How to Write a Memo

Benefits of writing Email
• Time – fast communication; it can be delivered within seconds.
• Convenience – with fast growing technology, you can easily access your email from anywhere and at anytime.
• Internal/external – email can be used to communicate both internally and externally.
• Cost effective
• Documentation – provide extensive record for future reference.

How to write an effective email message
• Recognize e-mail’s lack of privacy and corporate ownership.
• Avoid casual and unprofessional tone.
• Consider your audience o Level of knowledge o Language o Technology needs
• Identify yourself by name, affiliation, or title. o Include contact information for future correspondence.
• Provide an effective subject line that summarizes the memo’s content. o Before: sales o After: report on quarterly sales
• Keep your email message brief o Limit your message to one screen
• Organize your email message o Use introductory sentences to inform your readers the purpose of this message. o In the discussion, clarify your points o Use the concluding sentences to tell the reader what is next.
• Use highlighting techniques sparingly to avoid having parts of the message distorted.
• Proofread your email message
• Make hard copies for future reference
• Be careful when sending attachments o Inform your readers that you have attached a file and specify the file name of your attachment
• Practice netiquette o Be courteous o Be professional o Avoid abusive, angry email messages

Benefits of instant messaging
• Increased speed of communication
• Collaboration by multiple users in different locations
• A more “personal” link than email
• Allows multitasking

Challenges of instant messaging
• Lost productivity
• Employee abuse
• Distraction
• Security issues

Techniques for successful instant messaging
• Choose the correct communication channel – use IM for speed and convenience.
• Document important information for future reference
• Limit personal use
• Create “buddy” lists
• Disallow corporate IM users from installing their own IM software
• Never use IM for confidential communication

Benefits of text messaging
• Cheaper
• Easy and universal access
• Fast speed
• Allows multitasking
• Decrease the “intimidation factor”
• Document conversation

Reasons for blogging
• Communicate with colleagues and customers
• Introduce new product information
• Reach an influential audience segment
• Improve search engine rankings
• Network through syndication
• Facilitate online publishing
• Builds networks
• Track public opinion
• Personalize your company

Guidelines for effective corporate blogging
• Protect company information
• Identify your goal and audience
• Achieve customer contact o Make your blogs fun, interactive and informal
• Determine where to locate the blog
• Start “blogrolling” o Adding content and link our blogs to other sites
• Emphasize keywords to increase the number of hits your blog receives from Internet search engines.
• Keep it fresh to encourage bloggers to access your site and return to it often
• Respond quickly to criticism
• Build trust and engage in dialogue
• Develop guidelines for corporate blog usage to prevent divulging company information