Business Onliners: You MUST Be Open to Learning

On a daily basis I am faced with communicating with business onliners who disregard the importance of Business E-mail Etiquette. Even clients who have been with me for over a decade, who know I have numerous sites and books on the topic, still reflect no effort to communicate in a tech savvy manner.

Today, when discussing with a potential client about getting him off of AOL so he could use his domain name as his e-mail address he insinuated that proper Business E-mail Etiquette is my opinion; “not the way everyone should have to e-mail”. I’m not talking everyone; I’m talking about those who want to use technology for their business success. And not all businesses succeed based on the decisions they make in regard to what they have to do or not.

To some, my stance on the importance of Business E-mail Etiquette makes me hell-spawn. I can hear it in their voices — I heard that today — and see it reflected in the terse tone of their e-mails. Unfortunately, it is just those same individuals who will be the first to gripe about their lack of success, orders, contacts, results…

For the most part, none of us have had any formal training about how to use technology properly. We are all self-taught and doing our own thing. Just because technology swept into our lives like a tidal wave over the past decade, does that mean anything goes? No, it does not. That the basics of how to communicate and use technology properly to give the very best impression possible is something you have to do? Yes, it is. The fact is that those who rise to the challenge of learning how to use e-mail and technology properly will rue the day over their perceived competitors.

These “opposers” seem to only want to do what they want or are willing to do. They are not open to changing their ways or learning new skills — even if it proves to have a negative impact on how they are perceived professionally. And the fact is that those folks will be perceived differently than the professionals who realize the importance and opportunity e-mail can be as the relationship and business building tool that it is.

To me, all these issues are common sense and important enough to be paid attention to. That’s why I started promoting, informing and coaching my clients on Business E-mail Etiquette best practices well over a decade ago. That’s why I started this Business Only E-mail Etiquette Blog — to be able to specifically concentrate on the topics you want to know about and issues you struggle with most so you can learn — and succeed!

I’ve always been open to learning new things, especially when I know I am in foreign territory. And, believe it or not, we are all still in foreign territory. Each and every day brings the opportunity to be open to learning new things and to work at building our skills to enhance our potential.

After plugging away for the past 17 years on the topic of E-mail Etiquette, I am still surprised at the overwhelming lack of desire to learn and embrace this information from some business onliners. It appears I still have my work cut out for me. Remember…