Think of your network as personal ambassadors. They are essential resources when you decide to change careers or jobs. So, how do you reconnect with professionals you have met over the years? A short and sweet email keeps you on your networks’ radars, and, what better way to edit this email than with your writing assistant: Grammarly.

Make It Personal

You do not want your email to sound generic to the point where it could be sent to anyone in your network. Greet your connection wishing them and their company well. Then, remind the recipient how you know each other to jog their memory. If you have previous experiences with their company—professional or otherwise—compliment them on what you admire most, such as their culture or content, to highlight your interests in their company. Then, be sure to ask questions about your job search and desired industry; your recipient will feel like an expert.

Tailor Your Tone of Voice

It is no secret that professional writing carries a different tone of voice compared to casual writing. When emailing one of your connections, especially someone you only had a brief encounter with, remain as professional as possible. Grammarly’s Chrome Extension provides several writing genres to choose from and will analyze the tone of voice based on that chosen category. According to Grammarly, their tone detector evaluates both grammar and usage to suggest ways you can better cater to the selected genre.

Use Direct Language

The only way to get what you want is if you explicitly ask for it. Grammarly’s premium plan offers ways for you to be more direct in your emails with suggestions that rid sentences of unnecessary fluff people tend to use out of habit. Though it may feel uncomfortable to ask a favor from or be direct with someone you have only met once, it shows that you are serious about your career and confident that you belong in their industry.

Keep It Short

According to LinkedIn, the recipient of your email should be able to glance at it, realize what you are asking, and respond all in a couple of minutes. Remember that these professionals only have so much time to read and respond to your email before they have to get back to work.

No Errors

Lastly, double and triple check your email before sending it. To make this process as painless as possible, Grammarly’s Chrome Extension revises your email directly in your web browser as you compose it. After all, why should someone hire you to pay attention to their client’s details when you cannot pay attention to the details in this email?

It cannot hurt to reach out to previous connections and remind them that you exist—and it all begins with the perfect Grammarly-edited email. Show the recipient just how interested you are in their work through this effective written communication channel. 

Molly McNulty CCPA 3335 Blog #3 Rewrite

Think of your network as personal ambassadors. They are essential resources when you decide to change careers or jobs. So, how do you reconnect with professionals you have met over the years? A short and sweet email keeps you on your connections’ radars.

Make It Personal

You do not want your email to sound generic to the point where it could be sent to anyone in your network. Greet your connection by wishing them and their company well. Then, remind the recipient how you know each other to jog their memory.

Ask for Advice

More often than not, people enjoy talking about themselves. If you approach a professional with questions about your job search and desired industry, your recipient will feel like an expert. They may even share personal experiences about how they got to where they are today.

Compliment Their Company

If you have previous experiences with their company—professional or otherwise—compliments should come easily. Be honest about what you admire most, such as their culture or content. These compliments highlight your interests in their company and why you are attracted to it. 

Keep It Short

According to LinkedIn, the recipient of your email should be able to glance at it, realize what you are asking, and respond all in a couple of minutes. Remember that these professionals only have so much time to read and respond to your email before they have to get back to work.

No Errors

Lastly, double and triple check your email before sending it. To make this process as painless as possible, download Grammarly’s Chrome Extension, which will revise your email for you in your web browser. After all, why should someone hire you to pay attention to their client’s details when you cannot pay attention to the details in this email?

It cannot hurt to reach out to previous connections and remind them that you exist—and it all begins with the perfect email. Show the recipient just how interested you are in their work through this effective written communication channel. After all, a position at their company may open, and you could be the perfect fit.

Molly McNulty CCPA 3335 Blog #3

Beyoncé’s impact spans decades, generations, races, and any other demographic you can think of. When someone says “Beyoncé” it immediately triggers images of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter because no other Beyoncé exists in popular culture’s eyes. Her powerful position within this generation’s culture makes her one of the most significant performers of the twenty-first century and, arguably, of all time.

No matter what Beyoncé album you decide to listen to, you will hear songs that champion female empowerment and success. Tracks like “Single Ladies,” and “Run the World (Girls),” celebrate female independence using confident lyrics and an upbeat tempo. The vulnerable lyrics on her Lemonade album express her pain from Jay-Z’s infidelity. However, this confidence disguised as vulnerability allowed her to reclaim her marriage while protecting her character.

According to BBC, Beyoncé redefines what it means to be a mother and wife. Her close relationship with her daughter Blue Ivy combined with the sexual lyrics of songs like “Drunk in Love” portray an ideal balance within her marriage. Only a couple of weeks after the birth of her twins, she dove into creating and rehearsing her epic 2018 Coachella performance. Behind-the-scenes footage in her Homecoming Netflix special shows countless scenes of her children visiting her at rehearsal. This “insidering” approach shows Beyoncé in a more down-to-earth light because it shows her struggle with the desire to focus on her newborns while preparing for this performance.

When given the chance, Beyoncé never shies away from making a statement about her personal beliefs. During the 2016 Super Bowl half time show, she commented on the treatment of African Americans in the United States through her and her dancers’ costumes and dance routine. Additionally, she invited African American mothers who lost their sons through police brutality to the MTV Video Music Awards, further showing her dedication to race issues. To see more of Beyoncé’s activism, click here.

Beyoncé is a performer, artist, mother, wife, and activist and fans see into these worlds in the Homecoming concert documentary. Her commitment to both art and bettering society makes her one of the most influential performers the music industry has ever seen.

Who else can release an album in the middle of the night without a single marketing push and still achieve platinum status? No one.

Molly McNulty | CCPA 3335 Blog #2

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.