4 time-saving email tips!

Email is the 'killer app' of the internet, the most widely used tool available today. 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!
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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!
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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!
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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.leehopkins.net 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!
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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.