I often stop and think. Wow -- how did my parents ever get anything done in the business world 20, 30, 50 years ago?

There was no email, no computers, no internet and the scariest of all no Google. Yikes! (The thought of working without these tools sends chills down my spine.)

Yeah, things moved slower, but nonetheless business was getting done with great success.

Fast forward to the modern era of instant gratification where you can do just about anything (well almost) with the stroke of keyboard and the click of a mouse and suddenly you have a whole new set of problems that keep slowing you down.

Information overload!  Spam mail, direct marketing, and many other forms of "in your face click on me now" types of marketing campaigns can potentially rob you of crucial productivity and time.  Knowing how to keep these things in their appropriate place and time will help you keep your focus and help you effectively manage your time.

Email by far is the most used part of the internet and coincidentally the most misused, too.

Your school teachers and parents taught you how to effectively write a letter, and for some you learned how to compose a professional business letter to higher level of learning. Whatever the case, the basics are always the same. A salutation, state the purpose of the letter, make a request and set expectations for a response, close the letter.

Personally I believe that email should be treated professionally, but that doesn't mean you have to follow the formalities of a conventional business letter. Email should be straight to the point and brief, yet the brevity should not compromise the intended message. In other words, say what you need to say and be done with it.

So here are some tips:

• Brevity is at the heart n soul of your email.

• Short emails rule! -- If I get an email thats several pages long, I have to stop and think do I really want to read this now? Can I pass it on to someone else?

• Use the subject line. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find and old email that has no subject line that you can search or sort for.

• Get rid of FW: FW: FW or RE: RE: RE: RE: Nothing says junk mail more than an email thats been recycled by everyone in your address book. Clean up the subject line to a single FW or RE as necessary..
  

• Be respectful of the recipients time. Your email is competing for read time with many other emails in your recipients inbox.
  

• Supporting material is important in email, but keep it separate. Know how to attach items and keep them separate from the email body. Let the reader decide if they want to click n open to read your attachment. (By now you better know how to attach files.)

• Introduce yourself properly -- If you don't personally know the addressee of your email, you better tell how and why you are contacting them in the first sentence or you're likely to end up in the spam or delete file.

• Communicate expectations -- If an email reply is expected. Then say so. If the email is informational only and no reply is needed then state that too. Use the subject line to say "FYI only - No reply needed."

• Format your email for easy reading -- Format the email to make key points jump off the page. Your email should be in HTML format which will allow you to do some formatting of fonts and paragraphs. use spaces, italics and different colors to make key parts of the email jump out.

                       For example an invitation to a business conference might have the place, and time in red and separate from the body of the email.

• Protect other people's email privacy: Don't send an email blast to people that don't know each other.  You're just begging for spam to be sent to all.   Use the BCC line when sending email to multiple parties that don't know each other.  This keeps everyone's address private.
  

• Stop the stupid jokes junk mail:   Sure everyone likes a good laugh and I admit some emails are pretty funny, but don't send joke mail or junk unless you know the recipient really well and/or you have their permission to send joke mail.   We don't need 10 copies of the latest email cartoon clogging your inbox.  (this also goes for the overly emotional email campaigns to save some child in need.  You can verify most  junk mail on www.snopes.com check it out before participating in spam)

• Pick up the Phone. Lastly and most importantly, don't use email for things that need personal attention or immediate action.  Don't assume that because you sent it, the other person read it.  Email is a valuable communication tool, but it's not a replacement for good ol fashion verbal dialogue. 
  

Learn to use email correctly.  Understand its limitations and you'll be very efficient in your business.   Otherwise you will compromise your productivity in which case your better off going back to snail mail. 

Martin Rodriguez
President, SCV Loan Solutions, Inc.