E-mail Etiquette: Interested versus Interesting

Face it. There are ten million other Facebook users who have the time to appear more interesting that you ever will on the internet. They'll have cooler photos, quirky and hip things to say under their "political views" section, and they'll usually have way more friends than you. So, why even bother to compete? You shouldn't!

If you're looking for ways to expand your platform as an artist, especially through Facebook, the most important thing you can do is to act interested rather than be interesting.

I'm not saying you should strike up a chat with people you don't know. (Don't do this if you've never met a person) But you can send a Facebook e-mail and ask a few questions to get to know someone better. It's really a no-brainer. For as much as people say that technology has isolated us, it's really just our continual failure to bring a human element to the medium.

Have you used ways to bridge the human contact gap with technology? IF so, I'd love to hear about them.

E-mail Etiquette: The Follow Thru on Facebook

When you set out to do something on Facebook do you follow through with it? I notice there are a lot of artists who will say they are coming to an event or use the "maybe" section as a reminder.  If you make a statement make sure you follow through. People are watching you. If you're not good for your word on Facebook, then how good is that word in the real world?

E-mail Etiquette: How to Beat the Odds

If you’re still using a free e-mail account, you won’t have the option to personalize every e-mail with a “mail merge”, or send out more than 100 e-mails per hour and 500 per day. Most of us artists have free accounts through yahoo, g-mail or hotmail which leaves us with two options.

a) Type each individual contact name in every e-mail and send out each one separately.

b) Put all of your contacts in the BCC section and send it to yourself.

How you handle this step, will greatly affect the success of the outcome for your event.

How do you handle this? I'd love to hear how other artists deal with this dilemma.

E-mail Etiquette: Ways to Make the Internet Gods Happy

As fringe theater festivals can attest, nudity, free booze, and a good slot on a Friday or Saturday night can greatly improve attendance, but if you don’t write your invitation properly, chances are slim that your call to action will be followed.

You must take the time to use basic e-mail etiquette. Just because we live in a world that is, for the most part, ADHD, doesn’t mean that you can ignore the basic rules of communication.  The same rules for passing a friend in the street apply to creating your e-mail invite.

Things to do:

1) Say Hi.

2) Use the persons name in the e-mail.

3) Include the who, what, where, when, contact info, and cost of the event.

4) Let them know why the event will benefit them.

4) Use your name and a personal phrase in closing such as, “Hope to see you there.”

Things not to do:

1) Send an e-mail with nothing but a link.

2) Forward an invite with no personal note attached, such as, “I thought you might like to attend this event, it’s being given by my friend Jason.”

3) CC your list.

5 Ways to Piss Others Off With E-mail

Just because you have a drivers license doesn’t make you a good driver. If you can pay the fee, pass the test, and your eye sight is relatively good, they let you drive. That doesn’t necessarily make you a good driver. 

The same can be said of an e-mail account. Just because you have a free e-mail account, doesn’t mean you’re a good e-mailer. In a perfect world, along with classes for bad drivers, they would have classes for bad e-mailers.

Want to Piss Others Off? Then do these 5 things.

1) Don't say Hi or use my name in the e-mail. Just send me a link or a sentence fragment. (That really, truly makes me feel special).

2) Forget to proofread the first e-mail you send out for an upcoming event and then send me another one with the additional information and then another one with some more information you left out. (Can you say, "Delete, delete, and delete?")

3) Steal my name off someone's "CC" list and ask me to come to your event even though we've never met or you've never bothered to introduce yourself to me. Can you say, "Hello, I'm a telemarketer?" (You'll get an e-nasty from me if you do this, plus I'll turn your name into the Karma police).

4) E-mail an event notice out the day before the event and expect me to attend.

5) Will your very first e-mail to me be "Hi, it was great seeing you the other night...." or will it be a very spam-like e-mail asking me to buy something? Would you walk up to me in the street and kiss me before you shook my hand? (You're so gross)

Do you have things that make you mad as far as e-mail and Facebook go? If so I'd like to hear about them.