400 Unanswered E-Mails

	To Our Readers
	The Moscow Times welcomes letters to the editor. Letters for publication should be signed and bear the signatory's address and telephone number. Letters to the editor should be sent by fax to (7-495) 232-6529, by e-mail to [email protected], or by post. The Moscow Times reserves the right to edit letters. Email the Opinion Page Editor

Forget about innovation and exotic new technology. People still haven't learned to use the technology we already have. I spent many of my spare hours over the last month adjusting to a new e-mail program after abandoning Eudora and my PC for a Mac with Apple Mail. It has been a challenge, but what I really want to talk about is all the messages in my inbox: Why are they still there?

While there are lots of e-mails I respond to promptly, I also have about 400 that are marked as "read" but with no response. Yes, I should be more diligent ... but what is it about those 400 messages that makes them languish in my inbox? Perhaps you might find the reasons useful as a kind of "don't" list.

First, they may lack a subject line. (This one is basic, but a few people still just forget to add one.) That makes the message easy to miss, or even to dismiss as spam.

Or perhaps the subject line is useless, like "Message from Juan." I know that already. Or at least I do if the sender has a proper return address. And, yes, please, he or she should have a full name, such as Alice Haynes, not just Alice. Chances are I know several Alices.

Or there's a subject line: "Message for Esther." I know that, too. She could, perhaps, say "Message for President Obama" if she were sharing an open letter, but otherwise ...

The best subject line says what the message is about and signals the desired response: "Invitation to speak in Paris on July 14." Or, "Investment proposal for your consideration," or, "Serve as a reference?"

There are other e-mail sins. It's good to know what you want, but remember that you should really be thinking of how to motivate your reader. Take the familiar example: Alice asks, "Could you please introduce me to Juan Tigar?"

Sure, I'd be happy to, but why? Even if I know, and I may or may not, Alice should make it easy for me to do her the favor. You've heard of one-click shopping; try one-click introductions.

"Dear Esther, could you please pass along this message to Juan Tigar? I am a big fan of HotNewThing, and I understand they need a new marketing manager. My own experience as marketing manager for TiredOldThing makes me an ideal candidate for this job. I positioned TOT's products as traditional and valuable and helped sell the company for $20 million. Now I'd like to take on a new challenge and help position HotNewThing as edgy and innovative. I have several ideas about HNT's strategy against ZippyNewThing (too edgy), and I'd love to have a chance to discuss them with Juan. I'd be happy to send a bio and references on request."

No problem! All I have to do is click reply, find Juan's e-mail address, add a brief comment and hit send.

But, more often, the message dumps the work on me. I must try to remember the stories Alice told me, figure out how her skills are relevant to Juan's problems and compose a note. So I decide to handle some other messages first. Or I reply to Alice asking her to send me a paragraph or two -- and lose my enthusiasm for the project. It's not that I'm mean or lazy. It's that I have 400 other messages begging for attention.

Nor do I reliably read attachments or follow links unless the message text is really exciting. First, I may not be online and may not even be able to open the attachment or follow the link. Second, in these days of spam and malware, it's not safe to open attachments you are not expecting. If I get an e-mail that says, "Please read" from someone I don't know, I simply delete it.

Finally, I'm busy! When I get a batch of, say, 40 messages after a long flight or in the morning, guess what I don't do? I don't click to a web site invitation or a presentation.

So I hope my message is clear. The key thing to think about when sending an e-mail is not the message you send, but the message the recipient receives. Will it stand out in a sea of messages? Will it spur the reader to take the action you want?

As I read this, I know I sound like a lazy, distracted person who can't be bothered to be helpful. But your goal is not to reform me or others like me. It's to help us answer your message promptly. The easier you make things, the more likely you are to get the response you want.

Esther Dyson, chairman of EDventure Holdings, is an active investor in a variety of start-ups around the world. Copyright: Project Syndicate.