In July 2008, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford e-mailed his Latin lover,praising "the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificentparts of yourself) in the faded glow of night's light." That now-publicnote is just the latest example of how even the most politically savvy pro canbe an idiot when it comes to electronic mail. Get to the point, keep it shortand assume it's public, say the experts.

Cardinal rule numero uno: Assume that e-mail is public. Even if you'resending it over a secure server or to an account you think you've set up insecret, if people want to read your notes and share them with the world, theywill.

Despite e-mail's growing ubiquity, few have mastered the art of writing aneffective one. In an effort to compile some pointers on how to do so, weconsulted three experts: Will Schwalbe, co-author with David Shipley of Send:The Essential Guide to E-mail for Office and Home; Mark Hurst, author of BitLiteracy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload; and PeterPost, director of the Emily Post Institute and author of five books onetiquette.

Evidence that the dos and don'ts of e-mail have yet to solidify: Theexperts disagree on several pertinent points. While Peter Post insists onpolite salutations ("Dear Mr. or Ms.") and courteous endings("Sincerely") and recommends always using an e-mail signature at theend of a business note, Hurst says none of that matters. "Is he set up torun a steam-powered computer and read through his monocle?" Hurst sniffs.

For his part, Post says emoticons have no place in business e-mail. On thecontrary, say both Hurst and Schwalbe; because irony and humor are sofrequently misconstrued in e-mail notes, the emoticon offers a quick, effectiveway to convey feelings. "Emoticons are necessary," Hurst maintains,"because there is no subtlety in e-mail, and jokes do not transmitwell."

To writing an email or opening any discussion, it is very difficult touse soft words but hard arguments. I think, this would be very useful to writea decent email.

Quibbles aside, there are e-mail rules on which our experts agree. Among themost important: Get to the point immediately. Keep your notes as short aspossible. Avoid extended blocks of text by breaking up your writing into shortparagraphs or bullets. And keep in mind what we all already know: Everyone isbusy and gets too much e-mail.

One more caveat: When you receive a rude or angry note, do not reply rightaway. Negative emotions can escalate all too quickly in e-mails. "Justdelete it," advises Hurst to those who receive a cranky missive.