Advice Regarding E-Mail

Michael Hyatt writes a blog I read. He recently discussed e-mail. It is worth the read:

What Do Your Email Messages Say About You?

Posted: 19 Feb 2009 06:00 AM PST

Last night, Gail and I went to local production of the play, “My Fair Lady.” I am embarrassed to admit that I have never seen it. I had seen clips from the movie, but I had never the watched the entire thing.

The reason I went is that Matt Baugher, one of our Thomas Nelson Vice Presidents, was starring in the lead role of Henry Higgins. I was blown away by his performance. He sang, danced, and spoke with an English accent. I was completely swept up in the story and forgot that Matt is a colleague and dear friend.

The story itself is fascinating. The version that we saw is based on George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s movie Pygmalion, with book, music and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. It is a story about Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, who takes on the challenge of transforming Eliza Doolittle, a common cockney flower girl, into a duchess.

Higgins particular expertise was that he could listen to someone speak and tell precisely where they were raised. Based on their diction, grammar, and accent, he claimed that he could determine their hometown or county of origin within six miles.

What does all of this have to do with email? Plenty.

Every time you communicate, you are making a “brand impression”—for you—and for the organization you represent. What kind of impression are you making? Is it positive or negative?

I want to focus for a few moments on email, since for most of us that comprises 90% of our communication today.

Here are four ways to make a positive impression with your email messages:

1. Respond in a timely manner. I can’t overstate the importance of this. As I have said elsewhere, to whatever extent I have been successful, it is due in large part to the fact that I am generally been very responsive. My goal is to respond to all emails the same day I receive them.
2. Address the sender personally. Don’t just start writing. Use the person’s name. Nothing is sweeter to the recipient’s ear than their own name. And in the age of unprecedented spam, using a person’s name indicates that you are a real person, not a robot.
3. Use proper grammar. You don’t have to obsess about this, but observe the basics: use complete sentences, check your punctuation and spelling, and proofread your message. And please, don’t use ALL CAPS. If you are feeling a little insecure about this, I highly recommend that you read a basic English grammar book, like English Grammar for Dummies.
4. Keep the message short and your intention clear. As a recipient, there is nothing worse than receiving a long message from someone, reading it, and still not knowing what the person wants or is saying. When in doubt, use short sentences, short paragraphs, and short messages.
5. Use a proper signature block. Use your email program to create s standardized, email signature that includes your full name, logo, company, address, telephone numbers, website or blog, twitter handle, etc. In my opinion, it should be simple but professional.

You may not have to impress a professor of phonetics, but your peers, subordinates, superiors, and external business associates will still come to conclusions about you, based on your oral and written communication skills. THerefore, it is worth taking time to improve these skills and become intentional about how you communicate.

ME? Raise Support? Who would I ask???

GET STARTED…SIMPLE AS ‘A’ ‘B’ ‘C’
Here is my standard reply to someone who asks, "Who could I ask to support me? How do I get started?

Accumulate names and addresses! Who? To help get your mind whirling:

• Associates
• Bankers
• Church friends…close or not
• Doctors
• Everyone you know (get it?)
• Friends and Family…no matter how close or distant
• Gym/Exercise/Sports contacts
• Home Business contacts (past or present)
• Insurance agents
• Just everyone you know…no matter how well
• Klass mates from high school/college (‘K’ is hard!)
• Little League contacts
• Mechanics
• Non-Christians…let them see the Lord work in your life!
• Other people in ministry; even if they are on support
• Pastors, past and present
• Queen of England…well, maybe not
• Roommates
• Study groups, support groups
• Teachers…high school, college, Sunday School, Seminary, etc
• Uniformed friends/associates: police, post office, nurses, etc
• View any directories you have (church, business, etc) to see if you’ve overlooked someone
• Wait on the Lord, take a break, ask Him for names!
• X-boy or –girl friends (seriously!)
• Youth (teens have a lot of discretionary income; let them learn early the joys of missionary involvement)
• Zoologists or anyone else not thought of yet

Begin a database/contact list for all the above. Keep adding to it as you think of names.

Consult with spouse, close friends, etc you think are already in your corner; they will remind you of people you’ve overlooked.

Draft your initial letter

Encourage yourself in the Lord! (see 1 Samuel 30:6) “If it is His will, it is His bill.”

Focus on ministering to support prospects through prayer, encouragement, and by giving them the opportunity to be directly involved in something significant…the ministry to which God has called you!

Get all the information from the ministry which you are going to serve to ensure you are operating in accordance with their policies. Gather historical and current information about the ministry so you can pass it on to your potentials.

Have fun! This is an adventure on which most never embark!

Include your family in everything from addressing envelopes to choosing stationery to photo selection etc.

Journal your adventure! Added benefit: sharpening your writing skills.

Know that the Lord is your “point-man” (Jehoveh-nissi: “The Lord our Banner”)

Live in the now. Don’t spend time wondering, worrying, or waffling. You are not going to be in ministry; like all Christians you already are in ministry; you are just preparing for vocational ministry.

Make sure you are giving regularly to the Lord’s work…your church…other ministries. If you don’t now, you won’t then.

Never forget the Lord feeds the birds of the air, but He doesn’t throw seed in their nest.

Offer to present your ministry to every forum you can think of…churches/Bible studies/Christian radio/whatever.

Pray! (never overlook the obvious).

Question others that have been or are now “on-support.” Exit stage left if they are negative (as opposed to realistic) about their experiences.

Read the Word (duh). Read missionary newsletters (for the good, the bad, the ugly). Read biographies of missionaries.

Schedule time each day to put efforts into support. Learn now that support raising and maintenance is a vital part of your daily job description.

Tailor a record-keeping system that works for you; not only your data base, but
ways of keeping track of when you talked to/wrote a prospective
supporter; their response, giving record and so forth. Do it now so you
don’t have to play catch-up later.

Utilize a computer! No matter how literate (or illiterate) you are regarding
computers, learn more so you can use it to maximize your time and thus
practice good stewardship.

View yourself from someone else’s perspective. If you were someone else and
you were asked to support you; what questions would you have? Make
sure you have answers!

Write! Work on your draft of the initial letter(s). If writing is a struggle for you, read a book, take a class. But the best way to learn to write is to apply your seat to a seat and write. Practice writing a thank-you note for a gift of $5,000….as well as a gift of $5.

Xamine yourself. So much more fun to examine other people, but the Word tells us to examine ourselves regularly (see 1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5).

Yodel. Go for a walk. Play a game of tennis. Read an escape-novel. The point? Loosen up! Don’t let your shoulders tense. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Zeal! Develop and encourage a zeal for life…particularly for the joy of trusting the Lord regarding support! Guard yourself against whining, as in, “poor little me, I’m on support.” It is an honor, a privilege, a calling!