Blog about emailing

I have been doing sales now for 21 years. I **** it. I used to like it, but for the last couple of years I LOATHE it. In this economy no one is buying and I’m sick to death of calling or emailing my customers and getting no responses at all. I don’t want to sell anymore. I don’t have a college degree and can’t afford to go to school and get one.
But I still need to make decent money. I have marketing and business development experience and am pretty technical (though I am in no way qualified for a tech support or IT job, I’m not THAT technical).
My strengths are:
*delivering a speech to people
*brainstorming and implementing ideas
*educating others on the benefits of something
*bringing other people together and organizing meeting info and assigning tasks
*writing
*researching
*planning events
My challenges:
I do not want to cold call either via phone, email or in person. I don’t like it, it stresses me out.I avoid conflict at all cost and don’t like to have to be persistent to make something happen (no collection agencies!).
I don’t like to clean (no merry maids)
Retail is out because I can’t work nights and weekends for minimum wage.
What can I do? After all of these years I desperately want to leave the sales field and do something much better with my time and life.

I’m about to graduate from college with a B.S. in psychology and I’m looking for a job as a research assistant in a lab. Most professors don’t list these jobs on job search sites so I need to email them to find out if they’re hiring. Should I send my resume in my first email, or wait to see if they’re hiring? What kinds of things should I say? These may be people I want to work with down the road in graduate school, so I need to look very professional!

The template that I am using says “Dear _____,” to begin. I could leave this off but it seems informal and like I am mass emailing facilities to get a job.

Most of the places I am applying to say to send a resume to an email address, so I don’t know the hiring person’s name. Should I just put Dear HR or Attention: HR or something?

I am submitting my resume together with a cover letter online (not as a hard copy) as requested by the company. I am, however, wondering – do I need to sign the letter in this case and if so, how do I sign it? I scanned my signature and inserted in the letter, but is it appropriate? Should I just type my name and leave it unsigned?

I’ve been applying to jobs, and usually use gmail online, but recently I’ve been using Outlook as I find it to be quicker and easier, and forgot that I automatically request a read receipt. Does this look bad to a possible employer?

If the employer does not specifiy how they would like you to send your resume, but they insist it should be done by email, do you put the cover letter in the body of the email and send the resume as an attachment? Or do you send both as an attachment? And should they be separate attachments?

If you want to discuss a job posting to a potential employer and you do not have their direct contact number, but you have their email. Is it ok to email them instead or try to find their contact number?

I.e. when is the best time of the day to email job application so that the employer doesn’t suspect you’re an insomniac or have no life? Can emailing it at 9 a.m. make any difference on how your potential boss reacts toward you?