Length Does Matter

I have been paying attention to other people's blogs and e-mails and I have to admit, I like my own...I might be a bit biased.

The issue that I am really referring to is length. Some blogs are just too long. I try to keep mine short and sweet and if there is more to write about on a specific subject, then I will break it up into parts. It is one thing to keep readers coming back often to read a couple of paragraphs, but when it turns into pages and pages, I just tune out or stop reading altogether. This is the same for e-mails. A quick concise e-mail is great, but when someone writes a tome it ends up only being quickly scanned because there is just not enough time to read it word for word.

The awareness for today is to not write a page if a paragraph will do. If a paragraph will not do, then break it up into manageable parts. Your readers will appreciate it.
~Paul

Requesting and Providing Information

I often get e-mails from associates that simply ask, "can you help get funding for my client?" Hopefully I can, but I can't even guess if I do not have more information.

When you request information from someone, ask for what you need. To follow up with my example question, I would expect someone to write me saying that they need US$12 million to consolidate debt and fund the expansion of a widget factory in China. I would then ask that they share some basic financial information for the past few years as well as pro forma figures for the future. I would also like to know if there is equity in the company and if the principals have put in any money themselves.

To put it in more general terms, ask for what you need, why you need it, how you will use it and what you are offering for it.

The awareness for today is to be thorough in our requests for help from others. Let's be specific about our needs and wants and then we can better manage our expectations.
~Paul

Professional E-Mail Addresses

I have many (too many) different e-mail addresses; ones for business, personal, posting items for sale, from different organizations, etc. I do not recommend getting an e-mail for every occasion, however, I do believe people should have a professional e-mail address to use as needed.

When someone applies for a job using his or her personal e-mail address, it can look quite unprofessional (i.e. binkie2742@hotmail.com); I have seen this and I know people who still do it. I am not saying one should not have that address, but when you are sending e-mails related to business, get a professional address if you don't have one (i.e. robertsmith@hotmail.com); you do not have to use it for anything else.

The awareness for today is to have plenty of fun coming up with a creative e-mail address for personal use, but remember that when it comes time for business use, a professional e-mail address is appropriate.
~Paul

Meeting Confirmations

When I set up meetings via e-mail and there is discussion to the date and time, I always end the e-mail asking for a confirmation back or if I am responding, I make sure and write, "confirmed." I find this helps, when there is confusion, to go back and look at what was agreed upon.

I do not fault people (not that much at least) for making a mistake when it comes to time and date. Mistakes do happen. The problem I have is when someone tries to blame me...that is when it is incredibly helpful to have the confirmation via e-mail.

The awareness for today is to get confirmations and to provide them. Keep your e-mail as records for this; this does not mean you should keep all of your e-mail...you can read about that here.
~Paul

Explain Yourself

Yesterday, a colleague sent me some attachments for a new deal with a blank e-mail; I later learned that she had written an introduction, but for some reason, that had not made it with the e-mail. I responded yesterday asking for more narrative on the deal to get a better understanding of what was being requested and she replied with the information that I needed.

It is much more effective when e-mailing someone for information or services to provide an introduction of what one is looking for and why. The recipient should not have to respond to an e-mail and ask, "why was this sent to me?"

The awareness for today is to be thorough in our business practices and clear about what we are asking for and offering.
~Paul

Great Comments on Retaining E-Mail!

I received this comment from a reader (and friend), "Jennie" on my blog Retaining E-Mail. She wrote:

I save all mine too. I know it is pack-ratty, but I found that there have been times when I needed to go back and track something down and I've got it.

I find that it is also helpful when I do have phone conversations or face-to-face meetings where decisions are made to follow up with an email "I enjoyed speaking with you earlier where we decided xyz." or "In the meeting today I understood that the new policy is abc. If this is not correct, please let me know." This has been very helpful, particularly when working with people who only communicate orally and won't put things in writing.

Thank you Jennie for your comments. You are right, using e-mail to confirm conversation and agreements is a great follow-up activity. We are given the opportunity to receive confirmation as to the way we understood the meeting or conversation.

The awareness for today is to learn from others and do our best to pick up little tricks that can benefit us.
~Paul

Retaining E-Mail

I love communicating via e-mail. Sure it is not as personal as via phone or [gasp] meeting in person, but I very much enjoy it nonetheless. The real kicker for me is that I can track my conversations and then have a record of what I wrote, what someone else wrote or even specific terms that were agreed to.

