{"id":22389,"date":"2012-03-01T13:25:07","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T19:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=22389"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:38:24","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T02:38:24","slug":"how-to-write-an-email-that-will-actually-get-a-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/featured\/how-to-write-an-email-that-will-actually-get-a-response\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write an Email That Will Actually Get a Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

How to write an email?<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s next? A post on how to tie your shoes?<\/em><\/p>\n

I know, I know. Email is such an ubiquitous part of our lives that you might think that people would naturally have it down pat.<\/p>\n

But having received thousands of emails over the past four years, I can say with certainty that frequency does not necessarily beget proficiency. Which is to say: a lot of people out there are pretty clueless about how to compose a good email. Even those hired as professional PR reps!<\/p>\n

No matter how basic a life skill, it\u2019s something you still have to learn. And unfortunately, nobody seems to be teaching young folks the components of an effective email, despite the fact that it forms the backbone of modern communication. Knowing how to write a good email\u2014one that will actually get a response–is crucial to your success: it can make the difference between whether or not you get a job, find a mentor, get funding for an idea, or receive potentially life-changing advice.<\/p>\n

You see, each email is essentially a pitch, even if you\u2019re not literally selling a business idea. What you\u2019re pitching is the idea that you\u2019re worth responding to<\/span>\u2014and that can be a tough sell. The person to which you’re writing may get dozens, even hundreds of emails every single day, and they can\u2019t possibly give every single email the same time and attention. So just like with face-to-face pitches<\/a>, these people develop ways of slotting their emails into two tracks\u2014those that get a response and those that get kicked to the trash folder. What determines the track you get funneled to is whether or not you raise one of the recipient\u2019s red flags; an email can be your first impression with someone, and since the recipient doesn’t have much to go on, he or she will be looking for little, subtle clues as to whether they should hit reply<\/em> or delete<\/em>. These red flags can be really small things\u2014things that may not seem at all fair to you–but they\u2019ve probably found that 8 out of 10 people who exhibit those characteristics aren\u2019t worth responding to, as it ends up being a waste of their time.<\/p>\n

The blog Think Simple Now did a great job of outlining the way the sender of the email and the recipient of the email have very divergent perspectives:<\/p>\n

Observing the Receiver<\/strong><\/p>\n