Email Tips – Call to Action

Working as a technology consultant (specifically data warehousing) a few years ago (6 to be precise), my laptop always had an active Toad window open. Having moved to a client engagement / business development role, Outlook has replaced Toad – whenever I am using a laptop. Considering that I deal with an average of 125 incoming & 50 outgoing mails per day, I must be some kind of an email super user!

Naturally, I read about email tips & tricks all the time. And I thought about listing a few tips that have actually helped me tame the beast & be more effective with emails. Here goes the first of them.

# Call To Action

The number one thing that separates business communication from any story is a call to action. A story is to be enjoyed. The former is intended to get the audience to do something: follow up on an opportunity, hire someone, make organizational change, enrol into a training, get some information, etc. As an email sender, you need to focus on this part of the message that calls for action of the readers.

Question Yourself – What do I want my audience to do after reading my email?

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/silverman/2009/03/4-tips-for-better-business-wri.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a38:g4:r2:c0.000000:b0

Common Resume Blunders

————————————————–
My 100th Blog Entry
————————————————–


I have come across many many articles on the subject of effective resumes. This article that I found on Monster today, is probably one of the better artciles around – Common Resume Blunders.  
  1. Too Focused on Job Duties Instead focus on how you made a difference & highlight the achievements. 
  2. Too Short or Too Long Ask yourself “Will this statement help me land an interview?” Every word should sell you, so include only the information that elicits a “yes.” 
  3. Using Personal Pronouns and Articles – no mentions of “I” or “me”. 
  4. Not Including a Summary Section That Makes an Initial Hard Sell – The summary should demonstrate the skill level and experiences directly related to the position being sought.
  5. Not Including Keywords – With so many companies using technology to store resumes, the only hope a job seeker has of being found is to sprinkle relevant keywords throughout the resume. Determine keywords by reading job descriptions that interest you, and include the words you see repeatedly in your resume.
  6. Typos – This document is a reflection of you and should be perfect.

Measure of what you believe is what you do!

The only measure of what you believe is what you do. If you want to know what people believe, don’t read what they write, don’t ask them what they believe, just observe what they do.
 
I might think a lot of good things. My intent might be very noble. I might have the best of plans. But if all the above doesn’t result in me doing something about them, I truly draw a nought!

So if one claims to have self improvement as a personal value, he/she needs to constantly do things that demonstrate this value. 
I believe in what Mr. Montagu has mentioned ..I truly do. And I would love to live by this belief.

Stop waiting for happiness. Happiness is right here, right now.


Stop waiting for happiness. Happiness is right here, right now.

When I became an adult, I couldn’t wait to get a good job. That would surely bring happiness. I couldn’t wait. When I got a good job, I couldn’t wait to get a raise. When I got a raise, I couldn’t wait to get married. When I got married, I couldn’t wait to buy a nicer car. Got the car, then I couldn’t wait to buy a house. When I bought the house, I couldn’t wait to … get out of debt.

I could go on for quite awhile, but you get the point. None of my desires ever produced happiness, because I was stuck in the mindset of wanting more. When I got what I wanted, I wanted something else. My happiness was always on hold, because I was waiting to reach a goal.

Check out Leo’s complete post at Zen Habits

Stop waiting for happiness. Happiness is right here, right now.

Most of Leo’s posts resonate well with me. And he puts it across quite nicely ..hence the simple link to his post.
This particular one sounds like my perfect personal theme for the year 2009.