Email efficiency: four time-saving email tips

var sc_project=3372029; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_partition=37; var sc_security=”918325f4″; Home Books Clients How I work Pricing Research Services Free eBooks Home Articles Courses Nonverbal Products Twitter Case studies Presentations* Info Pack* –> My blog is here About me Search * opens in new browser window Second Life blog (both links open in a new window) –> Current Adelaide time: obj = new Object;obj.clockfile = “5002-blue.swf”;obj.TimeZone = “ACDT”;obj.width = 192;obj.height = 19;obj.Place = “”;obj.DateFormat = “DD-mm”;obj.TimeFormat = “hhmmTT”;obj.wmode = “transparent”;showClock(obj); Contact me: +61 410 642 052 Email efficiency: four time-saving email tips var sc_project=3372029; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_partition=37; var sc_security=”918325f4″; Home Books Clients How I work Pricing Research Services Free eBooks Home Articles Courses Nonverbal Products Twitter Case studies Presentations* Info Pack* –> My blog is here About me Search * opens in new browser window Second Life blog (both links open in a new window) –> Current Adelaide time: obj = new Object;obj.clockfile = “5002-blue.swf”;obj.TimeZone = “ACDT”;obj.width = 192;obj.height = 19;obj.Place = “”;obj.DateFormat = “DD-mm”;obj.TimeFormat = “hhmmTT”;obj.wmode = “transparent”;showClock(obj); Contact me: +61 410 642 052 4 time-saving email tips! Email is the ‘killer app’ of the internet, the most widely used tool available today. I’ve already written about how to structure a great email, but here’s 4 great tips for making sure that you take advantage of this fabulous tool. The result? A powerful marketing system that will save you lots of time and enable you to spend more time promoting and advertising your business. 1. Know thy email program! Whilst all email programs exist for the same reason – to send and receive email – and whilst most of them work in roughly similar ways, it still pays you to spend 30-45 minutes with your email program to get to the nitty-gritty parts. The sort of parts that mastering will enable you to cut valuable minutes off your day dealing with your inbox. Like how to set up an auto-reply, or a signature, or automatically save incoming and outgoing emails into different folders, like a well-organised filing cabinet. Most email programs have very good ‘Help’ files – make use of them in your quest for more knowledge and more time. Once you’ve got a good grip on your email program, move on to tip 2… 2. Automation is vital! You should aim to spend about 85-90% of your time promoting your business, NOT answering emails! If, like me, you get over a 100 emails a day, not automating your emails can be a real killer as far as your personal productivity goes. Remember how in stage 1 I suggested that you get to grips with your email program and learn how to automatically save emails into folders? Well, this is a key strategy I use to save myself time. Why should I waste precious time moving from subject to subject, looking at each incoming email in turn, when I can have my email program file my incoming emails automatically into subjects of my choosing. Subjects like each different project I’m working on, different clients, different business areas (marketing, sales, research, and so on). With all of my incoming emails automatically placed into relevant folders, I can move from folder to folder, keeping my working memory focused on one area, with the result that I become more productive than if my attention was having to be spread across multiple areas. With many email programs you can even set up automatic replies (known as autoresponders) for each folder – so that when a new email gets ‘dropped’ into that folder a reply is automatically generated to the sender, allowing you to acknowledge their email and promise them a response shortly. Without YOU having to lift a finger! How efficient and marketing-smart is that?! 3. Set up your signature. NOW! Oh, I know I bang on about this at every opportunity. But it really is a fundamental online marketing principle and if you don’t have a signature you are missing out on the chance to advertise your product or service to literally thousands of people. Thousands? Yes, because everyday emails get forwarded on to friends and business colleagues. Jokes, sad stories, news items, useful tips… all these types of emails and more get forwarded on to people you probably don’t know. If you don’t have a signature set up, here’s some examples. Note that they are a maximum of 8 lines long and each contain a compelling reason to DO something, like visit their website to grab a free report… Example 1: .blah blah blah .text text text. Regards, John ================================================== John Smith – Marketing Director – Your Company Tel: +61 8 8388 5171 Mob: +61 410 642 052 www.yourcompany.com.au john@yourcompany.com.au Visit our site and sign up for powerful FREE ideas and tips on marketing your business ================================================== Example 2: .blah blah blah .text text text. Regards, John ================================================= John Smith Marketing Director www.yourdomain.com john@yourdomain.com Tel: +61 8 8388 5171 Mob: +61 410 642 052 Visit our site for a FREE copy of our 20 page report, ‘Your Financial Freedom: what the insurance industry doesn’t want you to know” ================================================= Example 3: .blah blah blah .text text text. Regards, Jeremy ================================================= Jeremy Lee Marketing Executive www.yourwealthinc.com/lee Tel: (08) 8388 5171 ATTENTION: if you are sick of your job and want to earn more money visit my site for information on how you can build financial freedom one brick at a time WITHOUT having to give up