Free Online Etiquette Lessons – here are the basics!

Lynne Level 1

November 21, 2016, 9:07 pm

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Free Online Etiquette Lessons – here are the basics!

Over the last few months I have seen a number of topics here that touch on some of the aspects of online etiquette but I haven’t seen at topic focused only on online etiquette.

So here are your free online etiquette lessons that will touch on the basics:

Don’t Use All Capital Letters – it’s SHOUTING!

This was recently brought up in a community discussion about losing social followers. So many online marketers use all CAPS, this is the equivalent of shouting online.

I do think it makes a message stand out, but not in a good way. Perhaps it does increase sales for some people, but at what cost?

Be careful what you call your customers or other people online!

This was a community discussion I brought up a while back and there are a few things to this point, so I will just list them:
-Make sure you use sir/ madam if you are not sure of the gender of the person you are speaking to. Me for one, I am so tired of being called sir!
-Spell your customer’s name correctly. If your customer has sent you an email with their name it is very bad etiquette to spell their name incorrectly! It shows you can’t be bothered.
-Love, buddy, sweetheart, lovie? Please NO!

Don’t spam people!

This applies to email, via social networks, via text and also via social networks. Affiliate marketing has such a bad name from people just spamming affiliate links all over.

LOL’s and Smiley Faces

I love LOL's and smiley faces. Yes these are cool to use in chats with your friends, and also in a community discussion setting like this. Perhaps in professional emails with new customers it wouldn’t be a great idea to fill it up with smiley faces and ROFLMAO?

Signing off

I have seen some really interesting ways that people sign off when they send an email or a private message.

My standard is “kind regards”. It is simple, professional enough and it won’t get me into trouble. My all time favorite signing off of a message related to a service I purchased here was “I love you”.

I am assuming that was a language thing though since his first language wasn’t English LOL.

Anyway try not so sign off your professional messages with hearts and kisses!

Please feel free to add some more online etiquette pointers to my list, signing off with a smiley face!

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hitmeasap

Thank you for the share Lynne. To me, most of this is really logical and common sense but I've seen tons of people who seems just clueless actually, so it's great to get these online etiquette's "on paper" so to speak, so others can learn from it.

As I've said numerous of times already. I truly HATE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SHOUTING WHEN THEY WRITE THEIR CONTENT!

Seriously, when I read something in capital letters I'm always "yelling"in my own head. I "scream" when I'm reading the thing I wrote above and it makes me sad actually. It makes me sad because I've seen thousands of people doing this.. And they are doing it sooooo wrong!

I'd rather use bold when I believe I need to HIGHLIGHT something, but I'm perfectly fine with someone who's HIGHLIGHTING a word or two in their content with the use of capital letters.. But for god's sake. Don't write entire sentences in capitals. It looks bad, it is awful and you'll look like someone who is about to rob you.

8 years ago

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Lynne

Andre but that is the thing isn't it? These may come naturally to us and perhaps we think it is the basics, but so many people don't get it. I see this all the time on social media, some people do it on their websites, via email....

Like you say thousands of people just didn't get the online etiquette memo!

8 years ago

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hitmeasap

Yeah I hear you Lynne. I don't know if it's actually online etiquette, or if I ever learned something specific to understand these sort of things.. It's just common sense to me. It's logical. But yeah, thousands of people must have missed that memo, somehow.. And I just wonder how in the world these people are ever going to make a single cent online.. - I stay away from people like that. Always have and always will. - It's annoying, awful and it makes me feel dizzy. It's like I'm drunk, but instead of Vodka, I got drunk by captial letters, sentences and weird or odd content. - And yeah, that's one helluva drug!

8 years ago

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Lynne

I also avoid them.. the worst is when one of those types of people inbox me all in CAPS telling me how they can teach me to make money online with an affiliate link! Oh No! Somebody not only missed the online etiquette memo, but also missed the "affiliate marketing 101 class for beginners"

8 years ago

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Everett

Anyway try not so sign off your professional messages with hearts and kisses!

I often wonder why people online call me "hun", or do this "XOXO", they do not even know me! I could be the worst person to ever live and they are giving me kisses, hugs, and calling me "hun". I think if you're in a business relationship with someone, you do not add the XOXO, LOLz, ;), or any other bad etiquette like that, it is just weird.

Sometimes I do use the "LOL", and smiley faces, but it's professional and it will appear that way, for instance a recent client of mine suggested a feature and my reply was:

That's a great suggestion!

So that response tells the client that I liked the suggestion, the happy face tells them that I am eager about it.

I tend to look at clients not as friends but more so "clientships".

8 years ago

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Lynne

Haha, has a seller ever told you "I Love You" as a sign off Everett? I think I win that round hahaha.

8 years ago

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MasterA

I agree that using cap locks is shouting and I think it should only be used for abbreviation of names, ie, TOS, SEO but when the whole sentence is in capitals, then it counts as shouting. If I want to make something stand out, then I would just use bold but not bold everything as that defeats the purpose of making an important point stand out. It can be hard sometimes when there is no bold feature and some people prefer to use capitals to make their text stand out but they didn't mean to shout. However, the audience won't know this and they make get a different impression. I personally made this mistake in the past and now I know not to use capitals because it counts as shouting even if you didn't mean it. I think this is definitely an interesting discussion and I look forward to seeing what other people think about this.

8 years ago

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Lynne

Yes I also prefer to use bold or to underline certain things to make them stand out, it is much better.

I do agree with you that some people are just not aware of the fact that using CAPS is rude, but that is the point of this post, to create awareness. It will be better for everyone

8 years ago

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Krisleen

The things you have mentioned are good reminders for freelancers to practice professionalism. Etiquette is very important. I believe that skills are useless if you are rude. It's either you won't get the freelance job you are applying for or forum administrators might ban you. Good etiquette is one way of showing respect and right treatment to people. We should be really careful on how we treat people. It takes only one person to break or make your reputation. What i find really weird with the things you've mentioned is the "signing off". I haven't seen anyone doing it. Is there really someone doing it? It's really inappropriate for a closing remark. English is not my native language but I don't do that. I also want to add one thing about etiquette. Never argue with people who have different opinions or those who object on you. Take objections as a form of question or interest. Most of the time, it's just an indirect way of saying "I have a question." so never criticize or argue with that person using all caps. Be professional and never take it personally.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

This reminds me of the days when I was new in forums. I made the mistake of writing a sentence in all caps. The moderator issued a reprimand that made me embarrassed because I was treated like an innocent child. Anyway, I wouldn’t forget that but when I see such a mistake, I never lift a finger because in the olden days, we use capital letter for a word or a phrase to put emphasis. But in the internet, all caps means you are shouting.

6 years ago

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SEOClerks

Free Online Etiquette Lessons – here are the basics!

Free Online Etiquette Lessons – here are the basics!

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