1. Don't let more than 10 emails stay in your in box for more than a twenty four hour period. This clutter can lead to several problems. You will miss important or time sensitive email, you will feel drained before you've even started to look at your email, and you will waste time trying to find important resources because you have so much clutter to wade through. Every day when you check your email go through the three S's to keep things clutter free. Sort- delete any spam or other unimportant email. Scan- the email that's left and see if you need to reply to it now, if it would be useful to save for a resource, or pass it along to someone in your network Save- emails you want to keep should be put into clearly organized folders.
2. Set up specific folders- It's helpful to have a folder name and then subcategories under that. For example: Clients would be the folder and then in that folder would be a separate file for each client. Newsletters- and files for special interest newsletters, articles, and resources for work this makes things easy to find and easy to share with your clients and your network. It's very helpful to set up corresponding folders in your programs, one for Word, Excel, Acrobat for PDF's
3. Save your correspondence- keep your outgoing and incoming emails, I save most of the emails I write and receive. This is very helpful for work related emails. Often I will send a resource or note to a client about something big they have accomplished, after sending I transfer it to their file. It's a nice tracking system for me and comes in handy when they ask me to resend information. If you are working on a project or are engaged in a marketing campaign it's helpful to save in-coming email for reference, resource, and referrals to colleagues.
4. Leverage your email as a free marketing tool. Put together a powerful signature file at the end of your out going emails. This is your electronic version of your business card. Most email programs will allow you to have several signature files that can automatically be attached to your outgoing emails. You could design a few different ones to call attention to different areas of your business. You want to limit the signature file to 5-6 lines and keep the lines under 60 characters long. Make sure if you put a website address in it to put http:// in the address, this will make the address an active link to the recipient. You will want to do the same with your email address by adding mailto: in front of the email address without any spaces in between.
5. Make sure you have a good anti virus software installed on your computer and set up to scan your incoming emails. You will see an active icon in the lower right hand corner near the clock, this will let you see each incoming email is being scanned. If an email is detected select delete infected source. This will keep your computer safe while still allowing you to see who sent the email. People don't often realize they have just sent out an infected email. If it is a friend or colleague who sent it you can call and let them know they have a problem before they send other infected email.
6. Make sure to back up your computer at least once a week. Your organized email folders contain a wealth of useful information and resources and are a valuable asset to your career so make sure to protect them and the rest of your files by backing up your computer. Sort your email folders once a quarter. Go through your saved emails and delete things that are no longer useful. When I am working on a project it has an active folder with all of the notes, emails, and resources associated with it. When the project is complete I sort through these emails and keep only the most important emails and resources. I can easily sort through and locate the email address of colleagues and business contacts for an occasional follow up.
7. Review your email before sending. Check it for formatting, spelling, clarity, and effective communication. If you are asking someone a few questions make then obvious and succinct so they can easily respond without wading through a four page email.
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~~~ Resource Box ©BZ Riger-Hull.
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