Before you hit "send", hit THINK.

There should be an email button, right next to "send", labeled "think." A window would appear saying something like, "Sure you want to send this? Or should this information be communicated another way, say, in a phone call or a face-to-face meeting with the door shut?" Or, "are you sure the person who reads this will fully understand what you're saying or what you want accomplished?" Which brings me to this: how do you know, really know, when to send an email, or an instant message, make a phone call, leave (or not leave) voicemail, or just wait to communicate face to face? I know, it depends. But it also says something about the connections and similarities between a) communicating, b) marketing, and c) plain-old common sense. Here's what I mean: "Marketing" is what you do to give people reasons to buy. This means you have to know more than a little about the "people" to whom you're selling as well as the the stuff you want them to purchase. If you draw the analogy to email, voicemail, phone conversations, instant messages, and face to face meetings -- all of the above can be thought of as either "media" or "distribution". The content of your message is the product. First, let's get the no-brainers out of the way: It's not cool or productive to wait for a face to face meeting to alert somebody to a short-fuse deadline or share a "FYI" about a non-critical matter. And unless you're a total jerk, you don't demote or fire somebody via instant message. But most situations fall into the vast middle and require some thinking. If it's a one-to-one communication and a complex topic, opt for a phone call at least. Make it personal. If it's really complex, there is still no substitute for face-to-face. If a gaggle of people need copying, or blind-copying (which will always carry the stigma of sneakiness) email's probably still the way to go. A quick conversation on the fly is ready-made for instant messages. Still, working the phones and voicemail -- but ONLY for brief and succinct messages -- is preferential to most emails. Yes, it can be time-consuming and tedious to play phone-tag, but sometimes there's nothing more effective than the old "call". A phone call followed by a confirmational email leaves little room for misunderstanding. It's good communication and good marketing. Know your product AND your customer.