Today’s post on Seth Godin’s blog had me agreeing very quickly. Everyone uses email, but a lot of people don’t quite know all the little nuances that can make your email usage appear more professional, if not make you look more email savvy.

Here’s my interpretation of a few items from Seth’s post and some of what I think are top tips for using email well:

• Add your first and last name to your email settings so that your message doesn’t arrive “from” your email address. It should arrive from you, and you have a name.
• Make sure when you reply to a message, the message is included below your reply. This helps people remember what the reply is referencing without having to go find the old message.
• Always have a subject that helps identify the nature of the email
• If you use “reply all” just make sure you really need to include everyone on what you’re saying.
• Use the Vacation Message or Out of Office feature when you are not going to be checking or replying email for more than 12 hours or within a given workday.
• Don’t reply just to add additional banter. Everyone can use one less email in their inbox.
• Only use the “read receipt” feature on an individual message basis if you have to use it at all.
• Don’t send people an email from one address and ask them to reply to another address. Change your “reply-to” settings if you have to manage things that way.
• Don’t ask people to send you emails at two or more addresses. Change your account settings on one primary address to automatically forward a copy to the other address. You’re more in charge and it requires less of every single person who emails you.

Happy Emailing!