E-Mail Writing

Take a look at these guidelines 

A- Subjects

Give the message a subject/title. E-mail messages without a subject may not be opened.

B-Subject contents

Keep the subject short and clear but avoid such headings as:
‘Good News’, ‘Hello’, ‘Message from Mary’. These headings are common in messages containing viruses. Short but specific headings are needed, e.g. Meeting

 C-Greetings

Start the message with a greeting so as to help create a friendly but business-like tone. The choice of using the other name versus the surname will depend on who you are writing to. If you have communicated with the receiver previously and he/she is at a similar level to you, then the use of the other name would be appropriate. If the receiver is more senior to you, or if you are in doubt, it would be safer (particularly in the first communication) to use the person’s surname/family name together with a title,
e.g. Dear Mr Jones, Dear Ms White
It is also becoming quite common to write the greeting without a comma,

 D-Purpose

Start with a clear indication of what the message is about in the first paragraph.
Give full details in the following paragraph(s).
Make sure that the final paragraph indicates what should happen next.
e.g. I will call you to check if you can attend the meeting next week

E-Action

Any action that you want the reader to do should be clearly described, using polite phrases. Subordinates should use expressions such as 'Could you...' or ' I would be grateful if...'. Superior staff should also use polite phrases, for example, 'Please...'.

F-Attachments

Make sure you refer, in the main message, to any attachments you are adding and of course make extra sure that you remember to include the attachment(s). As attachments can transmit viruses, try not to use them, unless you are sending complicated documents. Copy-and-paste text-only contents into the body of the e-mail. If you use an attachment, make sure the file name describes the content, and is not too general; e.g. 'message.doc' is bad, but 'QA Report 2011.doc' is good.

G-Endings

End the message in a polite way. Common endings are:
Yours sincerely, Best regards, Best wishes, Regards,

 H-Names

Include your name at the end of the message. It is most annoying to receive an email which does not include the name of the sender. The problem is that often the email address of the sender does not indicate exactly who it is from, e.g. 0385915d@polyu.edu.hk

Please follow these guidelines with all e-mail messages that you send.

http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eiw/e-mail.htm

Could you please write an e-mail?
1- Arranging a meeting- Accepting a meeting- Postponing a meeting.
2- Inviting a supplier to an exhibition- Accepting an invitation- Rejecting an invitation
3- Applying for a job
4- Asking for information- Giving information