While perusing Twitter a few weeks ago, I stumbled on an interesting article about email etiquette. If you’ve ever gotten an email from me, my guess is I came off as perhaps too excited and too happy. Fact: I overuse exclamation points, and force myself to not use smiley faces, unless absolutely warranted. Be thankful email doesn’t have emoji, seriously.

Anyway, paying attention to your email etiquette could really impact your reach. For example, how long are your subject lines? According to a survey by hubspot.com, “Open rates drop from 24 percent to 17 percent on average when subject lines exceed 35 characters.” Their conclusion: brevity is key. Looking at an email as a whole, two out of three respondents prefer short, concise emails. Just one in three felt long emails were acceptable.

Another interesting tidbit: the less-educated individuals involved in the survey placed a greater value on sounding intelligent, while a large percentage of those with graduate degrees were more concerned about sounding reliable.

Regarding email faux pas… spelling errors, grammatical errors, no subject line (personal pet peeve!) and excessive punctuation topped the list of annoyances. I also learned 30 percent of people find smiley faces unacceptable.

So there you have it. Now, analyze those emails, and hit send with confidence.

Of Meth & Hoarding

On to real matters, this issue dives into the hot topic of hoarding. First, on page 10, get insight from a seasoned cleanup professional who has truly seen it all. Matt Paxton, from the TV show Hoarders: Family Secrets, talks about situations he’s seen, and how pairing his cleaning business with a nationwide restoration company is taking hoarding cleanup to the next level. Then, tips on answering an important question for your business: Are you prepared to offer hoarding cleanup? The facts to consider before making that decision are on page 12.

Plus, the steps a company in West Virginia takes to clean up the dangerous toxins meth leaves behind. That’s on page 28.

 Thanks to everyone who contributed to this information-packed issue!