Writing an e-mail message is fairly easy, but just like anything else, you have to learn how to do it. E-mail writing is like letter writing. You already know how to find a piece of paper, write the necessary words, put the paper in the envelope, etc. Similarly, you probably already know how to do all of the individual things that you need to do to create and send e-mail messages. What you may not know are the details that can help you finish the job quickly and easily. Here are a few tips to help you.

E-mail, a reflection of you!
Remember that e-mail is different than other forms of communication. Being a good letter writer does not necessarily mean that you can communicate effectively by e-mail. Because the turnaround time can be so fast, e-mail is actually more akin to conversation than it is to formal written communication. The point of e-mail is to get a speedy--not a flawlessly eloquent message to the recipient. However, even quick e-mail notes are a reflection of your personality, so don't make the mistake of thinking that grammar and spelling are completely unimportant.

I get a lot of e-mail. Some of it is well written, accurate, and to the point. However, I also receive sloppy, poorly written e-mail where all rules of the English language have been broken. I encourage you to be one of the better classes of writers. Here are a few simple e-mail rules that will allow you to put your best foot forward:

• Write a descriptive subject line. (see more details below)
• Be concise and to the point.
• Read your e-mail before you send it.
• Use a spell checker. If your e-mail program does not have spell-check, upgrade to a version that does.
• Use the proper capitalization. Typing all in caps is considered shouting in the on-line world. Typing all in small letters makes you look lazy.

Remember that e-mail and postings on newsgroups can travel around the world. I recently sent e-mail to an American company. The response came from a woman working for that company in South Africa. My initial recipient didn't know the answer, so she passed it on to someone else. The second response came from Australia. That party forwarded my question to someone else. The final answer to my question came from a gentleman in Charlotte, North Carolina. Remember, you don't always know where your e-mail will wind up. Not everyone on the Internet has the same customs or background as you do. Try to be respectful of this in your correspondence.

Subject Line
After you address the e-mail, you will next have to fill out the e-mail subject line. This is very important. Try to state your subject clearly and succinctly using as few words as possible. When the other person receives your e-mail, they will see your name and subject before they see anything else. If the recipient is a person, like me, who receives an abundant amount of e-mail, they might not recognize your name and they will often use that subject line to determine the importance of the mail.

Finding the right subject line can often be frustrating. If you have trouble choosing the subject remember that a simple five or six word sentence often makes a good subject.

With today’s abundance of spam, the subject line has become more significant than ever.  It is important to always put something in the subject line. Recipients sometimes ignore e-mail with blank subject lines, since blank subject lines are often found in spam.

Also, be sure to consider how a spam filter might interpret your subject line. For instance a line like “Party tonight?” or “New income opportunity!” might be descriptive of your content, but could be easily cause your e-mail to be discarded as spam.

Once you press the send button, your message is on its way. It can take anywhere from a minute to several hours to be received by the other party. The length of time is determined by the status of the Internet and the number of connections that must be made for completion of the transaction. Luckily, in most cases, the mail goes through quickly and easily.

Checking to make sure your message was sent
Newbies in the e-mail world are often left scratching their heads after they have sent their first few e-mail messages. They are not sure if the message was sent or not. In fact, I often receive e-mail messages twice. In most cases, these are from people who have sent the message again because they are not sure if it was sent correctly the first time. If you want to verify that your message was sent, there is a place to look. By default, sent mail goes into the out-box.

Look through the menu choices or icons to find the out-box. When you open that box, you will see some indication that your message has been sent. In most programs, the message is marked with a check mark. If the message is marked with a "Q" it means that the message was not sent, but was only queued, or readied to be sent. This often happens if you try to send e-mail without being on line. If your message has a "Q" in front of it, make sure you are online then double-click the message to open it again. Then press "Send" or “Send Again”.

In-Box / Out-Box
Most e-mail software has similar features. There is an in-box where your new, unopened mail is delivered. Open your mail by clicking the mouse. That piece of mail is then displayed on your screen. After you read the mail, you can send it to the wastebasket or store it in a file for future reference.

Your program will also have an out-box for mail that has already been sent. (The out-box is sometimes called "Sent.") You can check your out-box to make sure that the message has been sent. Each e-mail program is slightly different here. If you use Eudora, you can easily see if your e-mail has been sent because it will appear in your out-box with a check next to it.  Outlook Express shows the date and time that it was sent in the out-box. Please investigate your program so you can be confident that your e-mail was sent.

Replying to mail
You can also reply to any e-mail that you receive. Simply click on the piece of mail to open it. Then click on a reply icon. Compose your reply and click on the send icon. The program will address the reply for you automatically. Often a program will show you the original message with small symbols like this >> in front of each line. This is to remind the other person what you are replying to. It is usually best to type your reply above the original message.

E-mail is not private
Never assume that e-mail is confidential. Without encryption, the possibility exists that e-mail can be accessed and read by others. Your recipient can also forward it to others. The rule to follow is easy: Don't send anything that you wouldn't mind seeing on the evening news.

E-mail can be useful and it can also be fun. Just learn the ins and outs of e-mail and you’re on your way to better communications.