Email assignment
EMAIL FORMAT
* Email seems like a no-brainer, but people mess them up frequently.
* Email is more-or-less done the same way from workplace to workplace, with the
exception of the signature block. When you get a job, you should examine the signature blocks
of people HIGH UP in the company, and adapt their style. If you have gone into business for
yourself, make your sig line dignified, a smaller font size, relatively short, and not artsy.
* When you can, fill in the subject line with a phrase that is clear. Your recipient will
decide whether s/he wants to open the email immediately (or at all) based in part on the subject
line. Do not send an email without a subject line. Occasionally, you cannot access the subject
line—that is frustrating, but the world is not perfect. =(
* Add your name to the end of your email. Your program, or your recipient’s program,
might not reveal your name in the “from” line. Do not take a gamble with your identity. Your
recipient must know from whom the email originated!
* Open your email with a salutation followed by a comma or dash (not a hyphen).
* Leave an empty space.
* Type your message.
* Leave an empty space.
* Type “Thank You,” (or whatever appropriate valediction), press enter, then type your
name.
* IF there is an attachment, make mention of it; otherwise, do not include an attachment
line.
* After you are more familiar with your recipient, you might skip some of these formalities
(you might skip the salutation or the “thank you,” and you might skip the attachment reminder)
but you must always include your name or at the very least your initials.
* It is best to follow all of these rules when corresponding with clients, even if you know
them well.
* Lastly, if your email is only going to one person, you do not need a “CC” line.
SAMPLE EMAIL
TO: Jimmcduff@mglobal.net
CC: if applicable
SUBJECT: Item Description Request for Coffee Mugs
Hi, Jim,
The bulk and body of your email message goes here.
Thank you,
John Doe
Attached: 2 files (if applicable)