Saturday, August 8, 2015

Netiquette Core 17 Tips For Writing An Excellent Email Subject Line - Via Netiquette IQ

Netiquette IQ considers subject lines critical in emails. The following article has some great talking points. Consider my book, noted below, for more in-depth discussions for this application.
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17 Tips For Writing An Excellent Email Subject Line

Jenna Goudreau
Jan. 8, 2015, 5:30 PM
Out of the billions of emails that are sent every day, how can you make sure that yours stands out?

We asked career, email, and marketing experts to offer their best tips for crafting the perfect email subject line. Find out what they said, plus examples of great subject lines, below.

How to write an excellent email subject line:

1. Always write a subject line.
Not including a subject line is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. The subject line often determines whether an email is opened and how the recipient responds. An email with a blank subject line will likely get deleted, lost, or immediately irritate the recipient, who is forced to open the email to figure out what it's about.

2. Write the subject line first. 
For many professionals, the subject line is an afterthought that you add just before you hit send. But Amanda Augustine, career expert at professional job-matching service TheLadders, stresses that it can be the most important part of the email. Write the subject line first, so that it sets the tone and you don't forget.

3. Keep it short. 
A typical inbox reveals about 60 characters of an email's subject line, while a mobile phone shows just 25 to 30 characters, says Augustine. Get right to the point in about six to eight words. 

4. Place the most important words at the beginning. 
A whopping 50% of emails are read on mobile phones, says Dmitri Leonov, a VP at email management service SaneBox. Since you don't know how much of the subject line will be viewable from a smartphone, it's important to put the most important information at the beginning. Otherwise, compelling details could get cut off. 

5. Eliminate filler words. 
With such precious space, don't waste it with unnecessary words like "hello," "nice to meet you," and "thanks," which can easily be included in the email's body. 

6. Be clear and specific about the topic of the email. 
The subject line should communicate exactly what the email is about so that the recipient can prioritize the email's importance without having to open it. For example, writing "Do you have a sec?" is vague, says Augustine, since the reader will have to open the email or reply to figure out what you want. If it's a job application, she suggests including your name and the position, and if it's to another coworker, you should identify the project that the email refers to. 

7. Keep it simple and focused. 
Especially if you're sending a marketing email, Kipp Bodnar, a VP at marketing software platform HubSpot, says it should be focused on one action, which should be communicated in the subject line. Offer one takeaway, indicate how the reader can make use of it, and specify how you will deliver it. 

8. Use logical keywords for search and filtering. 
Most professionals have filters and folders set up to manage their email and probably won't focus on your message when they first see it, says Leonov. That's why it's important to include keywords related to the topic of the email that will make it searchable later. 

9. Indicate if you need a response. 
"People want to know whether they really need to read this now and if they have to respond," says Augustine. If you need a response, make it clear in the subject line by saying "please reply" or "thoughts needed on X topic." If not, simply start the line with "Please read," or tack on "no response needed" or "FYI" to the end. 

10. Set a deadline in the subject line. 
Especially if you have a lot of information to convey in the email itself, including a deadline right in the subject line exponentially increases the odds that readers will respond. For example, after the email's topic, you could say: "Please reply by EOD Friday." 

11. If someone referred you, be sure to use their name. 
If you've been referred by a mutual acquaintance, do not save that for the body of the email, says Augustine. Put it in the subject line to grab the reader's attention right away. Moreover, she suggests beginning the subject line with the full name of the person who referred you. 

12. Highlight the value you have to offer. 
If sending a cold email to someone you don't know, "you need a subject line that indicates value and communicates what they're going to get," says Bodnar. Pique the reader's interest by offering them something that's helpful. Whether you're providing a speaking opportunity, a discount, or a service, make it clear in the subject line what's in it for them. 

13. Personalize it with the recipient's name or company name. 
You have to know who you're sending the email to, and they have to recognize that it's about them or a subject interesting to them, Bodnar says. Using their name or company name is one of the best ways to do that, he says, and makes the recipient much more likely to open the email. For example, you might write, "Increase Company's sales by 25%," or "John, see how you compare to competitors."

14. Create urgency by limiting the timeframe.
To grab someone's attention and persuade them to reply, consider creating a deadline for your proposition. Common ways of creating urgency include "respond now," "register today," and "limited space available — reply soon." 

15. Don't start a sentence that you finish in the email's body. 
If you begin a thought or question that ends in the email, then the reader is forced to open the email. It's annoying, and since clarity and being respectful of the recipient's time is the goal, it's not very helpful, says Augustine. Consider whether instant message, a call, or an in-person chat might be a better medium for your question. 

16. Make sure you reread the subject line. 
Augustine also warns against copy-and-paste errors. Sometimes when people are sending a similar email to multiple people, they forget to tailor it to each reader and end up with the wrong name or title in the subject line. The easiest way to avoid this is to reread the subject line before you hit send. 

17. Don't put words in ALL CAPS. 
Using all caps may get someone's attention, but in the wrong way. It's the digital equivalent of yelling, and your job is to make the email as easy as possible for the recipient to read rather than giving them anxiety, says Leonov. Instead, use dashes or colons to separate thoughts, and avoid special characters like exclamation points.

