6 Quick Tips To Write Emails More Effectively

Do you have a tendency to put things off for later? Things like starting an exercise program, staying in touch with friends and family or even updating your blog?

Maybe you’re not a chronic procrastinator, but you might engage in a little email dilly-dallying… You know what I’m talking about… You hear the ‘you got email’ sound, you check to see what it says and instead of immediately replying you take no action, open the next email and repeat the procedure.

Or you might hit the “reply” button but as soon as your fingers click the mouse, you realise that you don’t know what to write! So, you finally decide to surrender to your writer’s block and do it properly… later.

Soon you have a long list of emails sitting in your inbox that you need to take action on!

So how do you stop the vicious circle?!?!

  • First, you need to understand that email is not going away, at least not any time soon. More and more people use email these days, many of your customers and prospects prefer email correspondence to phone conversations that often prove to be great time wasters.
  • Second, the longer it takes you to respond to your emails the more emails you’ll need to deal with at the end of the day or week. So, the sooner you do it the better! Trust me. Let’s face it – it’s hard focusing on your business when you know you have a backlog of emails to tackle, especially one that keeps growing like weeds in an unkempt garden – eventually they will strangle your flowers to death!
  • Third, you need to realise that amongst your collection of emails, there are some time-sensitive emails that left unattended means you’ll miss out on opportunities unless you reply to those in a timely manner.

It’s one of the basic tenets of email etiquette!

I am sure you’ve heard the saying “strike while the iron is hot.” These days, if you take more than 24 hours to reply to a customer inquiry then, it’s very likely, that by the time you do reply, it will be too late.

So, how do you turn email from a dreaded activity to an enjoyable task that actually saves you time? Truth is that even if you hate to write you can easily tick this box and become productive with these quick email management tips…

Email Etiquette, Email Tip, Email Management Tip, Email ProductivityEmail Management Tip #1: Get clear

A blank computer screen can be scary when you don’t know WHAT to write. That’s why you need to establish a focal point and then a direction.

That’s why before you begin writing the email you should mentally decide what points you want to raise in the email as your primary focal point. Use a maximum of seven words to describe it. Put that in the subject line; it will help to get clarity.

Don’t introduce too many points. If you need to address more than one major issue then do that in the postscript (P.S.) or decide to write a separate email.

Email Etiquette, Email Tip, Email Management Tip, Email ProductivityEmail Management Tip #2: make sure you nail down your objective

A simple question you should address before you hit the reply button is this: What do I want the reader to DO once they’re finished reading? That’s your objective.

The moment you get CLEAR about the action you want him/her to take as a result of reading your email then you will find that the right words will come to you more easily. Too many people focus on saying it right without first understanding what that ‘it’ is or should be!

So, you have that objective clear in mind and the subject line to keep you on track. Here’s what to do next…

Email Etiquette, Email Tip, Email Management Tip, Email ProductivityEmail Management Tip #3: START writing!

Aim for clarity and use your personal everyday language. Trying to SOUND like somebody else is a perfect recipe to create writer’s block. Just be yourself and write as you would speak.

Email Management Tip #4: Stop editing… KEEP writing!

Email Etiquette, Email Tip, Email Management Tip, Email Productivity

Simply let your ideas flow freely without constantly correcting yourself. One of the most common mistakes people make when writing is constantly editing as they write – this is not very effective without years and years of writing or copywriting experience. Even then, embracing the flow of your thoughts creates much more productive, fruitful and engaging copy

Email Management Tip #5: DON’T JUGGLE

Email Etiquette, Email Tip, Email Management Tip, Email Productivity

Keep in mind your can really only focus on one intellectual task at a time. So trying to figure out ‘what’ to write and ‘how’ to best write it will only drive you into analysis paralysis without any words getting to ‘paper’. STOP IT!

When writing, stick to your main topic and don’t digress. It’s a good idea to reread your subject line after you’ve written the email to make sure you haven’t lost your train of thought and got off track.

Email Management Tip #6: BEWARE OF OVERKILL

When you feel your message is complete, quickly re-read your email to ensure it makes sense to your intended reader(s) and it is grammatically and typographically correct. That’s it. Hit the reply button.

Email Etiquette, Email Tip, Email Management Tip, Email Productivity

That’s it! EASY. These email management tips should help you respond to those emails that you know you need to take action upon.

This time you should do that without panicking!

If you’d like to write more effectively and persuasively, click on the hyperlink to access Daniel Lizurek’s copywriting blog. By the way, he contributed to this blog post to give you a hand so you can master your emails like a pro!

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