How to Write Email

Email is the most effective and speedy means of communication. Apart from personal messages, writing emails for professional matters is also very popular. In fact, these days, most of the business communication takes place through email only. However, having a knowledge of corporate email etiquette is very important, if you are a professional who often needs to rely on email communication. Following are some tips for writing professional email.

How to Write Email

There is a lot of difference in personal email writing and business email writing. Although, personal emails need to reflect a certain degree of politeness, there are no strict rules that you need to adhere to. On the other hand, business email etiquette needs to be followed strictly, if you are writing an email for business purpose.

Subject
Always add an appropriate subject line which defines the purpose of email, in short. No matter if you are writing a business email or a personal email, writing a subject is a must. If you do not include it, your recipient may hesitate to open it due to several email privacy issues. Also, avoid general subject line such as, 'Hello', 'message from John', 'Good News' etc. since, these are the headings common for spam messages or email virus programs.

Salutation
Email etiquette salutation requires you to address the recipient in an appropriate way. If you are communicating for the first time or the recipient is a senior person, then address him by his surname. 'Dear Mr. Jackson' sounds appropriate, unless you are on first name terms with the other person. If you are unaware regarding the recipient's identity, then a simple 'Hello' is sufficient.

Content
Emails are supposed to be short and precise. Hence, avoid long emails, written to detail. Define the purpose of the email in the first paragraph and provide the details in the following paragraphs. Do not exceed the length of the email more than 4 paragraphs.

Action
If you expect any action on the recipient's part, then express it in a polite way. 'Could you please...' or 'I would be grateful if...' sounds polite, yet effective.

Attachment
If you are sending an attachment along with your email message then make sure to mention it in your main message. Moreover, give the file names that give an idea about the content of the file. Avoid vague file names under all circumstances.

Conclude
Put an end to your message in a polite way. 'Best wishes', 'Regards' are some popular ways of concluding your message. If you did not put a comma after the greeting, then there is a no need to put one after the concluding statement as well.

Signature
Include your full name, email signature at the end of your email message in the leftmost corner. If you wish, you can also add your contact number beneath your name.

There are several advantages of email such as email communication, email marketing and email advertising. But you can benefit from it truly only when you know how to write email effectively. Adhering to email etiquette allows you to get your point across, effectively.