Writing Professional Email Messages
Writing professional email messages is not hard. Yet all too often people seem to think that because email is a “cool” thing to do, it’s fine to write like an imbecile. They adapt the mobile ‘phone culture way of writing texts and end up writing a kind of pigeon English that few civilised people can understand. It doesn’t have to be like that, and it shouldn’t be like that either.
Writing is still writing, whether it’s writing a formal letter for a job application, or writing professional email messages. Even when you’re writing to friends it’s still good practice to write properly, though a certain degree of levity can be expected. However, when you are writing professional email pieces there is no room for mistakes. The person receiving the email cannot see you and probably doesn’t even know you, so you are judged on the strength of the email alone.
Start out with a strong subject line. This is effectively your headline. It is what the prospect sees first, and it is what often determines whether or not the email should be opened. If the subject line is vague, or worse still, empty, there is an excellent chance that the email will be deleted without it being opened. Writing professional email messages is a waste of time if no one opens and reads them.
Avoid word contractions or strings of letters that abbreviate something. Writing “u” for “you” is a definite no-no when writing professional email messages. It shows a certain disrespect and just plain lack of intelligence. How can you expect your potential customers to be interested in your product or service when you can’t even spell words out properly? And even if you think something is funny, don’t put in the ubiquitous, “lol.” Sure, everyone knows what it means – don’t they? Maybe your potential customer doesn’t!
Use the old-fashioned hand-written letter analogy with your emails; don’t send them until you are certain they are ready to be sent. Think of it as if you have to walk down the street to the nearest letterbox, and not just click a mouse button in order to send your emails off. Check everything over first, for once you click the “send” button, it’s too late to change your mind. This is excellent discipline for anyone writing professional email messages, as all too often today no one checks anything first.
The important word in this context is “professional.” If you want to come over as a professional, you have to be professional. When you start writing professional email pieces, be professional at every turn. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes and see how it might look to a total stranger. Only click the send button when you are completely certain that your professionalism will be carried over to your potential customer.
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