Business vs. Personal Email

There is no difference between personal and business emails when it comes to writing emails and the creation process.

But there are some distinctions that you need to consider!

Differences between Business and Personal Email

The primary difference is that business communications reflect your brand, i.e., your business. What will that say about your commercial enterprise if you communicate with poor grammar, typos, and lack of sentence structure and clarity?

Regarding your personal emails with family and friends, formality does not matter as much. However, in business, formality is a sign of professionalism and respect.

Email, by its very nature, seems informal and relaxed. And for the most part, it is.

However, your business communications need to be aware of the fact that for you to build that necessary trust factor, your style will matter. If you are to be perceived as a reliable and legitimate business partner, it’s not a stretch that the little details can make a huge difference.

An example of that is spam. You can spot it a mile away, right? And why is that? Formatting choices, vocabulary that is sometimes choppy or incoherent, lack of professional structure — all the indicators that let you know whether the Sender is trustworthy and legit are missing.

Perception is Reality Online

We all make judgments based on first impressions. We do it every day. On and off-line. First impressions online are often your only chance to leave that oh-so-important positive perception that could mean a new client, order, or business partner.

In my annual survey at the end of last year, many folks asked that I cover business and commercial-related email topics. I chuckled at that because I already do. I have an entire site dedicated to just that!

So it is wise not to use your business email for your personal activities and opinion posting. That may come back to haunt you.

A little backstory…

When I started typing about email etiquette over 28 years ago, folks began asking about business-related issues. They made it clear that they didn’t care about the personal email-related topics I was typing about.

Remember that email was so new back then — and embracing online for business was not yet mainstream. Rare were those who understood the subtleties of email communications.

Eighteen years ago, I decided that Net [email protected] would be solely about everyday email issues, and I started a business-focused email site BusinessEmailEtiquette.com. That site covers it all — with an eBook that I also update each year.

For those interested in Business Email and technology best practices, here are a few of my top articles over there to start you out:

• Email Etiquette Basics for Business
• Business Texting Etiquette: 10 Tips for Professionals
• Business Email Sign-off Considerations

Details Matter in Personal Email Too!

Your personal email communications include emailing other websites, customer service personnel helping you with your order or new groups or forums with like-minded members. Even though it is not “business,” being perceived positively is essential to having favorable results — business or personal.

I email the same, whether it be personal or business. It just comes naturally to me. In personal emails, a little less formal with no business signature files, maybe, but not much else is different.

Over time, I believe folks got out of the habit of communicating with the written word. So there is a learning curve. But make no mistake, sharing properly with the written word is a skill worth building. That is never going to change.

Being a clear communicator, checking for typos, and relying on words vs. formatting, should apply no matter who or why you are emailing. This approach will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings as well.

Win-win!