1. Email addresses such as "babygurl@hotmail.com " and "rapper188@foo.chaos.com " are not appropriate for professional communication: Sender is one of the two key pieces of information about a message that the recipient will evaluate before a) reading your message or b) trashing it as junk . If you want your message read, use a professional-sounding address.
2. Subject is the other piece of information that the recipient will always look at before deciding to read a message. Always include a subject line in your message. Make it specific, and stick to that subject.
3. Use correct grammar and spelling. Poorly worded and misspelled messages will leave the impression that you are either sloppy or not very literate. If your words are important enough to write, then they're also important enough to write correctly. If your email software doesn't have grammar and spell check, then compose the message in Word. Spell- and grammar-check, then copy/paste into your message.
4. Don't type in UPPERCASE. It's extremely difficult to read and is widely considered to be a sign of an information illiterate. Likewise, don't type your entire message in lowercase. It says that you don't care or don't know better, and neither is a positive message.
5. Be concise and to the point, yet give adequate information for the response you seek. Before sending, read it through as if you're the recipient. Does it make sense?.
6. Break your message into logical paragraphs and restrict your sentences to sensible lengths. Read it aloud. Depending on the importance of the communication, you might have someone else proof it before sending. You can't get it back once it's sent.
7. Be careful of the tone you are using when writing. Be polite and respectful, not curt, whiny or demanding. Don't use smiley faces in professional communications.
8. Attachments can carry viruses, and many people are reluctant to open them. It is always good form to ask before you send an attachment: "May I send you my resume in an attachment or would you rather I copy it into an e-mail message?".
9. Remember that you lose control of messages once you send. Be very careful that what you say will not reflect badly on you if your message ends up in the hands of other(s) than the intended recipient.
