Originally published May 2020. Updated September 2024. Why should you care about effective business emails? Because they save time, both for you and for the people you email. How do they save time? Because you write fewer emails when you are better at it. When you’re a competent and considerate writer of emails, you cut down on the unnecessary back-and-forth email traffic and the clutter in your inbox. And your reward? You get back time. Better emails = better brand + time saved In my last post on business email writing, I talked...
Originally written April 2020. Updated September 2024. Writing emails at work is something we do on automatic pilot but shouldn’t, because how you email matters. Would you show up for work in rumpled pajamas and bed hair? Would you slouch in your chair scrolling through your Instagram feed on your phone while in a one-on-one meeting with your boss? No and no, because you know your appearance and body language are a reflection of your professionalism (and brand) in the workplace. But do you realize the same is true of the emails you...
How business email best practices can make everything better… I was soooo lucky and I didn’t know it. How? During my 20 years as a freelance copywriter, I worked primarily with smart people who communicated well and made smart use of email. That means I thought the average person was equally good at email. I was wrong. When I closed up We Know Words at the end of 2019 to focus on our farm and Better Faster Writer, I also started doing a lot of volunteer work as part of a marriage ministry that we had to take over. (That’s a...
A huge part of the average worker’s day is spent reading and writing business emails. Yet there are many ways to reduce the time you spend in the email vortex, as you can see here and here. But here’s the deal: You’ll drastically reduce the time you spend on business emails when you make sure your emails are read and understood. …drastically reduce the time you spend on business emails when you make sure your emails are read and understood. Get Your Business Emails Read Let’s tackle the first challenge for a minute: Getting...
I hurt. My whole left arm aches as does my left shoulder. The back of my left hand twinges when I use it and my left pinkie tingles. Why? Because I disregarded one of the fundamental rules about working with horses: Don’t be in a hurry. And I ended up with these aches and pains but—thankfully–that was all. It could have been worse. So…what happened? My iPhone wasn’t working. I took Chase and the dogs for a ride up the logging road thinking I’d get service once away from home, but I didn’t. That’s when I knew I’d have to go...
Email subject lines are often overlooked but have the potential to make or break your workplace communication and productivity… What’s the first thing people look at when deciding whether or not to open an email? The From name. And the second? The email subject line—and that makes the subject line key. This is something I emphasize when teaching email copywriting, but it is every bit as relevant to writing at work. While the email marketer needs compelling email subject lines to get a prospect to open an email so they’ll see the...
