Rules of thumb for writing emails

What are your rules of thumb for writing emails? Do you have any? Or do you just write stream of consciousness every time?
Over time, I've come up with about 57 rules of thumb that I follow. But I want share just 5 really important rules of thumb with you today.
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1. Write like you speak
It took me a while to realize the benefits of writing more casually. As soon as you get rid of all the awkward phrases you learn in english class, your writing will instantly become more relatable.
If one were to adopt said writing style in ones own writing, one might engage one's readers more effectively <- do="do" example="example" not="not" of="of" p="p" to="to" what="what">2. Break down complex ideas into simple ones
Reading an email shouldn’t feel like you’re doing a really hard math problem. Before you click send do some extra work for your reader. Try rewording complex thoughts into simpler ideas. And please, for the sake of your reader, limit how many “hard” concepts you cram into each email.
3. Break apart long paragraphs and sentences

Take a look at how newspapers and magazines break up their content. Paragraphs in New York Times’ articles tend to be only one to three sentences long with white space between each paragraph. If you catch yourself writing long run-on sentences. Break. Them. Up.
4. Have one clear call to action per email
What do you actually want people to do? Follow you on twitter, facebook, and pinterest? Or do you want them to finish signing up to become a valuable user / customer?
Every time you add a choice to your email you increase the likelihood your reader will get confused and delete the email.
5. Use a P.S. for a second call to action
A secret among copywriters is that everybody reads the P.S. of an email. They may not read anything else you write, but for some reason people can’t resist the P.S. There’s a nice visual separation too so your content actually looks shorter. So if your boss insists you need more facebook likes, put it in the P.S.
I've found these rules of thumb help us tremendously and I hope they help you.
Share your great rules of thumb for writing emails in the comments
Sincerely,
Colin
P.S. No P.S. in this email. I just wanted to prove to you that you'd read it.

No Place for Abuse

Regardless of how much you love your mate and believe in who they are, there is NEVER an appropriate time for abuse, whether physical, emotional, or verbal. If your mate shows aggression or any form of abuse toward you, seek counseling for both of you immediately to try to work through things. If your mate refuses to go, even if it is hard, leave. First is your safety. Second, it is possible for people to learn ways in which to manage their aggressions. If this is the case, the life of the relationship has a much better chance of surviving!

Open Your Eyes

Do not drive yourself crazy with this, but take notice of how your relationship is going. Open your eyes and take stock of what is and is not working in your relationship. Are there definite things missing or definite problem areas that  need to be worked on? Think about it. If you invest in the stock market, you pay attention to what is going on so you can make changes if needed. Your relationship is far more than the stock market but requires some of the same strategies.

To Tell or Not to Tell

Experts will disagree on how much of a personŝs past should be shared in a relationship and while some things probably should be shared, most people lean more to not sharing every aspect of the past. First, it is the past. Think back to how much people grow through the teen years to mid-twenties. Offering unnecessary information from the past is a great way to create distrust, insecurity, and more questions than answers. Be wise when sharing.




Respect Privacy


When two people come together in a relationship, each person has their own set of history. There are yearbooks, maybe love letters from a first love, other objects that may not seem important to one person but to the owner, they have a special meaning. It is important to respect the privacy of your mateŝs “stuff.” Do not dig through boxes of things owned by your mate out of curiosity. Instead, allow them to bring those things out if they feel it is necessary. By helping yourself, you are disrespecting something sacred to your mate, which is not healthy for any relationship.