Writng Effective E-Mail
By Dr. Robert Sullivan

E-mail is a world-wide phenomenon and is rapidly becoming THE way to communicate everything from personal greetings to marketing product and services and sending news releases. It is a very important tool for the entrepreneur. But, like any communication medium, it must be used carefully to be effective.

Poorly written e-mail will be viewed as spam and discarded. E-mail that is poorly constructed will cause more damage than a poor print advertisement because e-mail is viewed as being more intrusive. The message should be clear - write good, effective e-mail. Here are some important "golden rules" to keep in mind...

1. COMPOSE THE MESSAGE CAREFULLY. Think through what you want to say and write it as succinctly as possible. Make sure the "message" appears in the first paragraph. If your e-mail software does not spell check, compose the message in a word processor and spell check there.

2. THE SUBJECT SHOULD SAY SOMETHING. This is your headline. Make it count. I immediately discard messages with no subject or with messages like "make a million." The subject should make the reader want to take a look at your message. Would you read this message? "Internet e-mail accounts for $5/month"

3. KEEP IT SHORT. Present your message in as few words as possible. Keep paragraphs short for easy reading. Don’t use an excessive amount of capitalized words or other attention getting tricks like a line of asterisks.

4. TARGET WITH CARE. Don’t broadcast your message to the world (unfortunately this is very easy to do with e-mail). Send only to a targeted audience - doing more is wasting bandwidth on the internet and will be viewed in a negative light by recipients that have no interest in your message. If possible, address each e-mail individually rather than using a mailing list.

5. USE ATTACHMENTS. If you are sending considerable supporting information, do it with an attachment. In general, use txt format which can be read by just about everyone. DON"T send an attachment larger than about 50Kb unless your audience is expecting it since download times can become excessive.

6. ASK FOR ACTION. Tell the reader what to do, if they are interested in your message.

7. CHECK. Reread your message one last time. Check to ensure the proper attachments are in fact attached. Check the TO: address carefully.

DR. ROBERT SULLIVAN is the author of "The Small Business Start-Up Guide" and "United States Government - New Customer!" either of which may be ordered toll-free at 1 800 375 8439. Visit the award-winning Small Business Advisor at http://www.isquare.comE-mail to bobs@isquare.com for a free subscription to his newsletter - use "subscribe" as the subject

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