Chris Bonney

What Are You Afraid Of? Change The World Today Through One Single Email.

Why wouldn't you say something nice to someone in email today? Why just keep it formal and professional? Why fear vulnerability? Why fear that an email is "forever"? What would happen if you were exposed in email, not saying something derogatory or sarcastic or mean or condescending, but saying something pleasant and uplifting?

What would happen if you emailed your mom right now and simply said, "I love you?" What would happen if you emailed your best employee and simply said, "Your work here is greatly appreciated?" What would happen if you emailed your vendor and said, "I know I've been rattling your cage about pricing lately, but know that you guys are a world-class vendor and we really love your product?"

Is it fear that keeps you from doing this? If so, I challenge you to articulate that fear to me. When times are tough, leaders keep their chin up. They encourage and empower. They don't tear down. They don't create fear and scarcity thinking. But then again, maybe you're not a leader.

Change the world today with one single email. Now you know how.

Even I Can't Get Email Right Sometimes

The other day I called State Farm to see about changing my auto insurance to them. The process required a couple email exchanges and those seemed to go just fine. Later, when I was talking to the agent he said, "Chris, after I Googled you and found out who you were, I went back and read all the emails I sent to you to see if they were good enough." 

I, of course, responded that I'm not that picky actually and certainly am not perfect on email myself. To illustrate that very fact, below is an email exchange that went awry. Totally my fault, too. I've changed names and paraphrased a bit to make it easier for you to understand.

Here's the first email:

(This was in response to my recent unfriending of business people on Facebook. I shortly after asked this person to put me in touch with someone they knew.) Here's that email:

Hey Chris,

So now that you have unfriended me from FB, you want me to pass along recommendations???   Just kidding.  Jen was...(and the note goes on)

Here's my response:

Hi Bob-

But I'm such a good friend on LinkedIn, I'd think that would make up for the unfriending on FB, right!!???

I digress...

Thanks for your emails about Jen...(and the email goes on)

Here's the response back:

Chris, I was just kidding on the Facebook thing.  Actually, I didn’t even notice that you were no longer my friend, but couldn’t resist the chance to give you a bit of crap about it (in a good natured way)... (and the email goes on)

Here's the next email:

Bob-

Even a guy like me who writes a blog about email can't get my sarcasm across effectively. I knew you were kidding about the unfriending thing and I was too in my first sentence. I can take a little crap with the best of them, don't worry. Isn't technology grand?

And then:

Chris-

LMAO, I actually chose to ignore the sarcasm because it was more fun to continue the conversation. 

So?

Was this a waste of everyone's time? Was it simply all in good fun? Where did this go wrong? Did it go on for too long?

Email: The First –and Largest– Social Network

Something I've tried to articulate on my blog a few different ways, but this post sums it up best.

Inspiration From The Email Jerk

Last year I commented on Gary Vaynerchuk and his inability to deal with his overload of email and his surprising self-centered approach to a solution. I'm curious as to how that method is working for him all these months later.

Tonight, I stumbled across this video of him speaking at a Web 2.0 conference. In all sincerity, I found it one of the more inspirational public addresses I've seen in a while. His rough-around-the-edges approach bodes well and his passion for what he does goes without saying. He is the genuine article and isn't afraid to put it out there.

That is in many ways the message of his talk. Do what you love and stop doing shit you hate. As much as I love that line, I still have to hold Gary accountable for his methods of keeping up with his email. For a person who says that his curse is "caring about people", he doesn't seem to respect anyone's inbox as much as his own.

Watch this video. It goes by quickly and you can't help but feel juiced after.

Are There Too Many Blogs? Or Master Your Google Reader In The Next 30 Minutes Or Your Money Back

As a blogger, I, of course, follow many blogs. Well, let me rephrase that: I used to follow many blogs. After bouts of following over 50 blogs at one time only to be frustrated and overloaded, I decided to pare down. I spent a year trying to follow just 10. No luck. Still, just too darn much to take in.

A New Plan
So, I settled on a new plan. I will follow 5 blogs religiously for 3 months and then follow my next favorite 5 blogs for 3 months and so on for a year. The blogs that get the most reads and seem the most relevant to me over the year will make my final 5. I will subscribe only to those 5 for the entire next year. That's it. No more.

Other Blogs Still Play A Factor
Now keep in mind I do read other blogs that I'm not subscribed to. And I find great value in many of them. So, it's not to say that I won't read other blogs, I'll choose not to follow more than 5 at a time.

Here's Why
Here's my primary philosophy on this. I've learned that many blogs cover the same stories or report on the same trends. When you follow many blogs you tend to get some redundancy. Sure, you get a different angle on them, but that's not why I read blogs, to get multiple takes on the same topic.

Also, the great bloggers tend to blog at least one time per day which makes keeping up with all the reading very difficult. Keeping subscriptions to 5 blogs makes this manageable.

Lastly, there are always blogs, no matter how many I'm subscribed to, that I gravitate towards anyway. I had a habit of subscribing to so many blogs before out of fear, to be honest. Fear that I'd miss out on something. Fear that the greatest story in the history of the blogosphere would hit and I'd have to hear about it on MSNBC hours later. So, I'd scroll and scroll through all the headlines making sure nothing slipped past me. Turns out there is never really anything to miss. So, by just monitoring 5 blogs now, I've set my fears aside (listening on Twitter helps calm this fear as well) and I get content I want in chunks I can handle. 

What's My Attention Worth?
I'm reading a great book right now called Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It talks about the power of intention and attention. Those who focus win, those leading an ad hoc, multi-tasking, pre-occupied, Blackberry-gazing life simply come in second. So, yes, my attention is worth a lot. Bloggers must earn it.

