What Do Your E-Mail Messages Say About You?

There probably isn't a business person alive who hasn't at one time or another experienced total frustration along with an inability to resolve a difficult business situation via e-mail. Sometimes without giving it much thought an e-mail is sent in anger. But angry, rude communication is not the way to win your case. In fact, for the most part, people will turn away and won't even hear what you're saying.

Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar!

I am in no way implying a Pollyanna attitude, for that is the furthest thing from my mind. What I am suggesting is that you still catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Trying to get the good stuff with nasty behavior will never win you the prize but will instead leave you feeling more frustrated and angry. If someone has behaved poorly and you want to try and resolve the situation, effective results will only come about with well thought out communication. Nasty or unkind comments just won't cut it.

There Are Consequences to Rude Communication!

For the most part it's challenging to create a specific tone in an e-mail communication so e-mail messages can be easily misinterpreted. Although the sender may think he or she is conveying the situation reasonably, the words can easily be misperceived. So before sending an outraged, nasty e-mail think about the fact that harsh words don't mend fences. You may need to convey your anger but there is a way to do it effectively. Consider the following:

1. If a particular person or situation has upset you, start by taking a pause and silently counting to 10. Perhaps you could take a walk for a few minutes to cool down before addressing the situation.

2. When you respond, be professional in your communication. If you are unpleasant or rude, the person receiving the communication will turn off immediately and will have a hard time hearing what you're saying. If you're polite and honest you have a much better chance at being heard.

3. Try not to become defensive; pushing against will not result in resolution. If someone is expressing anger towards you, try to just receive it without defense. Later on when you've had a chance to calm down, you can respond with the appropriate words.

4. Be honest about your feelings but speak about you and your feelings and make every attempt not to blame the other person.

5. Writing is a wonderful tool for venting purposes so start by writing out your feelings but don't send the e-mail just yet. After you've released all your bad feelings, rewrite the letter with some diplomacy and tact.

6. Read your message silently and aloud. Better yet, have a trusted friend review the message before sending it. An objective party can help you determine if it's okay to send.

You can't take back abusive language and you certainly can't retrieve an e-mail once you've hit the send button so use caution. Just because you aren't seen is no excuse for behaving badly. And remember, our computer keyboard was not meant as a weapon but as a valuable tool for communication. So when you get ready to send that e-mail make sure that if it were printed in a newspaper you would be proud of how it read.

Copyright © 2005

Charlene Rashkow brings 15 years of experience as a Writing Stylist and Author to her creative efforts as a freelance writer. She has successfully helped companies and individuals reach their objectives by writing outstanding press releases, bios, articles of interest, business plans, resumes, web site content and all other forms of personal, professional and marketing material. Contact Charlene at http://www.allyourwritingneeds.com

---

10 Terrific Ways To Enlarge Your Subscriber Base

1. Create a unique selling proposition (USP).Developing a USP for... Read More

Are Your Subscribers Receiving Your Newsletter?

In my e-mail one day, I received the following message:... Read More

What A Newsletter Can Do For Your Business

Newsletters are often thought of as easy, do-it-yourself communications projects.... Read More

Protect Yourself Legally with an Autoresponder Service

Another powerful reason for making the switch from using the... Read More

Three Phases to Email Sensitivity

The neurophysiological dynamics of understanding each email message are very... Read More

Learn How to Double and Triple the Size of Your Opt-in List by Helping Others

I think first of all, everybody deserves to have a... Read More

Automatic Responder - The Secret of Super Affiliates Success

Congratulations, you just made a sale!Congratulations, you just made a... Read More

Single or Double Opt--In?

You heard the message before. Your e-mail list is the... Read More

How to Build Your List

Your list is your life. If you do not have... Read More

How to Start Your Own Mailing List

I remember reading time and time again when I first... Read More

Email Hosting ? Learn How To Use eMail To Grow Your Business

Email is a wonderful thing. It costs next to nothing... Read More

Lesson #5: Four Easy Ways to Kill Your Business Using Your Autoresponder... And How to Avoid Them

The importance of building an opt-in list over spamming (a.k.a.,... Read More

14 Ways To Persuade Your Web Site Visitors To Give You Their Email Address

1. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. It's a... Read More

The Ultimate Self-Promotion Tool Is Right at Your Fingertips: An E-mail Newsletter

If you're looking for low-cost ways to promote your business... Read More

Taking Care of Busines... E-mail

In this digital day and age, communicating through email is... Read More

How to Deal With Rude E-mailers

Rude and crass e-mail seems to be at an all... Read More

Why Email Marketing Matters

According to a study by the Winterberry Group, email marketing... Read More

7 Great Email Habits for the Beginning Internet Entrepreneur

If you are just starting out as an Internet entrepreneur... Read More

7 Ways Email Can End Your Business Relationships Before They Start

Too often, people forget they're anonymous in the internet world.... Read More

20 Ways To Increase Your Traffic And Sales Using Free Follow-Up Autoresponder Courses

An autoresponder course is a group of articles or information... Read More

Promote Your Products Without Annoying Spam Filters

How many times have you realized that your email simply... Read More

How Effective is Your Email? How Can You Tell?

Is your email getting to your list members? If so,... Read More

10 Essential Steps to Developing a Successful E-Mail Marketing Campaign

Developing and executing a successful e-mail marketing campaign is becoming... Read More

A Review on Email Go Getter System (EGGS)

A Review on Email Go Getter System (EGGS) by Martin... Read More

Email Autoreponder ? How to Put your Business on Autopilot

Answering emails can take up a significant portion of the... Read More

Free Email Accounts ? Pros and Cons

Free email accounts are great if you want to hide... Read More

Email Etiquette: How To Send Emails People Will Read

You may remember a time before there was email?a time... Read More

Masterful E-mail Marketing

There are more than 100 million e-mail users in the... Read More

Run Profitable Contests Using Autoresponders

Running a contest for your e-zine subscribers or web site... Read More

Is the IronPort Whitelist Actually An Extortion Tactic?

It appears that Mr. Gates' prophetic prediction that charging marketers... Read More

The Lowdown: How To Create And Send HTML Email

I am frequently asked how to create and send HTML... Read More

8 Ways to Get More Email Addresses On Your List ... Today

Whether you've got 100 or 100,000 people on your email... Read More

Do You Ponder the Automatic Responder?

* The Automatic Responder is generally referred to as an... Read More