Getting 900+ emails a day is quite normal for me but the best part is that most of them go into my junk folder. The emails I do read are business related, either directly from someone I know or from companies touting their new products, information on events, etc.
To make it easier for me and everyone to refer to an email, or file an email, the subject line should contain “THE SUBJECT” of the email. Not a “Hi from John” or “What’s new?” or some other group of words that does not refer to the actual contents of the email. It would make life so much easier if you would put the actual subject in the subject space.
Before an email is sent, it should be proofed for spelling and punctuation errors. You never know where these emails will pop up, and you certainly do not want anyone to think you are not smarter than a 5th grader, right? By the way, your computer can spell check or help you with punctuation, but you have to do your part as well.
When you send out an email, do you ever wonder if the person received it? Well, a simple “ok”, “got it” or “will respond later” would be nice. I’m sure everyone has a “reply” button on their keyboard. And, while I’m on the subject, when you are expected to answer an email, try not to wait a week or more. Refer to the email you are answering and answer the whole email. Complete communication will cut down on the number of back-and-forth emails.
I have heard of people sending out a multitude of emails to a group of people. Typically this would be involving an organization. Try to keep your communication down to a reasonable number. After the 3rd or 4th email from the same person on the same subject and day, the rest of your emails will most likely be trashed. It gets to be a soap opera.
Keep emails brief. No one has the time to read the Gettysburg address. Save long conversations for the telephone (having a limit of 140 characters for texting was a smart idea).
DO NOT TYPE IN CAPS! That’s yelling and reflects shouting, unless of course, you want to yell and shout at someone.
Do not attach large files to your email without warning the recipient beforehand. If they can’t receive large files, split the file and send more then one email marking the subject space with “1 of 3,” “2 of 3,” and “3 of 3” for example.
Forwarding is not a good thing, especially when you are forwarding an email with pictures and the email has been forwarded and re-forwarded several times. Learn how to copy and paste or hit that delete button.
People, do you really need to send out those chain emails? Enough already. If you didn’t know by now, you are helping spammers build an email list.
And finally, remember that whatever you put on the internet is available to everyone. Keep your private pictures and personal data out of the cloud and off the internet. You cannot unring that bell.
