How can you connect with a business via e-mail?

You need to submit a proper business communication, or you will simply be frustrated in your effort to get assistance. That is, don't expect good answers if you don't send good e-mails. Here are specifics for you to use in composing an e-mail that gets you the results you want--whether technical support, product inquiries, or whatever.

1. Don't use all lower case--I can't stress that enough. All lower case is a prime indication the message is spam, and your message is likely to get filtered out and not even received. Similarly, don't use ALL CAPS. That's considered shouting. Use sentence case (as in this article).
    
2. If you're writing about a purchase, ALWAYS include the confirmation e-mail you received at the time of purchase. This gives the company rep all the important information about your order. This benefit is something a phone call can't do, which is one of the many reasons e-mail is so much better than a phone call. Don't give up this advantage out of laziness. That will only delay a useful response.
    
3. Say why you are writing. What is it you want? Be clear and concise.
    
4. If you're writing about a problem, identify the problem. Provide enough detail so the other person can understand what the problem is. Explain what is not working. Be extremely clear and specific, so the other person can respond with a specific solution. Any vague inquiries mean more e-mails going back and forth, which means less chance of an answer to begin with. Write every e-mail in such a way that the other person can act upon it.
    
5. Identify who you are. Sign off with your name, e-mail address, and (optionally) phone number. If you provide a phone number, also provide a suggested time of day to call and what time zone you are in.
    
6. Use a good subject line. Obviously, you should never write with an empty subject line--this will cause your e-mails to go into junk mail, and most recipients would just delete them as spam. Make your subject line short but descriptive. Something like "Customer needs help with Product X" works well.
    
7. Once you get a reply, be sure to ALWAYS include EVERY e-mail pertaining to this issue, in each subsequent reply. Any information not included probably won't be looked up so you are basically starting over with each e-mail. Never reply to any e-mail without including the entire message you are replying to.
    
8. This isn't a "wish list" to give you more work to do in contacting a business. The goal of this short article is to explain to you how to get the proper assistance as quickly as possible. This is how you do it.