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Email Etiquette

Yes, even on the Internet, there is etiquette. Experts agree that your e-mail behavior has the potential to sabotage your reputation both personally and professionally. So let's look at the etiquette of email.
  • Avoid Caps Lock in the email and in the subject line.
  • Use punctuation and edit your email for grammar
  • Don't use Return Receipt (RR) on every single email. Doing so is viewed as intrusive, annoying and can be declined by the other side anyway.
  • Use a subject line that reflects what you are saying in the email.
  • Keep your emails brief and to the point. Long emails are often put it aside until they have more time, which may not be too soon.
  • In the same regard, read the entire email and response appropriately, answering all questions even if you don't know the answer.
  • Respond promptly, 24 to 48 hours at the most.
  • Like a letter, it is good form to add a opening and closing salutation.
  • The recipient can change the size of the font if they have trouble reading your message, so keep the text size normal. 
  • Only discuss public matters via email, if it needs to be private, email is not the secure means of transmitting that information. 
  •  Don't use email for sending bad news, reprimands or saying unkind things about your boss. Remember, emails can last forever!
  • Don't send one-line emails of thanks. 
  • If it is a business letter, never use jargon, slang, emoticons or word shortcuts such as "BTW".  Very unprofessional.
  • Do not forward chain letters
  • If it sounds too good to be true don't forward it.
  • If it sounds fishy, don't forward it.
  • If it is a email petition, it has no value, don't forward it. 
  • If it is worth forwarding, clean up the text, remove other people's email addresses and remove all the excessive carrots (>>>). 
This is just a brief look at email etiquette, but you get the idea. Until next time. ☺

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