So, Who Are The Current 5?
Drum roll, please. The 5 blogs I'm following till the end of June are:

1. Seth Godin
2. Harvard Business
3. Social Media Today
4. HubSpot
5. Groundswell

Check back in early July or, better yet, make my blog one of your 5 to track for the next 3 months and you'll find out how my grand experiment is going.

Am I missing something? Is there a better way to ration my attention? What do you think?

Is Email Still Relevant In This Web 2.0 World?

Okay, to start I must admit my blogging has been slagging quite a bit lately. I'd like to say I'm all over it from here on out, but I can't say that I will be. I'm on Twitter now and while blogging is a fantastic outlet for more complex topics of discovery, I find Twitter relevant, easy and I have much greater reach there than here. (Maybe you could subscribe to this blog and help change that!)

But what loving Twitter has made me contemplate is: Where does email fit into all of this? There are definitely bouts of email immunity out there in the world, but I'm not sure that is the most pressing issue for most of us.

Over 90% of business communication is still conducted over email. We learned in the Ashton Kutcher v. CNN battle that 94% of CNN viewers are not on Twitter. So, there is still a major contingent out there, regardless of what the mainstream media wants us to believe, that are still monitoring their inbox for vital messaging in their work day. Day after day, week after week. Many still do not know what Twitter is.

When will Twitter take over the workplace like IM did? Well companies like SocialCast are hoping it will be soon. They have a great product. Makes a lot of sense. But the question becomes when? When will we tip to 140 characters over the free form platform of email?

Have any thoughts? Any speculations?

By the way: Who is John Galt?

Do You Know What The 3 Biggest Email Mistakes Are?

My buddy and fellow email management dude, Randy Dean, was just featured in a podcast interview where he talks about the three biggest mistakes he sees people make when it comes to managing their inboxes. He talks across the globe on email management to hundreds of companies and thousands of people, so he's seen it all.

Can you guess what the 3 mistakes are? They might surprise you.

Find out here. It's a quick and very informative listen.

Also, check out my updated Squidoo lens here. It reveals the new name for the book I'm attempting to write.

What's Your Email Intention?

So, why do you send email? Seriously, do you think about what your intention is behind sending an email? What do you really want to happen?

More than likely you'd say:

- to dispel information
- to persuade someone to do something
- to confirm information
- to delegate action

And, yes, these might seem like motivations, but consider context and consider intention. People say they got married because they were in love, but their intention very well may have been to marry someone who can support them financially. One is an acceptable motivation, while the other is their true intention.

So, consider your intention. Who are you sending the email to? At what time of day are you sending it? Is it the weekend? Who's copied? Suddenly, you're not just dispelling information or delegating action, right?

You may be:

- Covering your ass for something you put off doing
- Pointing blame in a different direction
- "Delegating" work you should actually be doing
- Perpetuating a 24/7 work culture
- Putting forth a false impression that you're someone who works late

So...
Have the integrity and grit to refrain from sending emails with negative intentions. Be honest with yourself in email and it can have a ripple effect throughout all of your business communications. Be bigger than the next guy. Know that it's okay to wait till Monday to respond. Know that by sending your subordinate a non-urgent email late on a Friday you're sending a cloaked message along with it that says, "Don't think about getting out of here early today."

It's not an easy thing to admit, but if you're serious about a remedy to your bloated inbox, this is a magnificent first step.

Top 11 List: Ban These Words From Your Emails

David Silverman at the Harvard Business blog had a great post today called, "10 Business Words to Ban."

My two favorites listed are "net-net" and "value add." There are some other humdingers, so you should check out the post in case you're wondering how annoying you really sound to other people.

David recommends banning them from your biz speak and I'd like to second him on that and relate it to the focus of this blog: email. When writing it's even more important to be cognizant of how you're using these outdated, no substance terms. Are you guilty of using them in email?

To make this a top 11 list, I'm adding one of my own. I commented on David's blog with my entry. Here's what I wrote:

How about: "Let me know if you have any questions?"
What are we really saying? I know I've probably just given you erroneous, confusing information so if you don't understand it, let me know? Or are we saying I know you probably don't feel like you can normally ask me a question, but in this case it's okay?

"Let me know if you have any questions" is a lazy out for lack of a better way to end a conversation or email.

How about you. Got a 12th?

This post is one from my "Email 50" project. The goal is to publish 50 consecutive posts providing helpful advice on how to do email better in this information overloaded world.

The Power Of P.S.

Have you sent an email to someone only to discover upon their response that they clearly didn't read your whole email? Because, of course, if they had read it they wouldn't have asked you the question you already answered right there in your original message...in paragraph seven!

This isn't a post about keeping your emails short (though you should), it's a post about love. Well, sort of.

Ever seen this written? "P.S. I love you."

The power of this statement is not the "I love you" part, but the "P.S." part.

It's a long known fact to copywriters that the most read part of a direct mail letter is the title. Second most read part of a direct mail letter? Yep, the P.S.

Why? Well, we're intrigued by the informality of it. The seemingly ad hoc nature of it. It's an afterthought. It's a piece that needs it's own context. It's an important thought to leave you with just here at the very end.

Well, lately I've been trying the P.S. trick in my own business emails to great success.

For example, I recently sent this as a P.S.:

"I really thought that webinar was great by the way. Can you forward me the slides?"

This is an email whose primary message was not answered for another 24 hours, but I had those slides within 20 minutes. The power of the P.S.

Again, if your email is a wall of words, the P.S. isn't going to mean much, but when you really have a request you'd like to make sure gets through. Try tagging it at the end as a P.S. Then come back here and let me know how that goes for you. I'm curious to hear.