Tell me why I should open your email

Monday, November 20th, 2006
One simple e-mail productivity rule that I started using many years ago -- originally as a defense against viruses -- is the "tell me why I should open it" rule.

If a sender, clients, family, & friends included, can't tell me why I should open an email in the subject, I delete it. It's their fault for not gaining my interest and differentiating their email from the 300+ junk emails I receive daily.

Subjects like: "billing," "software update," and "Scott's computer" don't cut it. Instead, I encourage my clients and friends to be more creative in their subject lines. Example:

"Eric, please review billing for November. I need your approval by Friday."
"I've installed MindManager on David's computer. No action required."
"Jack's Tablet PC arrived; Are you available to meet with him Tues?

Of course, this rule works two ways; I'm still training myself to improve my own subject line habits.

Discussion/Comments (2):

Tell me why I should open your email

The first line of text of your email is usually what can end up being the subject line.

Posted at 11/21/2006 20:28:03 by michael callen


how do I open Ink as an attachment to hotmail

I want to open an email with an attachment. How do I do this?

Posted at 12/10/2006 3:55:33 by lorraine



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