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Email Etiquette II
Written by: Kathie ThomasArticle Overview: Email Etiquette part II
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Free Download - How Often Are You Backing Up? By Kathie Thomas |
Email Etiquette II
I had great feedback from my last article, and was asked to write further on the subject; hence my title.
This time I'll share on Email Etiquette in discussion groups. For those who are not yet aware, on the Internet there are hundreds of thousands of discussion groups available in any topic imaginable. The most popular group systems used are YahooGroups.com, Topica.com and SmartGroups.com but there are others. Some web owners set up their own private groups too, via their website.
The idea behind these groups is that someone starts up or moderates a topic and people become members (at no cost) if they are interested. Some of these groups have closed memberships, i.e. you have to be involved in whatever that group is about and outsiders cannot join, whilst other groups are open to all and sundry.
With the whole world being open to membership for these groups cultural differences need to be considered and it is possible to easily upset a member and suddenly you have a heated argument with many others getting involved and the original meaning and context completely shoved aside! I've seen this happen in groups and it's a shame, as it often just takes a little thought and consideration to realise that perhaps the writer didn't fully understand the language, or hadn't actually meant what may have sounded rather rude. There have been times when someone has written something I thought was offensive or wrong and rather than emailing back to the list via the group email address, I have chosen to email the writer direct instead. A much better way to handle a misunderstanding.
A good rule when handling/writing email for group discussions - read through it first and then check which address it is going to, before clicking 'Send'.
The suggestion last month about using signature blocks really applies in this situation - how will people know who you are, or where you come from if you only sign off as 'Kathie'?
Another suggestion - trim the message before sending it back to the group. What I mean by this is do not leave all the original discussion and replies at the tail end as this is unnecessary and makes it inconvenient for those who have chosen to receive a daily digest of messages (they keep reading the same things over and over otherwise) and difficult for those who are on limited bandwidth for email. But don't delete the whole previous message - if you are responding to something, or adding to the discussion. There are often multiple discussions going on and it could prove difficult for the reader to understand what you're saying, and in what context, if the whole previous message is deleted from your response. I have at times read something posted to a group and thought 'huh?' There is a happy medium here.
Discussion groups give you an opportunity to learn from others and share ideas, but more than that, it allows you to make friends on a global scale, and then the world really does seem to become smaller. And, if you are really knowledgeable in your field, it also helps enforce this to others and before you know it, you become a respected member that others seek to learn from and perhaps be mentored by. What a privilege that can be!
One word of warning - belonging to multiple groups can become time consuming and addictive! You could find yourself spending more time reading and responding to messages than getting your work done. So, if you work virtually like I, and my team do, that can become a real danger to your business. As in all things, moderation is the key, and you stand to learn many things and make lots of friends.
Next article I'll cover Topic Changes and Read Receipts.
Email Etiquette - Part 1
“Powerful Business Etiquette Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
Email Etiquette - Is the Money Really in the List?
Business Email Etiquette – What you should know BEFORE you hit Send
Business Etiquette Seems To Have Gone Out The Window
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About the Author: Kathie Thomas RSS for Kathie's articles - Visit Kathie's website  Click here to visit Kathie's website   What Can a Client Expect in a Virtual Working Relationship Marketing How Much Do You Spend Email Etiquette III Keep Your Bookkeeping Up To Date Developing a Niche For Your Virtual Assistant Practice |
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Web magazine publisher
- My duties
1) Research the articles that goes into each of my webzines - science fiction in all media, various sports (Yay, Lady Vols, 8th championship in 2008, by the way!)
2) Write the articles
3) Format and upload them to the web
4) Email and network various contacts to get out the word that new articles are available.
5) Email authors, actors, etc. etc. to see if they want to do interviews.
6) Advertise for more contributors - and then edit and upload their material!
Re: Email Marketing
- Yes, true. What kind of changes happened in Email campaigns except the opt-in? Finding the exact target and reaching them is always a challenge.
What new methods can we have to reach the new customers?
Thanks
Robert
Re: Email marketing strategy
- Email Marketing is successful only when you get a good list of targeted people. However, some people consider it as spam. It can work wonders for you if you have selected the appropriate list of people.
Re: The Best Method for Online Marketing
- Email marketing can be very successful there's little doubt about that. But you need to build a solid list of subscribers and build a strong relationship with them. It's all about give, give, give, and then you can promote something. Takes a lot of patience and hard work but it can definitely be worth it later on.
If I may....
- [quote:3m7m1its]an editor/writer that can provide this added level of guidance, quality control and writers management while still not costing an arm and a leg.[/quote:3m7m1its]
Coff coff.... coff coff.
This is the type of stuff I do.
Email me if you'd like...
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