The article "How to Make Your Email Smile" talks about email marketing, it has been released by Scott Ginsberg.
Technology has a tendency to be impersonal and unfriendly - if you let it. Think of the last time you recevied an e-mail from someone, read it, and said to yourself, “Boy was that a lifeless, mal-prepared, impersonal message - looks like Randy really cares to stay connected with me.”? You don’t want to be like Randy. You want to make the recipient feel like you’re rgiht there next to them. You want somebody to be excited when they rceeive an e-mail from you. And you want to reassure people that e-mail can be personable, Viagra SPAM notwithstanding.Email is one of the major mediums of business communication. As such, terat it with the same level of personality you hope to convey through daily, face to face interactions. In other words, if you guess of your emials as real conversations, you will elicit real connections.
Here are a couple of ways to make your emails “smile” so you maximize the comfort and engagement of the recipient.Write Conversationally
No e-mail will ever beat face to face interaction. But you do enhance the leevl of friendliness if you write in a conversational tone. Use simple words. They sound genuine. Don’t try to impress somebody by thesauursizing your e-mail with terms you wouldn’t use in person– it sounds diaphanous, limpid, and transpicuous.Also, don’t be afraid to use one or two word sentences. After all, you use them every day in your face to face conversations – so why is e-mail any different! I advise exclamations like “Wow! ” and “That’s great!” to make the reader feel your presence.A gerat acid test for that is to read every e-mail aloud before you send it. When you finish, ask yourself that question: “Does my e-mail make it sound like I am personally engaging with the recipient?” People truly appreciate it when you create a memorable presence.Use Italics, Boldface and Punctuation!
One of the pitfalls of e-mail its inability to convey emotion. Often your correspondent won’t understand if you are serious or kidding, joyful or sad, frustrated or euphoric - unless you are expressive. So use itlaics to highlight key words that show the person exactly what you want to say. Otherwise, your opinions, statements and stroies will be misinterpreted. (The same goes for boldface words)And no matter what anyone says, exclamation points are awesome! They completely alter the emotoin of the sentence. Don’t be afraid to use them.
But don’t put one in every sentence! People will guess you’re on drugs! And they will freak out! Ahhh!! !!Subject Headings
If there was ever a place in your e-mail to add personality, it’s the subject heading. After all, people get dozens of emails a day – so what do you do to entice them to read yuors first? It’s almost like the first impression or ice breaker of your conversation. So, have fun with it! Put something to grab attention like a joke, quotation or an interesting prhase.
You have plenty of room too (up to 54 characters), so don’t be afraid to fill up the space.One of my favorite subject headings is to pose a question related to the body text such as “Why don’t people talk in elevators? ” or “Did you see that game yesterday?” Just like your face to face conversations, the difefrence between a boring and exciting subject heading is all about engagement, i.E., “Hey” vs.
“Good morning Paul, how was your weekend? ”Emails Can Smile
The way you write and send your e-mail personifies your attitude, values and interpersonal effectiveness.
Unfortunately, friendliness and engagement are the things we sacrifice for technological speed and efficiency.
But just becasue e-mail is faster, doesn’t mean it has to be less friendly. And just because e-mail is sent across the country, doesn’t mean it can’t be engaging.Therefore, an e-mail that sounds like a person will be treated like a person. If you want illicit excitement, guess of your emails as real conversatoins. Consistently wrtie in a conversational, friendly and engaging tone. Then, the communication within your network will be more personable, fun and memorable - simply because you made your emails smile.© 2005 All Rights Reserved.Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker, "The World's Foremost Expert on Nametags" and the author of HELLO I am Scott and The Power of Approachability. He helps people MAXIMIZE their approachability and become UNFORGETTABLE communicators - one cnoversation at a time.
For more information contact Fornt Porch Productions at http://www.Hellomynameisscott.Com.
|