Whether you are writing to a friend about your new motorola xoom or corresponding with a business contact about important work issues, it is important that your writing is clear, concise and accurate. Good email writing skills are useful in all areas of your life, and so if your's are looking a little shabby, it may be time to brush up on the conventions.

To begin with, you don't want to get into the habit of writing in email-ese. This means shortening sentences until they are almost unintelligible, and treating the rules of spelling and grammar as if they don't exist. Especially in a professional context, it is important that you appear intelligent and informed, and a well put together email, written correctly, can help to articulate this impression.

Remember to address your email and sign off, even if it is informally. While beginning with 'Dear' may not be appropriate when you are writing to very close friends with whom you can be informal, it is a good idea always to direct your email at a particular person.

Finally, you should never forget that what is sent out into the 'ether' of cyber space never disappears. Don't hastily scrawl down your feelings and then press send without first checking what it is you have written.

While email is, on the whole, a far less formal medium of communication than the old-fashioned letter, it nevertheless necessitates that certain rules be followed. Don't abandon the laws of language altogether, and remember always to read over what you have written before your send it.