Some good advice here from Seth Godin on the topic of sending emails. He wrote 36 different points, here are some of my favourites:
- Is it going to just one person? (If yes, jump to #10)
- Since it’s going to a group, have I thought about who is on my list?
- Could I do this note better with a phone call?
- Is it in black type at a normal size?
- Do I have my contact info at the bottom? (If not, consider adding it).
- Could this email be shorter?
- Is there anyone copied on this email who could be left off the list?
- Have I attached any files that are very big? (If so, google something like ‘send big files’ and consider your options.)
- Have I attached any files that would work better in PDF format?
- Are there any 🙂 or other emoticons involved? (If so, reconsider).
- Did I hit ‘reply all’? If so, am I glad I did? Does every person on the list need to see it?
- If this email is to someone like Seth, did I check to make sure I know the difference between its and it’s? Just wondering.
- Are there any little animated creatures in the footer of this email? Adorable kittens? Endangered species of any kind?
- Bonus: Does the subject line make it easy to understand what’s to come and likely it will get filed properly?
- If I had to pay 42 cents to send this email, would I?
