I am writing with regard to your enquiry of 17 December 2009 asking for some tips on how to write successful business emails. Below you will find the most important issues to consider when writing an email.
Most employees spend at least one hour per day managing and writing emails. The first telegraph message Samuel B. Morse sent on May 24 1844, was “What hath God wrought!” or What has God done! Today the Internet sends our messages, documents, and images at the speed of light to all corners of the Earth. E-mails have replaced paper business letters to a large extent. It means they are not simply messages but have become documents. E-mail as such represents our company, ourselves, and is the means for establishing and maintaining relations. Very often it is the only information the receiver has about you. Your personality and attitude are reflected in your writing, so it is very important to make it “sound” and look the right way, i.e. to use the appropriate style and language according to the purpose of your writing. Stress and haste are not the sign, but the enemy of efficiency. You should be “message-oriented” (knowing exactly why, what and who you are writing to), not “ASAP-oriented” (sending messages as soon as possible to tick it off your schedule).
The most important rule when writing an e-mail is to keep it short and simple. This might require more effort when composing it but it will make it much easier to read. Take some time to find a way how to reduce, summarize and organize your message to make it concise, but still communicate all you want to say. Try to put one thought into one sentence and pepper your message with full stops. In other words avoid long, complex sentences and break them into shorter ones.
