by Jim Kinkade

Created on: March 27, 2009

There are four basic rules for writing an effective email message.

Consider the audience
The rules of letter writing apply to most business to business email messages. You do not want to adopt an informal tone for a message you send to a business partner. The form of the email can also adopt traditional forms like memos, letters, reports, requests, etc. The person to whom you are sending the message and the reasons for sending it should dictate how you compose your message. When sending more informal messages to your brother in law, a more informal approach may be used, but the other two points should not be ignored.

Keep it simple
Even your brother in law won't read your email message if you don't get to the point. Whether you are making a proposal to your boss, providing technical help to a customer, or sending a letter to your senator and complain about the bailouts (something I highly recommend) keep your message short and to the point. Going off on rabbit trails will cause the recipient to breeze through your missive that may cause them to miss important bits. The most important items should be at the top, supported by short, bulleted points.

Make it relevant
Do not write email just for the sake of writing something, you can do that on your blog. The recipient has to take time to open their email client, pull down your message and read it. If it is not relevant to them, your message may never get that far. If the recipient never gets a relevant message from you, they may never open it at all. This point is especially important when sending periodical email messages like newsletters. If your newsletter becomes irrelevant to people they will unsubscribe, or worse, mark your email as spam.

Say everything you mean to say
Email messages are not like chat so don't treat it that way. It is imperative, especially if you are explaining something important; to say all you need to say in the initial message. Since email is an asynchronous form of communication, you do not have the luxury to answer the questions that pop into the recipient's head. Anticipate the questions they have and answer them all ahead of time. Before you send, read your message to make sure it is clear and concise. If it does not sound right to you, it will definitely not be helpful to the recipient.

Email is still the best communication tool in modern times. Treat it right and it will pay big dividends in productivity, efficiency and convenience.

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