your day job. Within a few years you could be firing your boss! ================================================= Example 4: .blah blah blah .text text text. Regards, Michael ================================================= Michael Bloggs www.bloggsareus.com Tel: (08) 8388 5171 Mobile: 0410 642 052 Bloggs are the latest, coolest toys around. Kids just LOVE THEM! Visit our site to grab the latest designs, colour schemes and accessories. There’s FREE screensavers and sound files too! Go there!! ================================================= As I mentioned above, I get around 100 emails a day. If I attach my signature to every reply, that’s 100 prospects a day who get my sales message! Every email program worth its weight allows you to attach a signature. You don’t have any excuse. Start writing some email signatures today and test them out on your replies. Some will be better than others at getting a response – you’ll soon know. 4. Create templates to save even more time! I get over 100 emails a day and some of them are from different people asking the same question. How time wasting to re-type exactly the same reply to each different email! That’s why I have created template responses – I can call up a pre-written response and just cut and paste it into a reply, adding any personalising features like the person’s name. Easy-peezy! I have dozens of templates, each answering a specific frequent request or question. These save me heaps of time! Each email program works slightly differently with template files, so I suggest you check out your email program’s ‘Help’ files for more information. A useful product I’ve found for Outlook is ReplyMate – check it out at www.replymate.com So, there we are. If you follow these four tips, you’ll find that you’re able to spend less time as a slave to your inbox and more time promoting your business. Other pages in this section: How to write emails that get results! | 4 time-saving email tips var owHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://” : “http://”);document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + owHost + “onlywire.com/btn/button_3798′ ad=’no’ title=’TITLE’ tags='”business communication” communication nonverbal’ url=’URL’ class=’owbutton’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); Reports I have written: Measuring the impact and ROI of social media – for Ark Group Making Social Media work for your business – for Ark Group Social Media: The New Business Communication Landscape – for Ark Group How to get started with podcasting in your organisation – for Melcrum Publishing Contributing author to How to use social media to solve critical internal communication issues – for Melcrum Publishing Contributing author to How to use social media to engage employees – for Melcrum Publishing Contributing author to How to communicate with hard-to-reach employees – for Melcrum Publishing Have you subscribed to my weekly newsletter yet? As a subscriber you get kept up-to-date on when new articles are added. Subscribe now! and receive a free version of my $79 report, Master the Art and Science of Twitter for Business. It’s the first in a series of reports I’m writing on how to master the various key elements of social media. Each report is an-depth, step-by-step process that explains in clear, plain English how to master a particular social media tool and help your business communicate better for better business results. Each report is easy to read, easy to implement and easy on the pocket — just $79 per copy. But as a new subscriber to my blog and newsletter, I’m giving you a copy of the free version of Master the Art and Science of Twitter for Business report as a way of saying “thank you” for joining my community. Please subscribe, then check for the email you will receive from me shortly after, because in the email will be details of how to download the report [1.2mb pdf] Subscribe now! Enter your EmailPreview | Powered by FeedBlitz If you would like to use any of the articles on this site that I have personally written (they will either have ‘By Lee Hopkins’ on them, or nothing at all) please feel free to do so as long as you include the following ‘resource box’ text and a link back to www.LeeHopkins.com: “Lee Hopkins the author of over 130 articles on business communication, and is recognised world-wide as one of Australia’s leading experts in online business communication, including Social Media or Web2.0 as it’s also known. To connect with him, please email him at Lee at LeeHopkins.com Visit his site at www.LeeHopkins.com to find many more articles on business communication. He also blogs at www.LeeHopkins.net. Whilst there, why not pick up a complimentary copy of his ‘Master the Art and Science of Twitter for Business’, which explains all about this latest seismic change to the business communication landscape!” This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Finally, if this site or any of the articles have been of any help to you, perhaps you’d like to say ‘thank you’ by throwing a few pennies my way. If so, please click on the button below and donate whatever you feel is appropriate. The payment is handled by PayPal and is extremely secure. Thanks. Subscribe Subscribe to my weekly business communication newsletter and receive a FREE version of my highly-regarded report, ‘Master the Art and Science of Twitter for Business’ (that sells for $79) Find out more… Related material : Twitter A 12-step plan to take you from Twitter newbie to Twitter supremo and grow your business in the process. More details Better Business Writing You’ve probably always wanted to improve your writing skills in your workplace, but perhaps there wasn’t a training course around to help you. Well, now there is. More details Turn Guesstimates into Estimates & close more