►Welcome
►E-Mail Manners
►You've Got Mail!
►Power of E-Mail Signatures
►Meet the Team
►Just for Laughs

 

Colorado is trying to bypass Autumn this year, or so it seems this week with weather already dipping into freezing temperatures overnight. Remember to keep extra water and blankets in your vehicles and use caution when driving in the early morning-- ice is possible! This month's newsletter is focusing on all things E-mail, but if you make plans to attend our Tech Breakfast in November, you'll enjoy an overview of Microsoft Office 2007! Call our office to request your reservation today!

Convenience, timeliness and ease of use have made e-mail the principal form of business communication for many professionals. However, for all its convenience, e-mail can hurt your business if it isn't used correctly. Sloppy writing, misunderstood subtleties, poorly labeled messages and other missteps can waste time, delay decisions or even fray relationships with valued customers.

Don't think this affects you? Consider this.

Research commissioned by palmOne last year in Europe found that 81 percent of respondents had negative feelings toward those who sent e-mails with spelling and grammatical mistakes. Over 40 percent of senior managers said that badly worded e-mails implied laziness and even disrespect. One in 10 respondents admitted to having had confrontations with colleagues because of e-mail misunderstandings.

There's no need to risk confusing, alienating or offending customers, partners or peers. Follow these basic e-mail guidelines and you'll improve the effectiveness of your communications.

Read on for guidelines

You've got mail!
A good idea gone amuck

Is there anyone in charge out there?

There must be a better way of managing our inboxes. The technology is wonderful. The benefits are innumerable. But, pardon us, we have some issues, here. Nobody told us part of the deal was a daily time commitment equal to that of another part-time job.

You've probably seen some of the awful statistics. Someone guesses it's costing companies $300 billion a year in lost productivity. The Wall Street Journal reported we spend 4 hours digging out of our pile of email each day. VeriSign and the International Data Corporation have been counting and took a stab with their total of 62 billion emails zooming through the digital ether, everyday. And, we figure most of you believe most of them are landing in your inbox.

For most companies guidelines on effectively using email don't exist. But, some are trying. Intel has created "The 10 Commandments of Email", as has Harvard Business School Publishing. The problem is no one that you know actually follows the rules.

Nonetheless, that doesn't keep us from trying. Amnet surveyed the plethora of best practices that various experts have assembled.

Let us share the best of what we found:

Every time you send an e-mail message, you have an opportunity to share something personal or powerful or playful in an "e-mail signature." Yet few people realize its potential.

E-mail signatures are the wise or funny sayings and quotations, artwork or animated gifs that appear at the bottom of messages, following your name. You don't need to type in words or attach signature files for each outgoing message, of course. You automate the process with a few simple selections in your e-mail program .(See below for how to include signatures in Microsoft Outlook.)

Why make the effort? Frankly, it's fun. Personal signatures add spice and individuality to the cold salad of e-mail.

And business signatures can boost profits, too. Consider a signature of your company's marketing tag line or a special sales offer or a direct link to the company Web site or to a registration page so customers can sign up to get news or offers. These are all extremely cost-effective ways to build business. Even sending signatures of quotations or sayings in business e-mail is a way to make you stand out amid the clutter.

The bottom line on this bottom line: You'll be noticed, remembered and appreciated — if, that is, you go about adding signatures in the right way.

Read more

Meet the Team

“Who's Your Favorite Cartoon Character?”

Colin: Thundarr the Barbarian
Corinne: Daffy Duck
Craig: Road Runner
Hunter: Tyg Tiger
Jack: Dudley Do-Right
Jay: Spongebob Squarepants
Jennifer: Bugs Bunny
Mary: Betty Boop
Stephen: Wile E. Coyote
Tarah: Tinkerbell
Tim: Goofy
Trevor: Wakko Warner

(*A special welcome to our new Tier 2 Support Specialist, Mary!*)