WORK EMAIL LIKE A PRO
By Marie Williams
Posted Wednesday, November 24, 2004
TIME WASTER.Do you find yourself constantly checking your mail? Are you sick and tired of responding to the same old requests? Or do you simply get to the end of the day and wonder where all your time has gone? By working a little smarter, you can gain at least an hour a day -- or 15.2 days every single year!
TOP TOOL.Any good email program will allow you to organize and filter your mail, and create standard letter templates. Eudora Pro (http://www.eudora.com/), in particular, makes light work of managing your mail at a very affordable price.
BOX CLEVER.Create a simple filing system by organising your incoming mail into folders -- this saves you valuable searching time. Examples of folders include Work, Personal, Ezines, Articles, and To Do. You can also use your email program like a Filofax storing draft messages and reminders in your Monday through Sunday or To Do folders.
DIRECT MAIL. Filters can redirect your incoming emails into specific folders. Your ezine subscriptions, for instance, can be sent straight to your Ezines folder. Automatic filtering makes it easy for you to stash, trash, or act on your mail with a minimum of fuss and time.
FILTER CLEAN. Professional email clients have a whole range of filtering options. You can command Eudora to play a "warning" sound when invoices arrive, transfer all your ezines to your "To Read" folder, or label emails from your friends and family with your favourite colour. The choices are vast.
PUT IT ALL ON AUTO. Some filters can act like autoresponders by replying with a pre-written message or template whenever you process your mail. Eudora Pro will set up an unlimited number of these. So, if you've asked people to place "info" in the subject bar, just set up your filter to reply with the "info" stationery. Think how much time this neat little feature will save you!
WRITE RIGHT. Stationery files are templates for outgoing messages. If you find yourself repeatedly writing the same thing, just save the message as a stationery file -- ready to send when needed. This way you don’t have to start all over when you get a similar request or query. And you can always personalise and edit the stationery as necessary.
YOU'VE GOT MAIL! Get into the habit of only checking your mail twice a day. There's nothing to be gained from checking it more often -- you're simply wasting time and lessening your productivity.
STASH OR TRASH? Act immediately on all your incoming emails. By scanning the subject bar you'll find some that can be trashed at once. Don't even bother opening emails like this:
¤ Earn $??? the Easy Way!
¤ Make $??? on every Sale!
¤ Earn $??? while You Sleep!
¤ 1000% Profits Selling ?
These are SPAM should be trashed at once. If you're plagued with spam, you can set up filters to automatically delete messages with certain keywords.
Open the rest of your emails. Some may simply require filing into particular folders while others may need a response. Simple responses should always be dealt with straight away, while more complex replies can be filed into your To Do folder.
FANCY A BREAK? If you start working email like a pro, you'll easily save enough time for a two week holiday. I've already planned mine -- have you?
About the Author
Marie Williams
An absolute monthly must for ezine publishers. Want an easy step-by-step through advanced marketing methods? A free ezine template: mailto:freetemplate@writead.com ? >>> Subscribe TODAY: mailto:absolute@writead.com