I know people who purge their old e-mail; if they have already responded, they delete it from their computer (or online e-mail account). Not me. I save my e-mail and have found it useful to pull up a past discussion to verify information. I have found this to be handy when confirming fee sharing situations on funding deals and even to confirm that one party or the other was waiting on specific information before replying.

The awareness for today is to at least think about saving all of your e-mail for future reference. Some of you will and some will not. There is no reason to save the reply from your friend who simply wrote, "thanks for the call."; there is no reason to save those...but I do.
~Paul

Forwarding E-Mail

Yesterday I received an e-mail from an attorney that I have worked with. It was a forward that had been sent on many times and still included all of the e-mail headers from previous forwardings. The e-mail was a hoax that has been going around for about ten years that says Bill Gates will pay you money to forward this e-mail...blah, blah, blah.

I am guilty of sending on some jokes if they are worthwhile. However, if I do forward e-mails, I send them to myself and and put the recipients' addresses in the BCC field so I am not sharing my contacts' e-mail addresses with the rest of the world.

If you receive an e-mail that sounds questionable (come on, why would Bill Gates be paying people to forward an e-mail?), then check out Snopes.com. You can search and most likely your e-mail will show up as a hoax.

We all receive enough e-mail on a regular basis to not junk up our inbox with hoaxes.

The awareness for today is to work on being aware and not creating unnecessary distractions in our own lives.
~Paul

Digital Data

I am currently working on a deal where an associate of mine only had paper copies of the financial statements to share with me. This complicated the situation only in the time it takes to get things moving. Once I look over the information and make sure there are no red flags, I send it on to potential funding sources. I knew that this specific deal would be sent on to a private investment bank that I work with in the UK if it appeared strong enough.

I shared from the beginning, with the associate that brought me the deal, that it would be much easier if the info were scanned in and then sent via e-mail. I recommended going to a local copier's or if a local business were not an option, then Kinko's. He did, and although it took three e-mails to send me the information, once I had received it and felt it was the right type of deal to look at, I was able to forward it on to my UK contact the same day.

The awareness for today is to let technology help you save some time when it can. Going paperless is great for the environment as well!
~Paul

E-Mail Enticement

Today's post is adapted from an e-mail that I sent to a client this morning who is looking for equity investors for his business. I have sent him interested parties and then it is his turn to respond to them with more information on his investment opportunity.

It is not reprinted verbatim, but rather I took the main points to share with my readers.

I have some tips I would like to share for when you respond to potential investors. I believe professionalism is quite important. When communication is carried out over e-mail, there is not the opportunity to wear a suit and portray one’s self as professional; instead it is shown through our writings.

Your first e-mail to a potential investor is important; this is their first impression of you. Part of what they are considering investing in (a major part) is you. Thank them for their interest, welcome any questions, provide your contact information in addition to your signature block, give them a bit more of the story, ask what they are looking for, ask what else you could provide for them, check the spelling in your e-mail and the subject line, etc.

I believe if you provide a good presentation in your e-mail, it will entice potential investors more than a “here is the information, do with it as you want” approach.

The awareness for today is to think about how you portray yourself in person and in written communication.
~Paul

Saying the Same Thing

I am working on a deal with a new colleague of mine. I had sent him my non-circumvention, non-disclosure agreement (NCNDA) a little over a week ago, but had not heard back from him.

[The agreement is a pretty standard form that basically says we will each respect the others' contacts and not share any of their information with third parties, nor approach the other's contacts directly in the future.]

It turns out that his e-mail response had not made it back to me, so he tried to recap his e-mail to me. In his recap he spelled out essentially the same terms as were in my NCNDA, but was unwilling to sign my NCNDA.

I sent him back an e-mail explaining that he was the first person unwilling to sign my NCNDA and that I didn't understand this because the agreement was to protect both of us and was in alignment with the terms he requested regardless.

This morning I received an e-mail back from him and shortly thereafter, a fax of the signed NCNDA. He said that upon looking back he agreed that the NCNDA was the same as what he was asking for.

Wow, that seems a bit long-winded on my end to get to the point here. The point is that we often are saying the same things as others, but in different ways. When we stop to listen, we may learn that there is more than one way to say the same thing.

The awareness for today is to listen to what the other party is communicating in any situation and not hold too rigidly to the exact words that are being used.
~Paul

Just Answer the Questions

For a couple of weeks now I have been waiting on responses to specific questions I had on a debt financing deal for an international hotel. I sent a few reminder e-mails and was told the information was being collected.

