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Easy Email Tips Pt. 4 - Add a Drop of Grace · The Daily Writer

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Smart Business Writing Podcast, the show that helps you share your message, increase your impact, and grow your business through the power of writing.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is the fourth part of a four-part mini-series on email tips.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if you didn't have a chance to listen to parts one through three, I want to encourage you to go back and do that.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: But just as a quick refresher, the main idea here is that email is all about relationships.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And because we send so much email these days, it's a really easy and a great way to build relationships and to communicate well.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, today I want to talk about the fourth and final tip, which is adding a drop of grace to your emails.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what do I mean by this?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: A drop of grace is a little something extra that sets you apart as a person who has good relationship skills.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now remember that email and for that matter, all business, it's all about good relationships.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Having good relationship skills means that you show qualities like empathy, understanding, being positive, and thinking about what the other person needs.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, we all want to feel affirmed and valued by other people.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're paying attention, there are all kinds of ways that you can do this.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you just a couple of very simple, very easy ways that you can show other people that you affirm and value them in your emails.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is to say thanks.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: For example, when somebody emails you about something, in your reply to them, you can just say, hey, thank you so much for reaching out.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: If somebody asks you a question, in your reply to them, you can say, hey, thanks so much for the question.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you taking time to send that.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: If somebody sends you an invitation, in your reply back to them, say, hey, thanks so much for the invitation to this or that event or whatever it is, you kind of get what I'm saying here.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody loves to be thanked.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that so often we underestimate the power of a very simple thank you.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Here's how I know this.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I get a thank you card from somebody in the mail, in fact, just I'm looking at my desk here, just uh yesterday, so I'm recording this on Sunday, January the 26th.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just yesterday in the mail, I got a package from Karen Briscoe, who was she was a guest on the podcast almost a year ago.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was a guest on her podcast very recently, and she sent me this very cool package that is a copy of her book called Flip Time, Love Life, A Heroine's Journey.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: She sent me that, and also in the package was a set of earbuds that has her logo on it, and a very nice card.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just really, really cool.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was a simple thank you for taking the time to be a guest on her podcast.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now you don't have to do something that you know that does cost a few dollars.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to do something like that every single day, but just in your emails, you can say thank you to people.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: People, again, they love to be affirmed and valued and appreciated.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And saying thank you is such a simple and such a courteous and easy way to let people know that you care about them.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So say thank you in your emails.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is give them a high five.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And this means just affirming people on something that they've done lately.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've noticed a post that they wrote on social media.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've noticed something interesting they put out there, maybe they've written a book or an article, or maybe they've spoken somewhere, or maybe they've done something else that's worth noting.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Just affirm them in that and say, hey, I noticed you did this or that.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that was cool, or hey, I saw you just had a book launch, or I listened to your latest podcast episode, or I noticed you did this or that.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter what it is, just affirm them in something.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes it's not the big things that matter, it's the little things that people do that really are meaningful because when somebody does something big, a lot of people affirm them in that.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: When somebody does something small, they don't expect to be affirmed in what they've done.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: So if somebody has done something small but meaningful, whether it's for you or for somebody else, just affirm them, and that communicates to that other person that you're paying attention and that you notice them.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Just like in the book The Noticer by Andy Andrews, which is a great little book, by the way, you want to be there's there's a character named Jones in the book who notices people and the good things that they do and so forth.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to be the Jones in somebody else's life.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: You want to be the guy or the girl who notices when people do something that's noteworthy.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Again, that's that's why they call it doing something that's noteworthy because it's worth noting.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you want to be the person who notices what they're doing and recognizes those noteworthy things.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: So these are two super quick ways to add a drop of grace to your emails, say thanks, and give them a high five and affirm them in something cool that they've done.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And again, these are just very, very small things.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: They are drops of grace.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: They're not buckets of grace, they're not waterfalls of grace, they're just drops of grace.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to go overboard with these things.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, a little drop of grace usually is more effective than a whole bucket full of it.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because when we just heap on the praise to people, it doesn't feel sincere.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: People can tell when we're not being sincere and when we're just trying to flatter them.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So just add a little drop, whatever you can, as often as you can, and that will tell people that you're paying attention, you notice them, and that you appreciate them and value them.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's pretty cool.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I just figure email is something that we do all the time, so why not just piggyback on communication that's already taking place?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just add a little drop of grace, and man, that can make such a huge difference.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I've got for today, and that also wraps up this mini-series on easy email tips.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear what you thought about this and what was most impactful to you, or better yet, if you have other email tips.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to learn from you if you have a tip that's been really helpful for you in building relationships by sending great emails.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can shoot me a message on Twitter at Kent Sanders, or also find me on Facebook at Kent Sanders, and as always, you can send me an email, of course, at Kent at KentSanders.net.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thank you so much for listening.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't say that enough, but I always want to emphasize that because there's literally hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there, but yet you chose to listen to mine today, and I think that's pretty cool.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that your writing has the power to change people's lives.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you in the next episode.