Spam is the new cold call. Maybe you think your not spamming people, but if you’re sending emails or messages as part of your networking/recruiting strategy that are vague, lame, or impersonal, then you are sending spam. No one likes spam.
Years ago, introductions would have taken place face-to-face, or maybe even over the phone. Today, emails or network messages are a great way to quickly touch base with a contact, but if you stop talking like a real person in your email, you quickly lose credibility.
Sometimes, it is hard to focus with so much email in the inbox, so here are five ways to make your introductory email stand out from all the noise in your recipient’s inbox.
Make it Bold – Literally
Make important things stand out to your recipient. Don’t be afraid to bold, CAPITALIZE, underline or change the font color, as needed. The important things should stand out for the recipient. BUT DON’T SHOUT AT YOUR RECIPIENT! Remember regular rules of grammar and formatting. Use formatting to make your message more clear (think paragraphs, spaces and punctuation).
Keep it Clean
Make the look and feel of the email as clean as possible. Not everything needs to be a different color, so make sure everything else looks clean and polished. Check to be sure all font sizes are the same, and reduce wasted space by using hyperlinks, as opposed to just naked URLs.
De-Clutter your signature box
Include all relevant information in your signature, but trim the extras from the signature. Include only professional emails and phone numbers. Images in the signature serve zero functionality, contribute to a cluttered look and feel, and translate poorly on a smartphone. Make your signature simple and relevant – skip the extras.
keep it short
Keep the introduction short and to the point, but clearly identify what you want the receiver to do. Skip the flowery language, self-gratifying compliments or whatever else that you are tempted to talk about that is not relevant to the conversation. Connect the dots on who referred you or how you met at a conference, and move into the details of what you hope will happen from the connection.
make it personal
If you do nothing else, make your email tailored to the receiver. An impersonal email is likely an ignored email. Do not send the same email spam to multiple people. Do your homework on the recipient and identify what’s in it for them.
Bonus round: Don’t forget that we live in the age of smartphones, so make sure your email can be easily read on a smartphone and any necessary actions you want your receiver to take can be done from a smartphone. And last, but not least, follow up in a non-stalker like manner. Acknowledge how busy the receiver is by allowing a few days to a few weeks go by before following up. Simply re-forward the email with an understanding phrase like, “wanted to be sure this didn’t go to your spam folder…” or “just making sure this didn’t get lost with all your other emails….”
