Email Etiquette

Following are some helpful and, in some cases important, tips for sending email.

As a general rule, NEVER send group emails with the recipient list exposed
Always use the BCC (blind carbon copy) section of your email client, or program, to send your email to multiple recipients. Make the sender yourself, or create an "undisclosed recipient" email address then BCC your recipients. There are several reasons to do this, PARTICULARLY when you are sending work related material.



Save time - create a signature
Check your email client for sending options. You'll find you will be able to create a signature, or even multiple signatures for different purposes, very easily. You may have a full signature with your name, business, all contact details, what you do or sell, and some links for potential clients or people you don't know very well. You might also have a simplified signature for constant communication, or a more personal signature for emails to friends and relatives.

HTML emails - yes or no?
In case you don't know, a HTML email is more or less a web page in an email. It can contain images and styles the same as a web page so when your recipient opens it, they are greeted with a very pleasant looking email, rather than a plain text email (such as the one you may have received directing you to this page). The problem is, a LOT of people won't be seeing that "pretty" version. They will be seeing a big mess of code, links to images, and an email that is very hard to read.

Unless you can create a mime-type email, stick to plain text and control what your recipients see. A mime-type email will send out two versions - text and html - and will deliver the version appropriate to your recipient. The html version, however, still needs to be crafted in a way that it will display correctly for the absolute majority of people. If in doubt, ONLY send plain text.

I recently sent a mime-type email out to 2000 recipients, and only 48% of them received the html email - the rest were delivered the plain text version.

There is also a security risk with HTML emails. The same "nasties" that can be embedded into a web page, can also be embedded into a HTML email.

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I hope the above gives you a little better understanding of how to send email safely and in accordance with current "standards". If you want more information, simply search the web for "email etiquette".

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