E-mail Explicitness

ex·plic·it –adjective

1. fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated; leaving nothing merely implied; unequivocal: explicit instructions; explicit language.
2. clearly developed or formulated: explicit knowledge; explicit belief.
3. definite and unreserved in expression; outspoken: He was quite explicit as to what he expected us to do for him.

Now that we are clear on the above, apply this to your e-mails. If you receive an e-mail that asks several questions — answer each one, point-by-point. Don’t just hit reply and type a general statement at the top of the e-mail that doesn’t cover all the issues presented.

Explicitness in your e-mail communications helps to avoid misunderstandings and confusion. If you top-post, (the bad habit of just typing a cryptic reply at the top of an e-mail without including any e-mail etiquette) you are taking the lazy way out and showing the person who e-mailed you that you are not capable of succinct replies.

Learn how to, and practice, the down-editing of your replies to avoid unnecessary back and forths for clarification. Down-editing will also show that it is important to you to be a clear communicator and will speak volumes as to what it will be like to communicate with you. PIA or joy?

Don’t just reply with what point or info you want to relay — reply to the specifics of the e-mail that was sent to you. Not doing so will demonstrate a lack of courtesy for those who e-mail you causing them to have to send an additional e-mail for clarification. In business, replying without displaying this level of attention to detail will undermine your potential for success as well as show your lack of professionalism.

Get the the Business Email Etiquette eBook so you know the enuances of online business communications.

Are You Viral?

I recently read about the top viral marketing tactics used by B2C (Business to Consumer) marketers in the U.S. and thought I would share those with you today.

What this survey indicates is “sticky” features that allow visitors to do something at your site.

91% Encouraging E-mail Forwarding
80% Tell-A-Friend Boxes on Sites
69% Online Games, Quizzes and Polls
54% Cool Microsites
47% Offereing e-Cards
46% Video Clips
29% Audio Clips

Source: MarketingSherpa

This is interactive technology folks — use it!

Business E-mail & First Impressions

Probably several times each week through one of my Blogs or postings out there online, someone gives me a hard time about how I am too aggressive with my opinions when it comes to business e-mail etiquette and that I make a “big deal” out of nothing. To me, when it comes to business, e-mail etiquette is common sense — and a big deal.

They go on to say how all this “e-mail etiquette stuff” really doesn’t matter if you do a good job, if people know you, if you run a long time business. Who do I think I am setting these rules? Another “Who made you judge, jury and executioner when it comes to e-mail?” Yikes! Everyone judges you by your e-mail whether you know it or not! And, I’ve never known anyone who was executed for poor business e-mail skills, fired maybe but not executed. One has to then wonder how they run other aspects of their business.

There is nothing wrong with caring about how you are perceived especially in the rabidly competitive arena called online business. Most normal folks get up in the morning, take a shower, iron their clothes, groom their hair — all because they care about how they look and they want to make that all important good impression. Not necessarily because of what others may think but also because you want to put your best foot forward.

When you send an e-mail in all small case, filled with typos and grammatical errors, what is the person on the other side of the screen to think about what it will be like to do business with you? Well, those who know you very well will probably shrug their shoulders and wonder why you don’t make these simple efforts to communicate like the professional they know you are. While those who don’t know you will form an impression about your business, attention to detail and credibility.

Some of these impressions include what level of education you may not have (educated folks communicate in an educated manner) and why you do not seem to care about how others will view you by simply communicating properly. Neither of which are positive.

First impressions happen and you can control what they will be and many times only have one chance to rise above your perceived competitors. Why not make the simple effort to practice proper Business E-mail Etiquette? The benefits are many and believe me — it won’t hurt!

New Sites and the Test of Time

Most new sites will go through a waiting period for around 9 months before search engines like Google will add them to their index. It’s also known as an aging delay or in Google’s case — the sandbox. See, now you have to pass the test of time.

This is basically a quality control type of move to index those sites that apparently have serious owners building sites with true value. Imagine if Google or any search engine were to have to index every single Web site that went live? They used to — no more.

This move was due to the fact that so many sites have no value to the masses or nor do they last very long either due to site owner unrealistic expectations or low levels of commitment. If you can’t last 9 months; you won’t get ranked.

For new Web sites, the old days of relying solely on the free/organic rankings as the only way of getting your site found is not a plan. Relying on organic rankings alone is not a solid business model. Business on or off-line requires marketing efforts. From Pay Per Click ads until your site gets out of the sandbox, to networking and other promotional activities, the days of thinking you can get found for free or without any effort amongst the 28 Billions sites currently online is simply naive.

So what is a new site owner to do in the meantime? You learn how to pass the test of time! You have this time to learn about Pay Per Click campaigns and strategies. You have this time to get your product inventory, service or delivery methods in place, tweaked and stabilized. You have time to investigate your target market and look at ways to attract their attention whether by networking or integrating other marketing strategies that help to bring you more visibility! You market!

You start your Blog. You start your affiliate program. You write articles and submit them to directories (of course, they have to be valuable — and no hypey-sales-pitchy stuff) so that you can gain more exposure for your new site. You join networks and share your experience and expertise to expose your new site to interested parties.

9 months from now when your site is finally in the indexes, don’t plan on “Top 10″ or even top page. It could happen, but let’s be more realistic that it probably won’t. Good rankings take time and are a work in progress — so don’t buy into the hype to the contrary.

Once you do get in the indexes, we then know what we have to improve upon and the statistical data will begin to accumulate. That data is exactly the information you need to know and review so you then can decide how to best to spend your time moving forward to improve your organic rankings.

To past the test of time you have to use it wisely.

Going the Extra Mile is Just Good Business!

One of the great ways to get your online business exposure and generate word of mouth is to share your experience with others by going the extra mile.

By doing so, you become known as an expert in your field and folks get to know you better. People like doing business with those they trust and feel they know much more than a complete stranger! Add to that you will be perceived as knowledgeable expert in your field and chances are when your product/services are needed you will be the first one they think of.

It won’t cost you anything but your time and the potential return and exposure are priceless. The key is when you do offer to help by sharing your experience and knowledge, that you do so in a totally non-commercial manner. The only thing “commercial” should be your sig file with a link to your Web site or eStore.  Nothing more.

By giving away helpful valuable non-sales-pitchy assistance you rise above the rest of aggressive marketers who make it clear their motive is only to make onliners aware of their existence and get into their pocketbooks.

So get out there and join discussion boards, groups and Blogs where you can answer questions based on your experience and field of knowledge!  Spread it around!

Scroll #4 written by Napoleon Hill states:

Going the Extra Mile

Render more and better service than that for which you are paid, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest on compound interest from your investment.  For it is inevitable that every seed of useful service you sow will multiply itself and come back to you in overwhelming abundance.

Put your mind to work.  Access your ability and energy.  Who could use your help?  How can you help?  It doesn’t take money… all it takes is ingenuity and a strong desire to be of genuine serivce.  Helping others to solve their problems will help you to solve your own.

The most successful people are those who serve the greatest number of people.

Keeping Tabs on Your Market

Did you ever contemplate or wonder what is going on online when it comes to your market? With so much info out there, do you want to know a nifty way of keeping tabs on what is going on with your competitors? Use Google Alerts!

All you have to do is set up alerts for your main keyword phrases or topics of interest and each time GoogleBot scours the Web and finds something new, you get a notification e-mail in your inbox with a brief blurb and a link to the site Google found.

Invaluable, easy and a great way to keep up with the pack!

Go set up your Google Alerts now!

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