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 ?
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