HELLO FELLOW LEADERS - JUST WANTED TO REMIND U 2 BE SURE TO USE PROPER E-MAIL ETTIQUTE WHEN YOU ARE SENDING OUT THE EMAILS TO EVERYONE.  PEOPLE WILL BE JUDGEING YOU BASED ON THE CONTENT AND TYPE AND TONE OF YOUR EMAIL.  I JUST READ AN ARTICLE ON THIS SO LETS BE MORE PROFESSIONAL WHEN WE CORESSPOND WITH OUR CLIENTS - THANKS PETE.

Go ahead and say it.  You would NEVER send out an e-mail that looks like that.  But believe it or
 not, some people still do.  And a new study confirms what we all have been thinking for years...
 that people will judge you based on your ability to write an e-mail.  

"More than half of adults in American judge people's intelligence based on e-mail content and format, according to a research released today by GMX, a free e-mail service for more than 11 million active users."  To read the entire article, click here.

I just mentioned last week about taking charge of your personal brand.  Your cyberspace messages are part of your brand.  It is scary to think that people are making social and intellectual judgements of you based on how you write an e-mail, but it is true!  Taking time to craft well-written e-mails can only improve your public image as a leader.

Here are some easy ways to start improving your e-mails:

• ALWAYS start with the recipient's name.  This goes for major e-mail requests all the way down to simple thank-you's.  It takes an extra three seconds to go from "thanks" to "Tonya, thanks for your help.  Pete."

• ALWAYS double check before hitting send.  We live in a world where we assume spellcheck will take care of everything.  It will not, and some of you have and will be burned by this. 

• ALWAYS use your censor button in your brain.  Before you click 'SEND' with that witty reply, smarmy remark, or subtle sarcasm, make sure that it is worth it.  Once you click 'SEND', your image is at stake.

• STOP with the smiley faces already!  Putting a smiley face at the end of a terse e-mail does not make it OK.  Say what you need to say, as John Mayer points out.  Smileys are for personal facebook pages and personal e-mails to family and friends.  They do not belong in business communication.

Now get out there and start sending e-mails like a professional leader should!   - Pete   

(Sorry...habit!)  

(Whoops - I did it again!!)