Thanks for this wonderful post, I am from India and it is really hard for me to write effective English, Since last year I am trying to get me letter published in the newspaper here, I haven’t succeeded yet, perhaps with these valuable advice one day I will succeed.

Yours Truly.

I’d like to respond to your comment, as I am 1) a bit fussy about language, and 2) a bit embarassed that my country (the US) is so language illiterate.

So, first of all, than you for your efforts in learning English. It may have been a career or other necessity, but, you’ve done so. And, I think you are right, a subtle indication that your email is coming from someone who does not speak English natively is a good idea. Something I often do is put my city, state below my name when I sign off. Often, I’ll use the nearest city’s name, unless I expect the recipient to know where my little village is. If addressing internationally, I’ll sign off with US or USA included. Pick according to your audience, of course.

All the best.

Regards,

~ Dan the Red
Portland, Maine (US)

I’ve noticed, throughout my expert experiences with thousands of women, that the female species are quite good at this. It usually starts with a text or voice mail simply stating, “I have something to tell you…” Which can either seem sexy as a introduction or extremely frustrating for a person who has to get shit done.

Interviewing these types of women has me convinced that they do so to merely allow access to a means of you contacting them directly with a stronger mode of communication, e.g. calling or meeting in a public place.

In which case, the result of said conversation is a small useless story or quip which pertained to the situation at the time of the original contact. Or it is the beginning of a long discussion which qualified the necessity of face-to-face or voice-to-voice interaction.

Male interaction is much simpler, direct, and usually straight to the point. “Dude, what up, let’s get drunk/shitfaced/play video games/use the neighborhood slip-n-slide/etc…” Although this mode of communication is beautifully succinct, no progression of the relationship is garnered until the receiving party acts and the mentioned event is noted and executed.

Professionally, the latter is more welcome than the former.

I stress, that this all is a vast stereotype/generalization of the different sexes, but its value is true if one really explores the oddities of human interaction.

Or i’m just bullshitting the whole site, which, by the by, is excellent and should be given a 5 star report on the 1-5 scale.

Excellent site.
Do what you do best.
Cheers,

Josh M

great post. I work in sales and regularly write ‘cold-emails’, so it’s good to know what folks on the receiving end think. And you’re right about spelling/grammar — it’s a deal-breaker for me when I receive something devoid of all punctuation.

Love your site — I’m a new reader, but an old soul :) Cheers,

Drew

Okay, confession time:

About a year ago, I emailed you and accidentally addressed you as “Brent.” I realized my mistake upon your reply (in which you were kind enough to not mention my error), and have felt bad about it ever since. I feel like this article was written for me, haha…

Can you ever forgive me my ungentlemanly error?

Ashamedly,
Will

In response to Josiah about salutations, I have found that “Thank you,” , or “Thank you for your help” and then their name, is a nice way to respond to someone who has responded to your original request, if you need to ask more information of them.