Electronic communication, also known as e-mail, is cheaper and faster than a letter, less intrusive than a phone call, less hassle than a FAX. Using e-mail, differences in location and time zone are less of an obstacle to communication. Because of these advantages and its speed and broadcasting ability, e-mail use is exploding. However, it is also being misused. E-mail in the professional arena is still a form of business correspondence and is as much a projection of one's professional image as any other written or verbal presentation. Here are some helpful tips for maintaining your professional image through e-mail.

Use the Subject Line: E-mail messages should have a subject line which pertains to the message contents. The practice of leaving the subject line blank is especially annoying to those people who receive large quantities of email as they often prioritize according to subject.

Watch your tone: E-mail lacks the advantages of body language and intonation, which are present in face-to-face communications. Take care with sarcasm and humor. You may inadvertently send wrong message. Use mixed case. UPPER CASE LETTERS ALONE ARE CONSIDERED "SHOUTING". Use upper case only for emphasis.

Correct Mistakes: Most mistakes are avoidable if you take the extra time to proofread and edit your document. Use your spell checker but don't rely entirely on it. If you're using the right word but the wrong form, i.e. two vs. to vs. too, the spell checker won't pick it up. Also, try to break your message into logical paragraphs and restrict your sentences to sensible lengths.

Be Professional: In business communications, stay away from abbreviations (LOL for laughing out loud) and don't use emoticons (little smiley faces). Save these for personal correspondence. Include your name and contact information, a "signature", at the end of the message. Don't use a cute or suggestive email address. Under no circumstances should you use offensive language or slang.

Protect Others' Privacy: If you want to mail a large number of people (for instance, on a mailing list) don't paste all the email addresses into the To or CC field of your e-mail program. If you do that, each person you are writing to will be able to see the e-mail addresses of all the other people you're writing to. This can be very annoying as people usually don't like to disclose their e-mail address in public. Always use the BCC (blind carbon copy) function instead. That way, each person will only see their own e-mail address on your message.

Finally, remember that the "old" methods of communication, the telephone and face-to-face meetings, remain highly effective and foster greater relationship potential. Try to incorporate all methods for successful business communications.

"Well done is better than well said."  -- Benjamin Franklin "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Sir Winston Churchill "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it." -- Henry David Thoreau