b = be
b4 = before
brb = be right back
btw = by the way
gr8 = great
lol = laugh out load
rofl = rolling on floor laughing

How to Revise an Email So That People Will Read It, an article by David Silverman, HarvardBusiness.org includes a checklist to consider when revising:

1. Delete redundancies. Say it once. That’s enough. If you’re repetitive, the reader will stop reading and start skimming. (Like you probably just did.)

2. Use numbers and specifics instead of adverbs and adjectives. ”The project is currently way behind schedule on major tasks,” is not as clear as “The project is 3 weeks late delivering hamburger buns to Des Moines.” (If you don’t have numbers, still get rid of the adverbs and adjectives.)

3. Add missing context. Does your reader know that hamburger buns in Iowa are required for the company to collect $37 million? If you’re not sure, remind them.

4. Focus on the strongest argument. Should those hamburger buns get shipped because the delay is embarrassing for the company, because it’s costing children their lunch, or because it’s costing the company tens of millions of dollars? Maybe all three, but one of those reasons (and it depends on your reader) will be enough to get buns on the road.

5. Delete off-topic material. The best emails say one thing and say it clearly. One-subject emails also make it easier for the recipient to file the message once they’ve taken action, something anyone who uses Outlook to manage tasks appreciates.

6. Seek out equivocation and remove it. ”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” works for Dickens, not status reports.

7. Kill your favorites. Is something in your text particularly pithy, amusing, or clever? Chances are, it’s not. If it sticks out, it’s probably a tap-dancing gorilla in boxer shorts — hilarious when you thought of it, embarrassing when it gets in your manager’s inbox.

8. Delete anything written in the heat of emotion. Will this sentence show them who’s been right about the hamburger buns since the beginning? Yes? Cut it.

9. Shorten. Remember the reader struggling to digest your message on the run — a BlackBerry or an iPhone gets about 40 words per screen. What looks short on your desktop monitor is an epic epistle on their mobile device.

10. Give it a day. With time, what seemed so urgent may no longer need to be said. And one less email is something everyone will thank you for.

E-mail marketing is very powerful and as such has been embraced by many including those I’ve blogged about before. With that said, there are many new contenders on the market that show much promise. I’d love to know what e-mail marketing solution you use and what you like/dislike about it if you would be so good to share?

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL MY E-MAIL MARKETING POSTS

Keeping the thread offers many benefits and saves everyone time and money, and yet so many people don’t know why or how. Thus this article.

‘Keeping The Thread’ ensures:

• all threads on the topic are contained in one email
• older emails with that same subject line can be ignored/deleted
• people don’t waste time sifting through multiple messages trying to find out what they need
  things don’t get lost in the fray

7 Things to Remember When Responding To An E-mail Message

• Reply to all (so everyone is in the loop)
• Respond on the latest email with that subject (so correspondence is not lost)
• Retain subject line (keeps all threads on same topic together)
• Stay on topic (subject line)
• Create new email for new/unrelated topics that arise (so subject lines are )
• Keep conversations to the topic described in the subject line
• Create a new email for new topics (ensures subject line describes content)

4 Tips For Creating A New E-mail Message:

• Ensure there’s not already an open email on this topic (multiple emails on same topic make it very hard to follow the thread and risk things being missed)
• Use subject lines that describes the topic succinctly (for all involved)
• Include keyword e.g. your domain name in subject line (for filtering /filing purposes)
• Email to only those who need to be involved (time is money)

I think that covers everything, but if I have I missed something, please feel free to add your comment below…

There are many e-mail marketing solutions on the market today, with different features and functionality, most with a free trial offer so you can try before you buy. Here are my favourites:

1. iContact
   iContact makes it easy to create, publish, and track email newsletters, surveys, blogs, autoresponders, and RSS feeds. $9.95/month & up
2. Constant Contact
   Contact Contact is a popular e-mail marketing solution that allows you to send unlimited emails to your list, create unlimited surveys and invite participation from your email list or website visitors, and offers unlimited free phone, chat, and email support. Packages start at $15/month.

Do you know of an e-mail marketing solution that you would recommend? If so, please click on the word comment and type away…

If you phone a company you’ve dealt with (or considered dealing with) and the phone number is “out of service”, you might hunt for their new number. But time is money. You might contact the person you met at yesterday’s breakfast meeting instead. Whether the business moved or changed phone numbers, your call represents a lost prospect.

If your company’s e-mail address is owned by your internet service provider (ISP), e.g. you@yourISPname.com, you risk the same problem. Should you leave your ISP because of high prices or poor service, or should the ISP go out of business, your e-mail address goes “out of business”, too. Every business card you’ve handed out, every Yellow Pages ad, every directory, every flyer leads your clients and prospects to a dead end.

