Winning in Business Realize your potential. By Boris Revsin.

Email I: How to get a response from me using email.

Listen up people. Email is a staple of business. To me, an email is like a phone call that gets right to the point. It’s something I utilize HUNDREDS of times per day. Writing and responding to emails, to me, is an art form.

So when I get stuff like this:

Yes I really want to know what would be the best way to go about my ideas
I know that i m looking for help, not applying for a job, but l put my resume up so u have an idea On how you can help me for now. Business take a lot of time so when you have the time you see how u can help

Thanks you

It makes me wonder what people are thinking.

For this post, I’m just going to give you guys some quick tips and a couple of examples.

Key Points of an Email

- Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. All you have to do is copy/paste into Word and run a spellcheck.

- Make it personal. Use their name. Do you remember what your target is up to? Ask them about work, school, fun, etc. One or two sentences MAX.

- Use PARAGRAPHS. You can tell an amateur email from a mile away because the person has NO line breaks. Guys, make it easy for me to read and I will read it. Force me to find a needle in a haystack and it’s just not going to happen.

- CAPITALIZE important words or phrases. It adds emphasis. You can bold it too, but keep in mind not all email readers are HTML enabled.

- Have a call to action AT THE END. Don’t conclude your email with “Let’s talk later”. Set a date for a follow-up. Give them something that they need to DO before they file you away. People have tons of emails [I usually have 50-60 that are response-worthy] to respond to per day, make sure yours doesn’t get lost in the mix.

-(recommended) Leave a phone number to call in your email. It shows you trust the person you’re sending an email to.

Those are all super-basic tips, but so many people get these wrong. Present yourself at your best.

A couple of examples [with some info omitted]:

Hello _____,

I was recommended to contact you from _______ of University Relations. We have been working closely with her for the past year and most recently on a social media project for ______. I am writing to you from CampusLIVE which is a company based out of Amherst. We are a local web company comprised of former Umass students that have created a homepage for college students in the 5-college area.

Over the past year we have partnered with several _______ branches such as the _________ department, __________, and the _______ creating unique widgets on our homepage in order to increase brand awareness. We feel as though we can create the same impact working with ____ at the __________ location. Would you be available to meet at some point next week to discuss potentially working together?

Brian Strunk
CampusLIVE, Inc

Hi Glenn,

It was a pleasure to meet you this morning at the Breakfast featuring David Gergen. What an amazing thing it is you do for so many people. It makes me proud as a UMass Alum to see the overwhelming support surrounding your events, your guests, and the UMass spirit. For two 22-year-old guys, there is nothing better than being in a room of motivated visionaries who can help in offering their advice and guidance as mentors. It fuels our desire to make our college startup the best it can be, with a determined team of UMass students and alumni.

The discussion between you, David Gergen and the audience was educational beyond the history of the presidencies and David’s outlook on Obama’s current administration. David’s stories and poise inspired the two of us. It is always nice knowing you are LEARNING something from people who not only clearly demonstrates strong intellect, but charisma and “calmness” as well. I wonder if President Reagan may have developed this calmness through those around him like David Gergen.

Boris and I would like to thank you. We would love to come out to more of your events, and you will surely see us in the coming weeks/months. Between the content of the talk today and the receptiveness of the people, it made for a truly great event. And above all, the motivation it provides to two guys like us is worth the 4:30 AM wake-up call any day.

Thank you for having us today, and we look forward to more to come.

Regards,

Ryan Durkin
Director of Business Development

I’ll be directing people to this post from now on and will have some more tips in my next post on Emails.