Any form of communication is most effective if it conforms to etiquette acceptable to both the sender and the recipient of the message. Since there is no direct verbal or visual link between the participants of electronic messages, a special etiquette has evolved to take their place. Be concise - long messages often lose their emphasis. Since most electronic mail systems only use plain text for the display of messages, special character emphasis features such as bold face and underlining are not available. Use the asterisk and underscore characters around the phrase you wish to emphasize.
Many people like to use a signature containing their name, address and a graphic or quotation.
It is considered bad form if the signature is longer than the message itself. Usually, your name and electronic mail address are sufficient. This is especially true when the author is conducting a survey or asking a question of the entire group. If the responses are of interest to the group, the original author should post a summary of the responses after a reasonable length of time. As with any written form of communication, attention to proper grammar, spelling, etc. will convey your message most effectively.