sucks. Sending it, receiving it, forwarding it, filing it, printing it, deleting it and especially reading it from someone who sucks at writing it.
Email etiquette should take on a Twitter-like format where everyone is only allowed 140 characters to compose their thoughts. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Until then, here are some tips to avoid sucking at email:
1) Make the subject line count.
The subject line is there for a reason and sometimes it requires a little thought. Choose your subject wisely to reflect the email content and make it easy for the recipient to recall your message. Refrain from writing “Hi, Lauren” unless you really are just writing to say hi. Try not to get too carried away in the email body and forget to fill out the subject line altogether because that is the worst (Been there, done that!) And please please please do not reply to discuss a completely different subject. Simply compose a new email. Switching back and forth between topics under the same subject line is how important details get lost.
2) Don’t include everyone and their mom in your response.
The CC (Carbon Copy) feature is probably one of the most annoying things on the planet and you should only use it for one of these reasons: The person being CC’d specifically told you to copy them; The person being CC’d actually needs to know every detail about the subject being discussed; or the person you have been trying to get a response/action from will not get motivated to complete a task unless you CC their immediate supervisor. That last one is a bit shady, but it works and sometimes you just have to go there. Unless you are the type of person who likes to make things complicated, keep your copying at a minimum.
3) Never, ever, use BCC.
BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) is bad, m’kay? If you are thinking about BCC’ing someone, CC them instead or don’t include them at all. It’s rude to assume someone is comfortable with their email being read by other parties behind their back. The only, I repeat, ONLY circumstance where using BCC is somewhat acceptable is when you are sending a marketing/promo, thank you or other mass email communication to a giant list of contacts. In this case, you would need to put your own email address in the “To” line and BCC all of the emails you are sending to in order to keep their addresses private from one another.
4) Murder your CAPS LOCK.
You’ve heard it before and I’m here to remind you: SHOUTING IS NOT COOL. USING ALL CAPS IS LIKE SHOUTING, AND SHOUTING IS FOR FOUR-YEAR-OLDS. WHEN YOU SEND AN EMAIL LIKE THIS, IT SENDS THE MESSAGE THAT YOU ARE BASICALLY COMPUTER ILLITERATE. IT’S 2012. GET WITH THE PROGRAM, FORGET YOUR CAPS LOCK KEY EXISTS AND LEARN HOW TO SEND AN EMAIL. IF YOU ARE USING ALL CAPS BECAUSE YOU ARE MAD AT SOMEONE AND ACTUALLY MEAN TO SHOUT, YOU ARE BEING A SISSY. PICK UP THE PHONE OR YELL AT THEM IN PERSON.
5) Open and close it.
How you open and close an email is just as important as what’s in the body. There are a million acceptable ways to open, but my favorite is just the person’s name followed by a comma. If you have met in person and are friendly with the recipient, feel free to insert “Hi” before their name. In my opinion, “Dear” is outdated and “To Whom This May Concern” is impersonal. “Sir or Madam” is necessary if you are not sure whether the recipient is male or female. “Mr.” or “Ms.” works if you are sending a formal communication like a marketing email, or responding to a job post. As for salutations, I usually use “Kind regards,” or just a simple “-Lauren” when emailing close friends and colleagues. Only use “Thank You” if you are actually thanking the person for something. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen it used for no reason. Other options include “Regards,” “Best Regards,” “Cheers,” and “Best” — which I’m not a fan of.
6) Check your spelling!
Spelling is HUGE (I’m allowed to say that in CAPS because it is super-duper important). When you misspell a word, it makes you look like an idiot and the recipient will most likely judge you and/or label you a careless or unintelligent person. Every day thousands of people apply for jobs and don’t receive responses because they didn’t take the time to check their spelling and re-read their draft. How hard is it to click the button at the top of your email? Make it a habit!
7) Break the chain.
The only thing worse than receiving junk email is receiving non-junk email strewn with junk. Yes, I’m talking to you – the one who lazily hits the forward button and adds a quick sentence of explanation at the top. Unless you are paying me, there is no reason for me to have to stare at your email for longer than five minutes to figure out what the H-E-double hockey sticks is going on. Please, do the world a favor and delete any previous garbage in the email chain that is no longer relevant. Delete all fifty of your signature lines that have been piling on after each response. Delete all of the extra breaks. Delete button = your friend.
8) Use a signature.
Everyone, employed or unemployed, should have an email signature. You may even want to just go ahead and secure your son or daughter’s GMAIL account while they are still in the womb and write up their signature line. It’s that important. A signature adds instant credibility (most spammers don’t have them), it tells the recipient who you are and how to reach you, it promotes your website and social network profiles, and it makes you look 10x more important than you really are. I would say it is especially important for those who are unemployed and actively searching for a job because no one wants to hire someone who doesn’t have anything going on. If you don’t have a job title, punch up your signature line by adding a short descriptive phrase about yourself, direct links to help people connect with you on LinkedIn and Twitter, and a link to your portfolio and/or blog. Don’t forget to check that the links are working!
9) Don’t use crazy fonts, colors and logos.
If you’re into fonts, colors and logos, become a graphic designer or play around on Illustrator during your free time. Email is not the place to be colorful. When there are too many things going on in your email, the message gets lost and the recipient gets distracted and annoyed. Black is the easiest color to read against the white background, blue is ONLY for links, and swirly fonts are better saved for baby shower or wedding announcements. Stick with a widely used font like Times New Roman or Arial, and make sure you’re using 10-12 pt. font (12 is best). Don’t even think about inserting a photo of yourself unless you’re a realtor.
10) Be kind!
Perhaps the most important guideline of all – be kind! You never know what mood your recipient will be in when they open your email. Maybe they just bought a new puppy, or maybe their puppy died (hey, it could happen!) Maybe they have been thinking about you and waiting for your email, or maybe they have been thinking about how much they dislike you and can’t wait to delete you as a friend on Facebook. Humor aside, email communication is not something to be taken lightly. Research shows that people typically rate the tone of average emails as negative, and they rate kind emails as neutral. When composing, keep in mind the Plato quote, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle,” and go ahead and throw in a few emoticons every once in a while 
Tags: Common Email Mistakes, Email, Email Tips, How to, How to Write Email, Writing Emails
I’m halfway through the A countries on this Global Table Adventure! Can I get an A-men? (Sorry – I couldn’t resist) Today it is freezing and rainy in Dallas, and I am making recipes from Antigua and Barbuda (islands in the Caribbean) … I would say the timing couldn’t be worse, but it actually couldn’t be better because Adam and I are getting ready to leave for a vacation in the Virgin Islands this weekend! Woot woot!! A blog post will surely come on that later, but for now, let’s focus on Antigua and Barbuda. A & B is a twin-island nation that lies between the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans. The islands are separated by a few nautical miles and situated in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles.
Sparkling Grapefruit Breeze 
