Personalize E-mail
A while back, I noticed something funny. As I'd browse around on the net during the day, I'd find a neat website, article, or photo that I'd want to share with my friends. So I'd fire up the e-mail program and send them a link or attachment with a subject like "Check this out!" or "Funny" and nothing else.
It wasn't long until I realized that I was training my friends to open e-mails the looked exactly like what I always told them not to touch. In fact, if they listened to me, they should have either deleted them on sight or called me first to ask me what it was.
That aside, I realized that I could prevent the issue to begin with by spending a little extra time to personalize the message when sending anything. The goal is to put enough text that it becomes obvious that a real person sent it. Once your friends and family get used to your habit, they'll be far more likely to notice if they get an e-mail without it (like if a virus hits your machine and sends e-mails to everyone you know).
 |  | Remember to always personalize an e-mail that contains a link or an attachment to make it more obvious to your recipient that a real person sent it and not a virus. |
