How to Email Busy People • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Email Busy People

#11

Post by daniel_levine » Tue, May 10, 2011, 5:40 PM UTC

As a former founder and now VC, I am thrilled about this post. It's so true. There is nothing I like more than learning about startups and helping entrepreneurs and founders. If that wasn't the case I would find some other line of work.

That's why I'm so sad when people view my inability to get to email in a timely fashion as a proxy for my interest or the type of person I am.

I just get a ton of email and it's impossible to respond to it all, much less in a timely fashion. I'll try my best to get to it all, but if for some reason you haven't heard back in awhile try again and again. If nothing else I'll notice your determination and provide some feedback.

Re: How to Email Busy People

#12

Post by uast23 » Tue, May 10, 2011, 5:51 PM UTC

How do you pitch someone while seeking a job/project in 5-6 lines of email? Especially when you are going in as a team rather than sending individual resumes!

Re: How to Email Busy People

#13

Post by hammock » Tue, May 10, 2011, 5:55 PM UTC

People often ask me for writing advice. The number-one tip is always brevity. Cut, cut, cut!

Re: How to Email Busy People

#14

Post by puredanger » Tue, May 10, 2011, 5:58 PM UTC

I've had some success with sending email that has a short and long version (or if you include the subject itself, 3 levels). Ask your main question in the first sentence or two, enough to provide context, detail, and what you want.

At the end say "[more detail below if needed]". Draw a line in the email ===== and include more detail below that they can dip into if necessary.

Re: How to Email Busy People

#15

Post by SeoxyS » Tue, May 10, 2011, 6:02 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #8

Be brief and say what you want.

I think this should apply for any kind of email, not just for busy people. Actually, this applies to most kinds of writing too.

It'll come off much better if it's well-worded but simple and to-the-point. The more fluffy sentences you add to your email, blog post, internet comment or product copy, the less professional it starts to sound.

Re: How to Email Busy People

#16

Post by SeoxyS » Tue, May 10, 2011, 6:04 PM UTC

>If you can fit the entire question into the header, just do it and include #eom at the end, which means 'end of message'. Yes, it feels weird. Do it anyways.

This I cannot agree with, however. I receive a fair amount of email, and I just cannot stand when people do this. It annoys me to no end and will most likely earn an instant-delete to the email.

Re: How to Email Busy People

#17

Post by Cherian_Abraham » Tue, May 10, 2011, 6:07 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #8

Be brief and say what you want.

To quote the Bard: Brevity is the soul of wit.

Therefore, be brief when you can, but always..be polite.

Re: How to Email Busy People

#18

Post by Sukotto » Tue, May 10, 2011, 6:10 PM UTC

uast23 wrote: post #12

How do you pitch someone while seeking a job/project in 5-6 lines of email? Especially when you are going in as a team rather than sending individual resumes!

The same way you pitch your company in a 60 second elevator ride. Pare it down to the simplest possible (and most compelling) idea.

Re: How to Email Busy People

#19

Post by qjz » Tue, May 10, 2011, 6:13 PM UTC

imcdowell wrote: post #3

If it doesn't all fit in the subject line, put what you're asking for in the first sentence. This makes the purpose of your email immediately clear, and if the recipient is interested in the details they can read the next four lines. A busy person will appreciate you getting to the point and not beating around the bush.

The message body should stand on its own, even if it means repeating information from the subject line. I hate long, rambling subjects only to find something like "So how about it?" in the message itself. Like the contents, the subject line should be short, concise and to the point, only moreso. This is especially important if I'm reading the email on my phone, where a long subject will be mercilessly truncated.

Re: How to Email Busy People

#20

Post by localtalent » Tue, May 10, 2011, 6:13 PM UTC

I'm trying to work out emailing for sponsorships for projects that we're running. It's generally cold-calling, but not a shotgun approach - we work pretty hard to come up with companies who would have something to gain from the project.

I'm going to try some of these tips, but would an email with 'Seeking Sponsorship' in the subject get caught in your personal spam filter?