Examples of excellent email subject lines:

For a job application:
Referred by Jane Brown for Technical Writer position 
Human Resources Assistant Application — John Smith 
For an interview follow up:
John Smith Following Up on Sales Position
Marketing Manager interview follow up 

For a work request:
Requesting Project X idea submissions — Due Jan 15
Employee Survey: Please take by EOD Friday

For a meeting invitation:
Meet about social media strategy Tuesday?
Free to catch up over coffee next week?

For an introduction:
An Introduction: Jane Brown Meet John Smith 
Potential collaboration on TV marketing plan

For a marketing pitch:
Mastering Digital Media Webinar — Register Today
John, see how you compare to competitors

For requesting information:
Inquiring about your design services
Request for information on NY venue






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For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618



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**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
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Netiquette IQ Security Alert For 8/8/2015 - Required Group Policy Preference Actions for Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-025


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National Cyber Awareness System:
08/07/2015 11:43 AM EDT
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Original release date: August 07, 2015
US-CERT is aware of continued exploitation of insecurely stored passwords in Group Policy Preferences, due to incomplete implementations of Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-025. Systems may still be vulnerable to exploitation if administrators have not cleared all previously stored passwords from their environment. An attacker may decrypt these passwords and use them to gain escalated privileges.
US-CERT strongly recommends that administrators employ the PowerShell script provided in Microsoft  Knowledge Base Article 2962486 and follow the included instructions for clearing all "CPassword" preferences from their environment.






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Good Netiquette to all!
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For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618



==============================================
**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
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Friday, August 7, 2015

Netiquette IQ Blog Of 8/7/2015 - Craft a Great Email Sales Pitch by Following This 5-Step Process

Craft a Great Email Sales Pitch by Following This 5-Step Process
JEFF BOSS entrepreneur.com

AUGUST 05, 2015
In a world where technology becomes faster every day and people, teams and companies grow more geographically dispersed, trying to nail down somebody in person to throw a sales pitch almost seems impossible.
Fortunately, 91 percent of working professionals check their email daily, according to data by Hubspot. What this means is, if you’re a numbers guy or girl and you believe in the power of odds (after all, 91 percent is pretty hard to argue with), email is the best way to build a network of prospects.
However, emails are also easy to ignore. While there isn't much of the human element in sending emails, there is just as little in receiving them, which means it's easier for people to hit their favorite button: delete.
To increase the likelihood of your targeted email recipient saying "Yes!" here is a five-step process to consider while crafting your next email sales pitch:
1. Know your audience.
There’s nothing like receiving an email that begins with, “To whom it may concern,” to really say, “I don’t know who I’m sending this to but I sure hope you’ll hire me anyway.” Taking the time to do your research about your intended recipient does two things.
First, it allows you to personalize the email so the other person feels special. Playing to a person’s emotions will influence his or her decision-making. Second, the more research you do on the recipient and his or her company or job role, the more you educate yourself should you meet in person.
2. Stalk them, but not in the creepy sense.
Once you identify your email target, plug his or her name, company and job role into the oracle known as Google and see what comes up. What you’re looking for are interests -- angles to work into an email or follow-up conversation based on the social-media behavior of your intended recipient.
Does he tweet about football? Then he probably has a favorite team. What LinkedIn groups is she a part of? Any social functions that reveals a hobby? If the answer is no, then this individual is very well versed in staying out of the Internet spotlight, or is quite possibly the most boring person on earth. Good luck.
3. Reach out.
Once your due diligence is done, it’s time to blast out an email -- but only do so as a giver, not a receiver. When you receive emails from random vendors, what’s the first thing you look for? Their sales pitch, right? You want to skip all the BS text and get to the bottom line to know what this person wants because you have more important things to do than answer email. So if you want to stick out from the others, offer to serve them.
In other words, how can you unconditionally add value? You could share an article, highlight them in a tweet (if they’re on Twitter) or praise their efforts (who doesn’t like praise?).
4. Court them.
Business is about relationships, and any worthwhile relationship takes time to cultivate. Build trust. Build reliance. Build the foundation from which enduring partnerships survive, and then ask for their business. There’s no secret timeline to how long this courtship should last, it just depends on the nature of business. Generally speaking though, I’d give it a few email exchanges back and forth before throwing your pitch.
5. Stay connected.
If you made the pitch and the answer is no, that’s fine, just stay connected and try again another time. However, if the answer is an emphatic yes, then you can thank Entrepreneur for allowing me to publish this column.
As human-less as email is, you can certainly inject more of the human element into it with some due diligence and structured approach. If it doesn't work, you can always go back to massive email broadcasts and play the numbers.






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For a great email parody, view the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618



==============================================
**Important note** - contact our company for very powerful solutions for IP management (IPv4 and IPv6, security, firewall and APT solutions:

www.tabularosa.net

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  Additionally, I provide content for an online newsletter via paper.li. I have also established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. Further, I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and have been a contributor to numerous blogs and publications. 

Lastly, I am the founder and president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a company that provides “best of breed” products for network, security and system management and services. Tabula Rosa has a new blog and Twitter site which offers great IT product information for virtually anyone.
==============================================