You are your email!

One of my clients forwarded me an email from a well-known international media house requesting an interview with her. The email was scrappy, badly written and totally unprofessional. Its highly distinctive logo was nowhere in sight - in fact it wasn't even written on a letterhead.

The email said the media house wanted the interview for a supplement that would be given out at a conference to be held in Johannesburg in March and attended by government ministers, including Jacob Zuma. Would you have believed it? Shades of Nigerian businessmen crossed my mind...

It would be easy to check whether this conference was in fact for real; I'd go online. But, no, not a trace could be found. My suspicions deepened. The interview was scheduled for the next day so my client was getting twitchy - should she do the interview or not?

Eventually a colleague who does represent this publication in South Africa tracked it down and said that this ‘round table conference' was indeed taking place and that these ministers were actually attending. Who would have guessed, given the tacky look of the initial email?

People don't realise that when they ‘zip off' an email their image is involved. Can you imagine a few years ago receiving a letter without a letterhead where you used language such as:

• "Jst wnted 2 drop you a line can you make that meeting we tkd about lst week?" or
• "Thanks for the invite; unfortunately cant make this one but will do next one"

These are both emails I've received in the last few days.

Maybe we are living under more pressurised times and we do tend to cut corners - but, remember, you often only get one opportunity to impress and a tacky email just won't do it.