Make business emails short, concise, clear and compelling. Pay attention to the following areas:

Content:

• Create a meaningful subject line.
• Make your purpose immediately clear using the first sentence. For instance,  “ I have included information on  . . .”
• Front-load your first paragraph. Place all priority information in the first paragraph.
• Tone: Communicate in a compatible tone. Does this client prefer off-the-cuff or formal interaction?

Style:

• Engage with sentences: Use active rather than passive voice.  Use strong nouns preceding strong verbs.
• Vary sentence length: Vary length, but shorter sentences are better than long ones. Don’t write any sentence that must be reread for meaning.
• Keep flashy vocabulary tucked away. No one wants to grab a dictionary when reading an email.
• Review: Spell check – please. Read it aloud; you will catch errors.

Form:

• Brevity is key: The longer your email is, the more likely it is to be deleted.
• CC with moderation: Only cc parties directly involved.
• Include your signature. Your signature should include your contact, and any other relevant information. Spotlight your services.