To TO, to CC, or to BCC?
“To” is the default field for the email address to which you are sending an email. “CC” stands for “Carbon Copy” and is intended for anyone that you want to involve in the conversation, even though they may not be who the message is directed to. “BCC” stands for “Blind Carbon Copy”. This means your “To” and “CC” recipients will not see these email recipients… it’s a secretive way to share an email message.
BCC is especially ideal for small group mailings, especially at work, to reduce the chance of spreading someone’s personal information… like sharing a list of your customer emails with another competitor, for example. It also helps to cut down on unnecessary “reply all” replies that you receive from chainmail.
If “BCC” is not an option in your email window, you should be able to add it in your options tab (see image to right, above – Microsoft Outlook).
REPLY, REPLY ALL, or FORWARD?
“Reply” will allow you to send an email to the one person who sent the email. If you need to keep all “To” and “CC” recipients in the loop, hit “Reply All”. If you want to share an email with someone outside of the conversation, hit “Forward” and you can enter any email address you want.
*Great ways to lose more friends (a bit of humor…): Did you receive one of those totally charming chain emails? Hit REPLY ALL to share your silly feedback so everyone knows you are ROFL-ing (Rolling On the Floor Laughing). And then, don’t forget to forward it to everyone you know, and definitely don’t bother deleting all the info from the previous 15 forwards… your recipients will not mind scrolling through all that jibber jabber. 🙂
SENDING MASS EMAILS:
Joking aside, it is poor practice to send mass emails with your average personal account. If you’ve been dragging your feet to use a professional email campaign platform, it’s time to make the switch. Sending mass emails too many times to large groups of email addresses can lead to your email being blacklisted. Not only that, if you use a domain address for your email, you can cause permanent harm to other users of the domain as well as a related website! The safest way to send mass emails is through an Email Merchant account, such as www.ConstantContact.com or www.MailChimp.com. There are many others to select from as well.
