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A recent poll taken by the Santa Fe County Chamber of Commerce
Technology Committee suggests that most of us do use e-mail but
left questions about how comfortable we all are using it to it's
greatest professional capacity. Below are a few suggestions that
may help you get the most out of this amazing technology.
- The first suggestion is regarding your company e-mail addresses.
If you have a business with multiple departments or employees
that all use different e-mail addresses (this is very common)
you should think about consolidating all those diverse mail addresses
into one orderly system under your own domain. Even if you aren't
thinking of putting up a web page, your own domain name only costs
$35.00 a year and makes it possible for you to have all those
mail boxes in a form such as: david@yourdomain.com, joe@yourdomain.com,
joyce@yourdomain.com, etc. This makes it much easier for
customers to remember your addresses and it adds confidence and
a professional feel to your business.
- Another professional touch is the addition of signatures.
A signature is a short blurb that is appended automatically to
the end of each e-mail you send. Once you set this up, you don't
have to think about it, it happens automatically. Keep signatures
short and relevant and include such things as your contact info
and a brief description of your business.
- Another thing which is well worth the few minutes it takes to
learn is the sending and receiving of attachments. These
are files you have created on your computer which are attached
to e-mails and can be opened by the e-mail recipient. An attachment
can be of any type from pictures to spreadsheets, word processor
documents, etc. All e-mail software allows you to do this and
it should take only a few minutes to figure this out for the first
time. You can practice sending to a friend to make sure it works.
After that, it's just a click away.
One tip regarding attachments: Make sure, ahead of time,
that your recipient can comfortably open and view the type of file
you are sending them. In other words, check to see if they can open
that MS Word file or MS Excel spreadsheet you are sending them.
If you are working on a PC and are sending something to someone
who is working on a MAC, you may have to save your files in a special
format for them. Once you get the system together, however, it can't
be beat and your e-mail will be your most valuable asset.
- Along with the joy of e-mail attachments comes the responsibility
to protect yourself and your clients from computer viruses.
Attached files you receive do have the possibility of containing
viruses. To combat this, you must virus scan any files you receive
before you open them. Once they are opened, a virus can spread
but if you catch the virus before you open the file, it can be
cleaned or discarded and won't harm your system. Buy and use good
virus scanning software such as those produced by companies like
McAfee® or Norton®. Also, don't enable the 'Preview' option
in your e-mail software since this opens each attached file automatically
as they come in and before you can virus check them.
- Another feature of e-mail is the possibility to send a single
e-mail to a list of multiple recipients. If you have a
newsletter or info update for your employees or clients, this
is a perfect means of communication. You can do this by either
dragging multiple e-mail addresses into the 'To:' window in the
e-mail you are sending or by creating a 'Distribution List' with
a pre-assembled list of addresses which you can use over and over.
If you send to more than a few friends, think of doing what is
called a BCC list (Blind Carbon Copy list) which sends the mail
message to all parties but hides the list of e-mail recipients.
Each person only sees their own name at the top of the e-mail.
This protects the privacy of your clients and friends.
A last word about e-mail etiquette: If you want to be a
popular guy or gal, don't spam your friends or clients. This means,
don't send junk mail or uninvited advertising to large groups. Keep
your e-mails short and to the point, your adverts targeted to those
you have reason to believe are interested. And always include your
e-mail address and a note at the end of any advertising to allow
recipients to 'unsubscribe' from your list.
David Goldberg
TelActive, Inc.
212 Spruce Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 982-9303
ddgoldberg@telactive.net
www.telactive.net
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