{"id":287,"date":"2014-04-14T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurelio.audero.it\/blog\/?p=287"},"modified":"2025-05-04T22:17:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T22:17:25","slug":"learn-how-to-write-an-email-seriously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.audero.it\/blog\/2014\/04\/14\/learn-how-to-write-an-email-seriously\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn how to Write an Email. Seriously."},"content":{"rendered":"

As a freelancer I receive a lot of emails every day. In addition to the usual ones (newsletters, friends, and so on), I receive emails from recruiters that want to find me a job, from people who want to hire me for a project, from people who want me to solve their programming issues, and finally from people that have read some articles of mine and what to ask something on that topic. I think this might sound familiar to most of you.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, what I’ve discovered over the time is that 80% of people (at least those who write me) don’t have a clue about how to write an email in a proper way. In this article, I’ll highlight some common mistakes in the hope that things will change.
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\"wrong<\/p>\n

TL;DR<\/h2>\n

Write the name of the recipient. Be polite and respectful. Explain who you are. Don’t demand to be helped for free (it’s not due). Don’t be too verbose.<\/p>\n

Take the time to write the recipient’s name<\/h2>\n

The first error that many people do is to miss to write the recipient’s name in the header of the email. This may seem a minor issue for someone but it’s not. If you’re writing to someone, you’re implicitly asking him\/her to dedicate some of his\/her free time to you, which isn’t something to underestimate. Freelancers constantly strive to have a good work\/life balance<\/a>, so passing additional time in front of a PC is not a trivial request. Besides, more time than not, a (good) reply is longer to write than the question. Writing a detailed answer may take several minutes. Therefore, take at least the time to write the recipient’s name. It allows you to seem more human and less a bot.<\/p>\n

For example, in my case, avoid a header like Hi<\/q> or Hello<\/q> and take the time to write Hello Aurelio<\/q>.<\/p>\n

Be polite<\/h2>\n

Since I began to write articles and books, I started to receive more emails than before. Unfortunately, most of them are really unpolite. They usually didn’t come from people I made upset in some way, but from people who want my help for their own project or want to hire me.<\/p>\n

As I asserted before, writing to someone is equal to require some of his\/her time and his\/her knowledge. You may think that writing a couple of sentences like I hope you’re doing well<\/q>, or I know that you’re busy but…<\/q>, or concluding with a Thanks for your time<\/q> is a waste of time. However, I can assure you not only this isn’t true but it’s really much appreciated. Using sentences like those, shows that you’re conscious of the time that the recipient is offering to you and appreciate his\/her effort.<\/p>\n

Note for Italians<\/strong> (like me): Italian is an amazing language that, unlike English, allows to be much more formal. Therefore, if it’s the first time you get in touch with me, please, avoid “Hey Aurelio” or similar. I’m not your brother nor your friend. So, something like “Salve” and<\/em> the use of “lei” is much more appropriate. This isn’t about me being presumptuous, it’s about you to be polite and use the correct form that, hopefully, you’ve learned at school.
\nIf you need some good tips, you can read this document<\/a> by my ex colleague Prof. Claudia Fabrizio<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

Explain who you are<\/h2>\n

When you send an email, always introduce yourself. It’s a way to establish a connection between you and the recipient. I can’t count how many times people have written to me without explaining who they were. Even people who got in touch with me to see if I was available to work for them, have sent an email like:<\/p>\n

\nHi,<\/p>\n

I want to know if you’re available to work on a 3 months project for my company.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How I can consider your enquiry if you don’t even introduce yourself, what the project is about and on which features I should work on?<\/p>\n

I probably also have to mention that a company has asked me if I wanted to do some freelancing for them. Then, they asked for my CV?<\/q>, as I’ve tweeted few days ago:<\/p>\n

\n

A company has asked me if I wanted to do some freelancing for them. Then, they asked for my CV? Hey, are you blindly contacting developers?<\/p>\n

— Aurelio De Rosa (@AurelioDeRosa) April 2, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n