femalenetwork.com

Almost everyone has committed an e-mail blunder at least once: forwarding a message to someone who wasn’t suppose to be copied, forgetting to attach files promised in the e-mail text, quoting a lengthy e-mail just to affix a one-line comment to the end—the list goes on and on.

Since e-mail is part and parcel of our daily work and personal lives, it pays to know what proper e-mail behavior is, so you can avoid embarrassing gaffes in the first place. Here are eight rules of e-mail etiquette to keep in mind:

On E-mail Content

Write out your sentences. Text speak, or TXTSPK, evolved for SMS messaging, a technology in which space is a premium and longer messages cost more money. Don’t make the mistake of treating e-mail like you do your text messages. Spell out your words and flesh out your sentences. If you need to use abbreviations, stick to common ones like “BTW,” “OMG,” and “LOL,” and make sure to use these sparingly and in casual e-mails only. Text or L33T speak not only makes you look less competent and professional, but will give your recipients a harder time understanding your message.

Did you know that women are natural-born business-owners by virtue of their innate qualities? The growing population of female entrepreneurs—or “femmetrepreneurs,” as we like to call them—proves just that. Business-owner Lysa Sanchez helps explain why.

Women are “right-brained.” This article on Wyomingbusinessreport.com shares that while men utilize more of their left brain, which leans towards logic, risk, and aggression, women are more influenced by their right brain, which rules emotion, imagination, and human connections. This is a great trait for starting your own business, says Sanchez. “Women are known to be more right-brained... thus, they tend to have more unique and creative ideas, a trait that proves to be an edge in entrepreneurship.”

Women are creative. As evidenced by the plethora of females who live by their art—be that in the fields of music, theater, literature, and so on—women are beings of the creative kind. As an entrepreneur, it is important to have a fully functioning imagination that thinks outside of the box—how else are you supposed to come up with the next big business idea?  “Uniqueness and creativity are essential to running a business today,” explains Sanchez. “You must make something different [from] what has been done before, because there is stiff competition.”

So you find yourself thinking about working from home? Lured by the prospect of late mornings, holding meetings in your bathrobe, and never having to sit through rush hour traffic again? Before you fully forsake your office cubicle, here are some things to think about:

1. Is my work cut out for it? Sure, we’d all love to work from the comfort of our own bedrooms, but not everyone’s job description fits the bill. Realistically assess the work you do: does it require you to sit solo in front of your workstation all day, or does it involve running around consulting with a million different people? Can you coordinate with your colleagues via phone or internet chat, or is your physical presence a must? Work that has clear-cut deliverables and that is evaluated based on output (think graphic design, writing, programming, and the like) is most adaptable to the work-from-home setup; if you have set hours and attendance-based performance measures, it’s off to the office for you.