1.) Cc: stands for "carbon copy." Anyone listed in the Cc: field of a message receives a copy of that message when you send it. All other recipients of that message can see that the person you designated as a Cc: recipient received a copy of the message.
Bcc: stands for "blind carbon copy." This is similar to the Cc: feature, except that Bcc: recipients are invisible to all the other recipients of the message (including other Bcc: recipients). For example, if you send a message To: johndoe@yahoo.com and Bcc: janedoe@yahoo.com, then johndoe sees himself as the message's only recipient. Janedoe, on the other hand, is "in the know"—she can see that you sent the message To: johndoe, and that you blind-copied her. To add an entry in the Bcc: field, click the "Show BCC" link to the right of the "To:" field.
2.)Parts of an email message
An email message consists of the following general components:
Headers
The message headers contain information concerning the sender and recipients. The exact content of mail headers can vary depending on the email system that generated the message. Generally, headers contain the following information:
- Subject. Subject is a description of the topic of the message and displays in most email systems that list email messages individually. A subject line could be something like "2007 company mission statement" or, if your spam filtering application is too lenient, "Lose weight fast!!! Ask me how."
- Sender (From). This is the senders Internet email address. It is usually presumed to be the same as the Reply-to address, unless a different one is provided.
- Date and time received (On). The time the message was received.
- Reply-to. This is the Internet email address that will become the recipient of your reply if you click the Reply button.
- Recipient (To:). First/last name of email recipient, as configured by the sender.
- Recipient email address. The Internet mail address of the recipient, or where the message was actually sent.
Body
The body of a message contains text that is the actual content, such as "Employees who are eligible for the new health care program should contact their supervisors by next Friday if they want to switch." The message body also may include signatures or automatically generated text that is inserted by the sender's email system.
Attachments
Attachments are optional and include any separate files that may be part of the message.
3.) Rules for Sending Emails
1. Send To The Right Person
Make absolutely sure, you are sending it to the right person. It is unfortunately too easy, to send an email to the wrong point. A small mistake in sending to wrong person could cost you your job or a relationship. see: Email disasters
2. Don’t Use Autofill.
Autofill is when you start typing in a name and your email client automatically fills the name in for you. However, there is real potential for disaster. Imagine you are writing to tim_your_boyfriend and autofil fills in tim_your_miserable_boss. – It could be very painful.
3. Do You Really Want to Reply To All?
A good email client should always ask people, do you really want to send this personal message to your boss to every 200 employers on this mailing list? However, they don’t and because of a careless mistake, you have broadcast your thoughts to 200 people, when it was intended for one. Needless to say, this can be very embarrassing for all concerned. Always stop and think – Who am I sending it to.
4. Keep It Polite.
Email is a very impersonal method of communication. It is easy to be misunderstood. Whatever you do try to be polite and avoid making sarcastic comments.
5. For Difficult Situations Don’t use Email.
If there is a very awkward situation, ask yourself whether you could find a better mechanism for dealing with the issue. Speaking to people face to face, helps to avoid misunderstanding.
6. Treat Email Like A Postcard
Email is Not Secure. The contents of email can be easily hacked into. When writing an email, think of it like a postcard, you don’t know who might be reading it so you will keep very sensitive information to other more secure methods of communication.
7. Keep it Short.
Emails should be kept brief and to the point. Make sure you don’t wander off topic adding unnecessary emotion. Keep to a specific subject; if you have several issues try sending different emails, or at the very least try to break it up.
8. Turn off Auto Alert.
It is best to check email a couple of times a day. You don’t need to be alerted every time an email comes, it will just distract you from your task. Check emails when you have time and space to respond properly, rather than rushing off a response.
9. Delay Sending.
For any message that is potentially contentious, wait a few hours before sending; it is sometimes good to wait overnight. You will not regret waiting to review the message. But, you will regret sending a message written in anger / an emotional state.
10. Give Proper Title to email
This makes it easier to keep track and note whether the email is worth reading.
11. Delete old message in emails and be Careful in CCing messages.
If you are replying to a message, clear out the quoted stuff at the bottom, unless relevant. Be careful, if you reply to someone and cc someone else. The quoted message at the bottom of the email may not be appropriate. Also be wary of sending an email to someone who is likely to forward or cc that message to an inappropriate person.
12. Keep Your Inbox Clear.
Use folders and move messages to the appropriate folder. Thing is your inbox should be messages that require some action on your part. At appropriate times either respond to the email or move it to the relevant folder.
13. Keep Work and Business Separate
It can be good to have separate email adresses for work and social. At weekends you might like to check messages from friends without seeing some work email which would be better leaving until Monday morning.
14. Use A Professional Signature
A professional signature at the bottom of your email helps your message appear more authorative.
15. Use Good English.
If you keep emails short and to the point, then it will not be inconvenient to write in proper English with good spelling and punctuation. If you don’t have time to use a spell checker and write in good English, you are probably writing too many emails.