Well, this morning I received a presentation on the deal and some new, general information. I thanked the associate for the update, but I sent back the EXACT same six questions I had already asked.

Either they are trying to avoid my questions or they are not reading my e-mails and simply sending only information they want me to see. This will not go on for very long. I sent the followup information to a private investment bank that I enjoy working with. I know that it will be read, but if my questions are not answered by the promoters of the deal, then my funders will not have any interest in proceeding.

Please be aware of questions that people ask you via e-mail and respond to them. If they are important, they will keep asking for them if you ignore them, then you will be digging yourself a bigger hole to climb out of. If you answer them from the beginning, you will get a much better idea of whether or not you are connected with the right people for whatever it is you may need.

Happy Monday!

Waiting on Technology

I check e-mail first thing in the morning, every morning. I can admit that I am a bit obsessive that way, but I also do a lot of work via e-mail and need to see if there is anything that needs immediate attention.

This morning I had no new e-mail. Hmm? My personal account did, but not my business account. This is unheard of. I know it is a server problem and at any moment I am going to get flooded with all of the e-mails waiting to be delivered to me. That is a bit nerve racking; I just have to wait for them to come in.

The awareness for today is that sometimes we simply have to wait on technology to catch up to us. I have an opportunity to work on some other projects while I wait for e-mail. Hopefully all of the e-mail won't come in right at 5 pm!

E-Mail Awareness

A few days ago I received an e-mail from an associate of mine who has a client looking for funding. The associate and I had never previously communicated and the only reason I call him an associate is that we are both accredited executive associates of the Institute for Independent Business (www.iib.org.ws). I promptly replied with some additional questions, explaining what information I would need to move forward. I received a quick response with an attached business plan and one sentence. It was not addressed to me, nor was there any form of salutation. The most aggravating part was that my questions were not even answered in the e-mail.

Even though I expect a lot of others, this is where integrity and awareness come into play. I understand the informality associated with e-mail, but I don't feel that is an excuse to be rude or ignore people. Say hello to the person you are writing to and thank them in the end. Most importantly, answer direct questions!

If you want to build relationships, don't brush people off. Read e-mails and listen to what people are asking of you. Don't treat others as though they are unimportant; it will come back and bite you.

Follow Through

I often begin my work week by looking at e-mails that I need to follow up with. These are not people that I owe responses to, but rather people who have never responded back to me. I resend them the last message I had sent to them, point out that I have never heard back from them and then ask for a response.

The frustrating part is that these are generally people who have contacted me and are requesting my services. I follow up as quickly as possible and then I generally have to wait for a response. As my business grows, I will no longer chase down the non-responders, but at this point, I need to build my business and if these people have a need for my services I better track them down and keep them interested.

The point is that we need to put in extra effort to build our businesses. Even if people are chasing us down for our services, we need to work to make money. Perhaps we can hit a certain point where we do not need to still be "hungry" and can just let business come to us. However, I am sure most of you know that as soon as you know longer try, business dries up. We must always be cultivating new business and new relationships in order to maintain a strong and/or growing business.

Using E-Mail - Especially for Business

Let me start by discussing e-mail. For the past fifteen to twenty years, electronic mail has increased our ability to correspond across cities, states, countries and even continents, instantaneously. I know that for me personally it has been an invaluable tool for doing international business.

I also recognize that many of us are overwhelmed by the amount of e-mail we receive on a daily basis. We receive e-newsletters, business correspondence, notes from friends, family updates and even loads of junk e-mail, commonly referred to as spam.

It can be quite a task just getting away from our e-mail in the morning. It doesn’t need to be though. Some simple forethought and planning can help us move forward much more quickly through our day. Generally, one can tell what needs to be read immediately and what can be pushed off until another time.

It is important to read and reply to e-mails that require a response. Projects and deals are slowed down waiting for others. I find that often when people reply to my e-mails, they don’t even take the time to read the questions that I ask and respond to them. This creates more work for both parties, as I need to resend my questions and it is one more e-mail for the other party to read (and hopefully reply to that time).

Time is not the most important thing in life. However, we all have busy lives and our time is important to each of us. I find it disrespectful when someone else believes his time is more important than my own. Just pay attention to the e-mail you read and reply to the questions asked. This will save a lot of time for you and the sender.

I believe all e-mail should be acknowledged within twenty-four hours. Even if it is a simple reply stating they received it and will get back to me in the near future. I don’t want to have to chase after them a week later to make sure they received my e-mail. I want to handle my end and I expect that anyone I do business with can handle his own end.