Almost everyone now gets too much email and they don’t want to read it. But what if you have an email that you want to send that is important? Here’s the bad news. We know from LAB Profile® studies that only about 3% of people read and retain their emails. So you need to have an extraordinary email to get them to read and retain. Here are some tips on how to do that. First of all, your title, the subject line. Make it great, make it interesting. I had a title of an article, “The trouble with the future is that it hasn’t happened yet.” That title makes people curious. Maybe it’s a little funny, a little bizarre, but they want to read it.
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Then make sure you use bullet points. Keep them short. People don’t have time. They’re too busy fingering their Blackberries, doing what I call “Blackberry masturbation.” You want to be short and sweet to the people. Why do I call it the Blackberry masturbation? You might ask. It’s because lots of people are busy with their hands under the table fingering their Blackberries. But we don’t really know what they’re really doing. Back to the point. Bullet points. You want people to read your email, make it short. Secondly, bold your keywords. People have stopped reading every word and their skimming and scanning and bouncing all over the place. So bold the keywords so that people can go bounce, bounce, bounce, and get the main idea. Keep it short. People don’t want to hear long paragraphs anymore. I have friends that send me long paragraphs and they keep getting back from me the hint that I’d like them to get to the point. Anyway, keep it short. And here is the best tip, start your email by saying why it might interest them. People want to know what is in it for them because it solves a problem.
Does it help them do things better? Give them the benefit statement first and keep it short. For more tips on communication, check out www.ShellesTopTips.com If you are interested in booking me (Shelle Rose Charvet) for a presentation, keynote or workshop contact me at [email protected].
