{"id":4126,"date":"2011-11-11T03:00:19","date_gmt":"2011-11-11T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=4126"},"modified":"2011-11-16T15:37:10","modified_gmt":"2011-11-16T23:37:10","slug":"artist-entrepreneur-e-for-email%e2%80%94-the-artist%e2%80%99s-alphabet-guide-to-writing-about-your-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/11\/artist-entrepreneur-e-for-email%e2%80%94-the-artist%e2%80%99s-alphabet-guide-to-writing-about-your-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Entrepreneur: E for Email\u2014 The Artist\u2019s Alphabet Guide to Writing About Your Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Letter by Aletta de Wal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcome to\u00a0Artist Entrepreneur Fridays<\/strong>, where we talk about the fun, wild and scary ride of succeeding as an artist entrepreneur of all stripes and types and mediums.<\/p>\n

Welcome back <\/strong>guest columnist, Aletta de Wal<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>She specializes in helping visual artists succeed in their fine art careers. She\u2019s posting regularly on\u00a0\u201cThe Artist\u2019s Alphabet Guide to Writing About Your Art\u201d\u00a0<\/em>and other success tips for fine artists around writing. This week it\u2019s about email etiquette — useful tools for all of us. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

^*^<\/p>\n

Despite how long email has been around, or maybe because of that, I often see these five fundamental mistakes <\/strong>in the emails I get from visual artists:<\/p>\n

    \n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. No salutation<\/strong>. The medium does not always do justice to the message. Unless you and the other correspondent have a long-standing relationship or are sending frequent emails, include a Dear <name> or Hello <name> as a courtesy.<\/li>\n

      Remember you are writing a letter but sending it electronically.<\/em><\/p>\n

    2. Including all recipient addresses in the CC line. <\/strong>This makes it easy for spammers and spoofers to harvest these addresses. Include addresses for multiple recipients in the BCC line or use a delivery service like Constant Contact, Aweber or Mail Chimp.<\/em><\/li>\n
    3. Cryptic short responses<\/strong>. If you reply without a clear subject line or a thread from previous conversations, the receiver has to remember or dig through past emails to find out what you talked about. Make it easy for your reader to follow the conversation.<\/em><\/li>\n
    4. Venting.<\/strong> There\u2019s always a chance that you misunderstood the intention of the sender. If you have a problem with someone or something they said, the best way to handle it is a tactful email in return or, even better, a telephone call.<\/em><\/li>\n
    5. No email signature block<\/strong>. This is a particular rant of mine, especially when the email address does not include the sender\u2019s name. Make it easy for people to contact you. Beth has a great model for you:<\/em>
      \n\"Beth<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Just because email is common, quick and easy, that is no excuse to be sloppy.<\/p>\n

      So, here are some best practices for your email communication:<\/p>\n

      Before you write:<\/strong><\/p>\n