Kill The Attachments! Why you may want to stop sending e-mail attachments
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I'm now stepping on my soapbox about possibly my biggeste-mail pet peeve:
Never send attached files with your e-mails unless you'veasked the recipient if they're willing to receive them andnotified them as to the format of the files.
In the same way that our mothers never taught us not to usecellular phones at the dinner table in a restaurant, she didn'tknow to teach us not to send unsolicited attached files tounsuspecting recipients.
Why shouldn't you send attached files to anyone withoutwarning? There are so many reasons, but here are just a few.
- Anything you attach to an e-mail can contain and spread acomputer virus. Wouldn't that be egg on your face if you sent adevastating virus to your top client?
- Not everyone is on a fast T-1 line, especially when they'reon the road, and your attachment could clog their e-mail box,making it impossible for them to download their e-mails.
- Not everyone has the same software programs as you andcan't always open the file you send.
We can't be faulted for not knowing this Golden Rule ofe-mail etiquette, but now that you do know, I hope you'll sharethis information with everyone you care about. Pass it along like avirus. Help me on my mission to put an end to unwanted e-mailattachments! Thank you for your support.
Aliza Sherman is an entrepreneur and author of Cybergrrl:A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web (Ballantine Books).She is currently working on her next book and new company.