sales!Award-winning ProposalKit gives your clients the detailed price quote and proposal they need so YOU close more sales (and boost your bottom line!) Finally you can quote with accuracy, increasing your profitability and professionalism. ProposalKit is easy, customizable, proven,and downloadable now! http://www.proposalkit.com Social Media White Paper (3rd Edition) Trevor Cook and I wrote a booklet to help our clients and friends come to grips with this new online phenomenon called ‘Social Media’ or ‘Web2.0’. Now in its third edition, it is still being widely cited and is receiving lots of favourable comments. Download your free copy now (pdf) Find out more about it (opens new window) Vodburner is my tool of choice for recording skype video calls, either for later podcasting or simply for my own record. Now that video is becoming more and more important, I can’t imagine online life without it.More about Vodburner… What you say about Lee Hopkins: “One of the best days I’ve spent with a man! ” “As a speaker, Lee and his alter ego in the guise of avatar ‘Lee Laperriere’ played a key role in making our virtual event in Second Life a success. Lee was well-researched, engaging and enthusiastic about the possibilities that virtual collaboration brings and his presentation showed that he had really thought about the needs of our audience” “Wow – what a presentation, it went so well, thank you very much! Fantastic job! ” “Lindy and Lee, you were both brilliant and I’m very thankful and pleased for your efforts, it was excellent. Thank you. ” “One of Australia’s leading public relations practitioners in the so-called new media” “While I only had the pleasure of actually meeting Lee face-to-face several months ago, I have been aware of him in conference programs and through feedback from one of my team members for a while. Lee has an amazing and unique skill for managing the new media to support business outcomes” “Oz’s best social network strategist” “As for Local Royalty, you really are a Superstar among the bloggers and blogosphere!” “Lee Hopkins, one of Australia’s most respected social media experts” “Lee was very entertaining and knowledgeable. He demystified social media for me and he made me feel it IS possible.” “His enthusiasm is infectious – exciting stuff!” “Excellent. A really fascinating insight from an engaging speaker.” “A very difficult topic but it was explained in a fantastically simple way.” “The Walkleys relies on the good will of Australia’s talented communicators to make events like these happen and I can’t thank you enough for taking time out from your heavy schedule to make the convention such a memorable event.” “The workshop was very useful in that it enabled us to directly relate what we learnt in the seminar to our business. Lee was very easy to relate to and he presented all the information in a way that was simple to understand.” “Informative and engaging – gave good overview of new on-line technologies and how they can be applied to businesses. Particularly valued the opportunity to have a separate session to look at the specific needs and potential uses for my own business.” “Great to talk to someone who is expert in their field and passionate.” “The ability to interact one on one with Lee, as well as seeing new technologies and how they can be easily implemented into current business processes [was great]” “Great. Lee was very engaging and presented info in easy to understand language and examples. Use of music, video, PowerPoint etc keep contents fun and educational. Great stuff!” “Great! Even I could understand and appreciate the content. Excellent examples, wonderful presentation. I’m going back to share with my team. Thank you. ” “Lee was a great facilitator and his energy and passion for social media was evident.” “Excellent, enthusiastic presenter who is right into what he is talking about. Walking the talk.Just the right amount of info about the different topics. Not too geeky. Strong emphasis on how the tools can assist effective business communication. Relaxed friendly atmosphere. The workshop opened lots of doors, stimulating. I’m strongly encouraged to try things out. Many thanks.” “Lee was great – knowledgeable, enthusiastic, generous in sharing his expertise. I liked the demonstrations.” “Great Workshop… helped me crystalise my thoughts on social media and now I feel ready to develop the strategy and make use of this great new medium” Would you like me to run a workshop in-house for YOUR company? Contact me to discuss how we can bring your company into this new and exciting communication universe. Twitter LinkedIn FacebookDelicious FlickrLast.fmFriendFeed Assoc. of Virtual Worlds Plurk Plaxo Skype me View many of the presentations I have given over at Slideshare Why does employee communication matter? Download a presentation I gave to a group of PR students on slideshare For your consideration: Free VOIP report Free Website design report “I communicate therefore I am” Available in medium and large mug sizes. You KNOW you want one! Available in men’s and women’s fittings. You KNOW you want one! Writing for a web audience Want to write more powerfully for a web audience?… Right-click on this image and download the pdf file to your computer’s hard drive. “The definitive guide to writing for the web” says Lee new TWTR.Widget({ profile: true, id: ‘twtr-profile-widget’, loop: true, width: 195, height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: ‘#3082af’, color: ‘#ffffff’ }, tweets: { background: ‘#ffffff’, color: ‘#444444’, links: ‘#1985b5’ } }}).render().setProfile(‘leehopkins’).start(); RSS Feed | Contact me | Articles | Products | Services | Pricing | Clients | About me | Useful links | How I work | Privacy © Copyright 2002-2011 Lee Hopkins, Design: Luka Cvrk – Solucija & Lee Hopkins