E-Mail

1. E-Mail Adapted from http://communication.howstuffworks.com/email.htm

2. E-Mail: An Introduction • The first e-mail message was sent in 1971 by an engineer named Ray Tomlinson. • Prior to this, you could only send messages to users on a single machine. • Tomlinson's breakthrough was the ability to send messages to other machines on the Internet, using the @ sign to designate the receiving machine.

3. E-Mail: An Introduction • An e-mail message has always been nothing more than a simple text message -- a piece of text sent to a recipient. In the beginning and even today, e-mail messages tend to be short pieces of text, although the ability to add attachments now makes many messages quite long.

4. E-Mail Clients • You've probably already received several e-mail messages today. To look at them, you use some sort of e-mail client. • Many people use well-known, stand-alone clients like Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora or Pegasus. • People who subscribe to free e-mail services like Hotmail or Yahoo use an e-mail client that appears in a web page.

5. E-Mail Clients • No matter which type of client you're using, it generally does four things: • Shows you a list of all of the messages in your mailbox by displaying the message headers. The header shows you who sent the mail, the subject of the mail and may also show the time and date of the message and the message size. • Lets you select a message header and read the body of the e-mail message. • Lets you create new messages and send them. You type in the e-mail address of the recipient and the subject for the message, and then type the body of the message. • Lets you add attachments to messages you send and save the attachments from messages you receive. • Sophisticated e-mail clients may have all sorts of bells and whistles, but at the core, this is all that an e-mail client does.

6. E-Mail Attachments • Your e-mail client allows you to add attachments to e-mail messages you send, and also lets you save attachments from messages that you receive. • Attachments might include word processing documents, spreadsheets, sound files, snapshots and pieces of software. • We use attachments because e-mail messages can contain only text information.

7. E-Mail Usage • Whether it's for work or keeping in touch with family and friends, people rely on the Internet to send and receive e-mail messages. • According to a March 2007 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 91 percent of U.S. Internet users have gone online to send or read e-mail. • The same source reports that 56 percent of e-mail users send or read e-mail as part of a typical day [source: Email Marketing Reports]. • An October 2007 study by the market research firm, The Radicati Group, reported that 183 billion e-mails were sent daily in 2006.

8. Free & Paid E-Mail Services • Gmail and Yahoo! make money from advertisers who pay them to expose e-mail account holders to their messages. • E-mail providers who charge a fee may offer additional services such as increased storage space. Sample providers include Juno, EarthLink and Webmail.us. • Most ISP Internet providers can also serve as an e-mail provider for no additional charge. Other paid e-mail services specialize in small business accounts and can assist businesses in purchasing and maintaining a domain name.

9. Free & Paid E-Mail Services • Free e-mail servers are accessible anywhere there is internet access because the client is Web-based. • Free e-mail servers usually have loads of free storage space for you to save your attachments and access them from anywhere. • However, because free e-mail servers make their money from advertisements, it is possible for those ads to be targeted to you based on what the content of your e-mail includes. • Some people find this to be a breach of privacy, others do not.

10. E-Mail Etiquette Remain professional and polite in your e-mails. You never know where they'll end up. • Most people wouldn't think of being rude or obnoxious when they speak to colleagues, clients or their supervisor. But those rules can fall by the wayside when we use e-mail. • The opportunities for rudeness when using e-mail are plentiful and not always easy to recognize. Most people wouldn't use foul language or derogatory terms in business communication. But what about raising one's voice? Is that possible when using e-mail? • Here, we'll discuss some business writing rules and tips for practicing e-mail etiquette.

11. E-Mail Etiquette • People are busy, so: • Use the subject line. You might be tempted to bypass this part of the e-mail, but just remember: everyone is in a hurry, including the recipient of your e-mail. That person will appreciate the clue the subject line provides as to the message content. It helps them prioritize and organize. • Be brief and concise. No matter how clever and entertaining a writer you might be, your message recipients will appreciate brevity and clarity. Save the puns and witty turns of phrase for after birthday cards and toasts. State the message quickly followed by clear requests or instructions for any action needed by the recipient. • Keep it personal. Routinely copying others on e-mails clogs mailboxes and can lead to the main recipient wondering why you're doing so. Unless you have a specific reason for copying someone, keep the conversation between sender and recipient. • Reply quickly. Don't let e-mails sit around in your queue unanswered. Get back to the sender, even if it's to say you need more time to respond.

12. E-Mail Etiquette • People are sensitive, so: • Don't over-punctuate. Adding multiple punctuation marks, such as ???? or !!!! after a sentence makes it seem as though you are shouting or frustrated with the recipient. Use normal punctuation rules. • Don't use all capitals. Using all caps MAKES IT SEEM LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING. Shouting is rude. Use normal capitalization rules. If you need to emphasize something, write "I'd like to emphasize…" • Read it, out loud, before you send it. While you may think you're writing exactly what you mean, it pays to read some e-mails out loud to yourself, putting yourself in the recipient's shoes, before hitting that "send" button. Once it's in writing, it's hard to take back. Also, never forget that the recipient has both a printer and "forward" button. Never write something you wouldn't want to have circulated throughout the company or even beyond. • Don't write when you're angry. Perhaps one of the most common etiquette rules to break is firing off an e-mail to someone when you're angry, either at them or a situation. See "Read it out loud" above. You can't take it back once you "flame" someone, and it can come back to haunt you.

13. E-Mail Etiquette • Not everyone is as hip as you are, so: • Keep the symbols to a minimum. Using "smiles" is a trendy way to communicate mood and meaning. But do you know the difference between a sarcastic smile and a mischievous one? And even if you're sure you do, can you be sure your recipient does? It's easy to see the potential to unintentionally offend someone using these symbols. Avoid using them. • Minimize abbreviated phrases. Using abbreviations such as IMHO (in my humble opinion). FWIW (for what it's worth) and ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) can frustrate and confuse the recipient.

14. E-Mail Etiquette • E-mail is like as a business letter. • Ignoring basic rules can show disrespect for the recipient. • Don't let informality spoil the recipient's opinion of you.

15. To Review: • An e-mail message has always been nothing more than a simple text message. • E-Mail clients • Shows you message headers. • Lets you read the body of the e-mail message. • Lets you create new messages and send them. • Lets you add attachments to messages you send and save the attachments from messages you receive. • Free e-mail servers make money based on advertisements. • Remain professional and polite in your e-mails. You never know where they'll end up.