10 Business E-mail Etiquette New Year's Resolutions

Resolutions abound at this time of year. But none are as important as those that can enhance your business success, right?

The last year brought social media home for good — which means even more written electronic communications. With more communications, comes more exposure and opportunity to form a professional impression. It’s called positive branding with every keystroke!

Those who see your communications on Facebook or Twitter will form an impression about you and your business based on how you choose to use technology – positive and negative alike. Commit to improving in these areas and you may find your business online activities are more enjoyable as well as more profitable and effective.

Trust me, it won’t hurt; rather it will only add to the positive impression you will make with those who you communicate with and are out to impress.

Now that social media is part of business many who may never have the pleasure of meeting you in person will only have your use of technology to form their opinions about who you are, what you feel is important and what you will be like to do business with.

Here are your Business E-mail Etiquette
Resolutions for 2012

Every e-mail, I send will be courteous and include a proper greeting and closing which includes my name. Typed properly too! Names in lower case or all caps show either a lack of education or tech savvy; neither of which is a good thing when it comes to building trust in business. Nice greetings and closings avoid my e-mails being perceived as demanding or terse and show that I understand common courtesies.

I will not forward an e-mail unless it specifically applies to the person I am sending to. I will include a personal note to that person so they know why I am forwarding that particular e-mail their way. If I must send or forward the same e-mail to a group of contacts, I will do so only when I put their e-mail addresses in the BCc: field to protect their privacy (especially if they don’t know each other). I will use the Cc: and BCc: features prudently by only including e-mail addresses that “need to know” and will not use these options for CYA or e-tattling purposes thereby causing increased and unnecessary e-mails to others. I will also make a point of down editing my e-mails to remove any text that is irrelevant to the ongoing conversation.

I will take the time to make sure that my sentences are complete, capitalized and include proper grammar and punctuation. This goes for Twitter and Facebook too! Educated professionals communicate in an educated professional way regardless of venue (or device). Not all caps; not all lower case. Using proper sentence structure and taking the extra time to make sure that my intent and tone are clear whether it be a Tweet or a Facebook comment, will add clarity to my communications. Making these efforts will go a long way to certify that communicating with me is easy and reliable while having the added benefit of helping to avoid any misunderstandings.

I will not send an unannounced large attachment of any kind until I ask first when would be the best time to send them to the intended party and what format they prefer to make sure they have the necessary software to view my files. I will never send unannounced large attachments to business contacts outside of business hours when they are unavailable to keep their inbox clear.

I will make sure that the Subject: field will include a brief and concise description reflecting the real topic of every e-mail I send. I will change the Subject: field when necessary to better display what my e-mail is about when a conversation has moved off the original topic.

I will not post e-mails sent to me privately for any reason in a public forum or forward them to a third-party without the original sender’s permission. Those who I forward business e-mails that are for my eyes only will know this is poor behavior and that I am not to be trusted.

I will be very respectful about how I use my employer’s technology resources understanding they are paying the bills and I am on their time. This includes not Tweeting or visiting Facebook on business time unless those activities are specifically part of my job description. I also understand that I should not assume any level of privacy while using company equipment, connectivity or e-mail resources. I will make a point of reviewing my employer’s policies so that I am familiar with them and can to my job as expected.

I will refrain from formatting my e-mails with colored text, bolding and/or italics because I know it may not look as I intended (not professional) when received on the other side. I also understand by making the extra effort to add emphasis to my statements by using formatting this can be taken the wrong way or most likely over-emphasized by the recipient. Instead I will learn to relay my thoughts clearly with the written word and not rely on red text, caps or bolding. I understand if I take the time to choose my words carefully, formatting is not necessary to communicate with clarity.

When I sign up for a Web site service, newsletter or am sending an inquiry to a business partner, I will take the time to add that site’s e-mail address to my address book, white list or approved senders list so that the response to my inquiry can get through any spam blocking software my ISP, online service or that I may have in place. I understand that if I don’t make this effort, the response to my request or subscription may not make it to my inbox.

I will make a point of understanding each online service or Web site I choose to use by reading their Frequently Asked Questions, Terms of Service and Help area before e-mailing my questions. I understand that as a professional it is important for me to check the information available to me before sending support request e-mails.

There you have it! Your 10 Business E-mail Etiquette New Year’s Resolutions to work on for the year ahead.

Remember, your business e-mail activity is all about forming relationships and “communicating with the knowledge, understanding and courtesy” necessary to relay what a joy you will be like to do business with. Use this knowledge to your advantage!

Wishing you all a prosperous New Year!