ex·plic·it –adjective
- fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated; leaving nothing merely implied; unequivocal: explicit instructions; explicit language.
- clearly developed or formulated: explicit knowledge; explicit belief.
- 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.
At your service,
Judith
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 sensitive when it comes to e-mail etiquette and that I make a “big deal” out of nothing. They go on to say how all this “e-mail etiquette stuff” really doesn’t matter. Who do I think I am? (I’ll save the answer to that for another post!) At least a couple each week state they don’t care what others think of them based on their e-mails.
Really? There is nothing wrong with caring about how you are perceived. 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. Not necessarily because of what others may think but 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? Well, those who know you very well will probably shrug their shoulders and wonder why you don’t make these simple efforts. While those who don’t know you will form an impression about the type of person you are.
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 impressions.
First impressions happen and you can control what they will be. Why not make the simple effort to practice proper E-mail Etiquette? The benefits are many and believe me — it won’t hurt!
At your service,
Judith
Most new sites will go through a waiting period for 6-9 months before search engines like Google will add them to their index. See, now you have to pass the test of time. Imagine if Google or any search engine were to have to index every single Web site that went live? That’s crazy!
Especially considering so many sites have no value to the masses or do not last very long either due to site owner unrealistic expectations or low levels of commitment. If you can’t last 6-9 months; you won’t get ranked.
Sorta hits those who want to rely solely on the free/organic rankings as their only way of getting their site found right in the back of the head! Relying on organic rankings alone is not a solid business model.
So what 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 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.
6-9 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 that BS 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 past the test of time you have to use it wisely.
At your service,
Judith
