How to E-Mail Complete Strangers

From time to time, I receive e-mail from complete strangers. They always frighten me, because I have no idea who these people e-mailing me are. It's like having a completely faceless man come up to me and say, "Hi, Hani!"

I'd shriek and shout, "Monster! Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, save me!" So I decided to put up some advice on how to e-mail me, so that you won't frighten me, since I'm a cowardly sort.

Imagine we're two strangers meeting in real life, for the first time. Ask yourself if you would really come up to me and say, "Hi, I'd like your help to fix my blog" or "Please let me read the unarchived entries." For the first time, mind you!

Personally, when I meet someone for the first time, I tell them my name, and a little more of who I am, for example, what I do and what I like. I make the person I'm meeting for the first time comfortable with me, and not frightened of me. Then I ask for help!

So here are the rules:

1. Tell me where you got my e-mail address from. My blog, or a person? If it's from a person, please tell me who this person is.
2. Write an introduction of yourself. Tell me your name, your gender, your age and the general area of where you're living (Next door or Timbuktu, maybe?). Tell me more than that too, but you choose what. Maybe you want to tell me what you do, or what you look like, or what computer you have!
3. State what you want clearly. Tell me the whole story. Don't just ask to read the unarchived entries. Tell me you really enjoy my blog, and you would like to know more about me, so you want to read the unarchived entries to understand more about me. You feel like it's an itch that you won't be able to scratch until you read my missing entries! Just for example.
4. Tell me what's in it for me. If you want to get to know me better, tell me the benefits of getting to know you. Don't offer your biodata only after I've sent you mine! I don't see why I should! Make me want to get to know you by implying how interesting you are. Or maybe by how beautiful I am!

So those are the four golden rules to sending an e-mail to any complete stranger.

Finally, I advice you to write to me in English. Make sure you understand English too! Because that's the only language I'll reply in. Any other language scares me.

Scarier though, is a two-line e-mail, where I don't know who you are. So make sure, when you write to me, I can see the person behind the e-mail!

Looking forward to hearing from you!