Almost everyone these days has email, but not everyone knows how to effectively use their email without it getting the best of them. This week we’ll outline some basic tips to help you get the most out of your email.
Whether you use the email that came with your Internet service or one of the numerous free or paid options online, you can use these tips to get the most out of it!
Email Services
While your Internet Service Provider (ISP) usually includes a free email address there are numerous email services that you can sign up for (many of them for free) and use their email instead of the standard option from your ISP. ISP email is often very basic and using a more email-centric service can offer many advantages such as custom domains, enhanced security and more online storage. We will outline the pros and cons in a later post; for now, let’s take a look at some tips to make your email serve you better.
Create a signature
Using a signature saves you time and gives your messages a professional look. The information your signature contains is up to you but will usually contain your name and contact information. You may want to include your website (if you have one), and a phone number at which you can be reached.
Use Folders
Folders are a great way to keep your email organized. Instead of letting your inbox fill up with old messages, put them into folders. Just like keeping your papers organized in the real world, using folders helps you keep important information accessible. Folders are usually organized by topic or function. Here are some examples: Receipts - Family - Personal - Important - Bills
Use Filters
Now that you have folders it’s time to put them to use and fill them! While you can manually sort through new and existing messages and drag them to a folder, wouldn’t it be nice if they just went their on their own? Imagine the time you could save! It sounds like magic but you can do it by creating a filter. A filter is an instruction set for your email that tells it how to sort messages. Filters need at least two pieces of information; what to look for in a message and what to do with a message that matches the search criteria. You can set up filters to automatically sort messages from specific people, with certain words in the subject or body or other parameters.
Use Proper English
Just because you’re writing an email doesn’t mean you can’t use proper English. Use capitalization and punctuation correctly. Spell your words correctly and use the correct word. An old trick I use is to read your message out loud before sending it; you’d be surprised what mistakes your tongue will uncover that your brain “auto-corrected” for you.
To, Cc, and Bcc
While these fields may seem redundant, they each serve a function. The To field is obvious; this is the person or persons to whom you are sending the message. The Cc field is used to send a “carbon copy” of the message to additional people. That way you don’t have to send your message multiple times. The downside to Cc is that everyone in the list sees everyone elses’ email address. Not only is this unsightly (especially when there are many recipients) but it’s also poor email etiquette as most people don’t want their email address being sent far and wide. This brings us to Bcc. The advantage here is that you can send a message to multiple recipients while simultaneously hiding all those email addresses. The downside is that no one will know that other people are getting the same message so you may want to mention that fact in the message itself.
This article is the first in a multi-part series about email.
Whether you use the email that came with your Internet service or one of the numerous free or paid options online, you can use these tips to get the most out of it!
Email Services
While your Internet Service Provider (ISP) usually includes a free email address there are numerous email services that you can sign up for (many of them for free) and use their email instead of the standard option from your ISP. ISP email is often very basic and using a more email-centric service can offer many advantages such as custom domains, enhanced security and more online storage. We will outline the pros and cons in a later post; for now, let’s take a look at some tips to make your email serve you better.
Create a signature
Using a signature saves you time and gives your messages a professional look. The information your signature contains is up to you but will usually contain your name and contact information. You may want to include your website (if you have one), and a phone number at which you can be reached.
Use Folders
Folders are a great way to keep your email organized. Instead of letting your inbox fill up with old messages, put them into folders. Just like keeping your papers organized in the real world, using folders helps you keep important information accessible. Folders are usually organized by topic or function. Here are some examples: Receipts - Family - Personal - Important - Bills
Use Filters
Now that you have folders it’s time to put them to use and fill them! While you can manually sort through new and existing messages and drag them to a folder, wouldn’t it be nice if they just went their on their own? Imagine the time you could save! It sounds like magic but you can do it by creating a filter. A filter is an instruction set for your email that tells it how to sort messages. Filters need at least two pieces of information; what to look for in a message and what to do with a message that matches the search criteria. You can set up filters to automatically sort messages from specific people, with certain words in the subject or body or other parameters.
Use Proper English
Just because you’re writing an email doesn’t mean you can’t use proper English. Use capitalization and punctuation correctly. Spell your words correctly and use the correct word. An old trick I use is to read your message out loud before sending it; you’d be surprised what mistakes your tongue will uncover that your brain “auto-corrected” for you.
To, Cc, and Bcc
While these fields may seem redundant, they each serve a function. The To field is obvious; this is the person or persons to whom you are sending the message. The Cc field is used to send a “carbon copy” of the message to additional people. That way you don’t have to send your message multiple times. The downside to Cc is that everyone in the list sees everyone elses’ email address. Not only is this unsightly (especially when there are many recipients) but it’s also poor email etiquette as most people don’t want their email address being sent far and wide. This brings us to Bcc. The advantage here is that you can send a message to multiple recipients while simultaneously hiding all those email addresses. The downside is that no one will know that other people are getting the same message so you may want to mention that fact in the message itself.
This article is the first in a multi-part series about email.
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