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How To Alienate Strangers With E-Mail
by Dan O'Day
(reprinted by permission of author; Copyright
© 2004 by Dan O'Day)
- When applying for a job (or sending a
tape to a stranger), follow instructions. If
the job ad says "no phone calls," don't
call.
If the ad says "send tape & resume,"
don't send only a resume along with a note
that says, "If you're interested, let me
know and I'll send you a tape." (Yes, people
really do that.)
- When you send someone a tape, that
person assumes they are seeing you at your
very best behavior. After all, you're trying
to make a good impression, right? But are
you giving it your best effort?
I get "help my career" e-mails with
astonishing, repeated misspellings. With no
kind of salutation or signature, and a
return address that doesn't give you a clue
as to the sender's identity. I'm not joking;
it's not at all unusual to get an e-mail
like this:
"hey if u no any body whose lookng 4 a
gud jock im ready to move 4 a gud offur"
You've seen e-mails written that way,
too. And if it's from a buddy, that might be
fine. But if it's from a job-seeker, you're
seeing that person at his very best!
- Maximize the recipient's convenience.
Make it as easy as possible for the person
to think, "Not only am I interested in
hearing this, but I really hope I'll like
it!"
- Never ever
send an audio file to someone (other than a
friend whom you know won't object) without
first obtaining their permission. All it
takes is a simple e-mail from you. (Yes,
that's an extra step for you. Remember whose
convenience you want to honor here.)
- Never send unsolicited, unexpected
attached files of any
kind to a stranger. Doing so is like mailing
your tape & resume to someone...C.O.D.
Contrary to popular belief, e-mail is
not "free."
It requires time and resources (e.g., the
connection) to download. It interrupts the
use of a computer. In many parts of the
world, the user pays per phone connection,
per second.
- When you contact someone via e-mail,
what is your goal? What are you trying to
accomplish?
Once you've identified your goal (to get
the person to listen to my tape, to get some
advice, to obtain information, etc.), do
everything in your power to increase the
likelihood of the recipient reacting the way
you hope they will.
The Dumb Approach:
E-mail an audio file, unsolicited, to 100
programmers...knowing that you'll irritate some
of them but figuring out of 100 people,
someone might
listen.
The Smart Approach:
E-mail 20 people to ask if you can send
them your audio file and then send it only to
those who reply in the affirmative... knowing
that those who say "yes"
will listen.
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