For small businesses, just like for everyone else, email has become a way of life. You don't always have the time for chit chat when you have to deal with clients and other people in the field so what better way than just shoot them and email. There is, however, some sort of etiquette that should be followed when sending an email, especially if you want to seem like a professional. There are also other mistakes that should be avoided at all costs.

    對小企業而言，和任何人一樣，電子郵件成為了一種生活方式。你沒有時間和顧客、其他人嘮嗑，那么還有什么比發郵件更好的方法。不過，當你發郵件時需要一些禮儀，尤其如果你想看上去專業一些。另外，還有一些無論如何都要避免的錯誤。

    When it comes to etiquette, just remember these few things. Don't write while you're angry. You'd be surprised how easy it is to have things get out of control over the internet. Wait, calm down, and have someone else edit your email for you. Don't use sarcasm. You may think it's funny and clever, but the person that you're dealing with won't. DON'T USE UPPERCASE. People don't want to feel like you're shouting at them, and on the internet, uppercase is the equilavent of yelling. Use clear subject lines. People are extremely busy. By being able to scan the subject lines, it tells them what is important and needs to be addressed first. Keeping your emails short also helps with this. People don't have time to read something that is pages long. Keep it to just a couple of paragraphs at most.

    提到禮儀，只要記住幾點。不要在生氣的時候寫信。你也許會驚訝在互聯網上讓局面失控是多么容易地一件事。等一等、平靜心情，讓別人為你編輯郵件。不要嘲諷，你也許認為那是"機智"是"幽默"，但是接受方卻不會那么認為；(英文)不要用大寫。人們不喜歡你對他們大吼，而在互聯網上大寫就等于在大叫。用明確的主題，人們很忙，通過看主題，告訴他們什么是重要的，需要首先處理。保持郵件內容簡短也有助于這一點。因為人們沒有時間看長篇大論。

    Another mistake that people tend to make is to send an email to the wrong person. Service providers are trying to make it easier for you by creating an address book where one click can send an email to a person, however, this also makes it easier for you to make a mistake. Clicking on the wrong person is extremely common. So just double check to make sure that you have the right recipient.

    人們往往會犯下的另一個錯誤是把電子郵件發錯。服務商為了使你方便添加了一個地址簿，只要點擊就能把郵件發送給一個人，不過這也讓人們更容易犯錯誤。點錯了接受人非常普遍。只要再檢查一遍，確保收信人是對的就可以了。

    Using one email address for everything that you do. Although you might think this is a good idea, this will make it harder for you in the long run. It's a lot easier to have separate emails for business, personal, even shopping needs. If you only have a few minutes and need to take care of something regarding business, you don't want to have to scan through a lot of personal emails trying to find the one that you're looking for. By keeping it separate it just helps you stay more organized.

    用一個郵件地址做任何事情。雖然也許你認為這是一個好主意，長久會讓你難辦。將郵件分為個人、公司甚至購物三類就容易地多。如果你有幾分鐘的話，需要處理公事，那么就不會在個人郵件堆里找一封工作電子郵件。分開讓你更有組織性。

    Sending the email too fast. We know that everyone is busy and that you don't have a lot of time, but if your email is full of mistakes, it will make you look unprofessional to someone that you want to do business with. So just take a couple seconds to skim over everything you've written to see if that's what you want to say.

    發郵件太快。我們知道每個人都很忙，沒有時間，但是如果郵件中充滿錯誤，這會讓你在和你做生意的人眼里看來不專業，所以花片刻掃一眼寫過的內容是否是你要表達的。

    Also, when you rush, people have been known to forget the attachment. It may sound silly but there have been a number of times that people have sent me things that said "it's all explained in the attachment" when there was no attachment. This leaves me clueless and them looking very unprofessional. So just think about what you're doing and take the time to get it done right the first time.

    而且在匆忙之中，你經常出現忘記附件的情況。聽上去愚蠢，但有很多時候人們的郵件中稱："附件中有詳細解釋"，可沒附件。這會讓我不知所云，而讓他們看起來很不專業。所以認真考慮自己在做什么，花時間第一次就把事情辦好。