Each e-mail equals a potential sale; can you afford to miss one? Smart business owners control their prime contact channels–phone numbers, faxes, and now in the 21st century, e-mail and e-mail addresses.

Take control of your e-mail. Create and promote your own branded e-mail (e.g. you@yourDOMAINname.com). You’ll own a secure e-mail address that won’t change.

As an extra benefit, you advertise your business with every e-mail. You wouldn’t advertise another business on your flyer; why advertise your ISP in your e-mail address? Branded e-mails are memorable—as good as handing out a business card.

Your new e-mail address can redirect mail to your old e-mail address. E-mails you send can display your new address by making a simple change to your e-mail configuration’s “return address” or “reply address”. Your promotional materials can be updated at your convenience, as you reorder, providing an inexpensive and seamless transition.

The switch isn’t costly. The benefit to your business, however, could be priceless.

E-Mail is quick, convenient and economical. But like any form of business communication, e-mail follows a few common rules of courtesy:

1. SUBJECT LINE–Always use this field and make it as descriptive as possible. A descriptive subject says, “open me”. It also makes your message easy to find again.
2. CAPS–Refrain from typing in ALL CAPS because on the Internet, ALL CAPS is used to convey that the writer is shouting.
3. BCC–If you’re sending to a large group, use “blind copies” (unless there’s an awfully good reason to have everyone see the e-addresses of all 215 recipients). Your message appears more private and personal.
4. REPLY TO ALL–If you’re responding to a group e-mail, hit REPLY rather than REPLY TO ALL unless you really think the whole group wants to see your reply. REPLY TO ALL facilitates voting and discussion among a group of people.

Fast, free and far less formal, e-mail is a great advantage to today’s organizations. Learn to use it professionally.

I don’t know about you, but when messages arrive in my inbox I find it distracting. I know that for most efficient use of my time, important but not urgent tasks, like my volunteer work, should be grouped and dealt with together. Nonetheless, sometimes I get distracted by the “shiny object”. Like most people, I divide up my time many ways–volunteer work, committees, projects–there are just so many shiny objects! I decided a few years ago to make technology work for me instead of against me with a message-sorting system that organizes my mail as it arrives. Here’s how it works:

STEP 1: Decide on a keyword Choose on a short, easy-to-remember keyword, like an acronym for the organization or association. If we use the fictional Association of Businesses and Corporations as an example, a good keyword would be ABC. Decide as a board that all email correspondence will include this keyword in the subject line, like the examples below:

STEP 2: Create folder for the keyword Each member creates a folder called ABC in his or her email program. Once the filter is created, all ABC mail will be funneled to this folder, rather than into your inbox.

STEP 3: Create rule or filter The procedure for creating a rule or filter is different in every email program, but if you search for help on ‘filtering messages’, your email program should walk you through the steps. The following instructions work in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.

1. Click on TOOLS
2. Click on RULES AND ALERTS
3. Click on NEW RULE
4. Click on MOVE MESSAGES WITH SPECIFIC WORDS IN THE SUBJECT TO A FOLDER
5. Click NEXT
6. Click on SPECIFIC WORDS
7. Type the word you want to filter mail for e.g. ABC
8. Click ADD
9. Click OK
10. Click on SPECIFIED
11. Navigate to and highlight the folder you want email to go in e.g. ABC
12. Click OKAY
13. Click NEXT
14. Click NEXT
15. Click NEXT
16. Click on the box beside RUN THIS RULE NOW ON MESSAGES ALREADY IN ‘INBOX’
17. Click OKAY

Voilà! No more shiny objects! Hope this helps you stay more organized and allows you to make better use of your time.

There are many e-mail marketing solutions on the market today, with different features and functionality, most with a free trial offer so you can try before you buy. Here are my favourites:

1. iContact
   iContact makes it easy to create, publish, and track email newsletters, surveys, blogs, autoresponders, and RSS feeds. $9.95/month & up
2. Constant Contact
   Contact Contact is a popular e-mail marketing solution that allows you to send unlimited emails to your list, create unlimited surveys and invite participation from your email list or website visitors, and offers unlimited free phone, chat, and email support. Packages start at $15/month.

You wouldn’t write a letter to a client or prospect on plain paper instead of your letterhead, would you? Then why send out e-mail without letterhead’s Internet equivalent? Your e-mail signature or SIG identifies your organization and lends a professional finish, just like letterhead. Unlike letterhead, however, your SIG usually appears at the end of correspondence.

Just think, each time you send e-mail with a SIG, you broadcast a brief commercial: what you do, your mission statement and contact information (especially toll free lines). But remember–large SIGs obscure your message and look unprofessional. Keep it under six lines.

Don’t let opportunity pass you by. Ask aWEBthatWORKS.com to design your SIG. Call 1-800-579-9253 today!