Inbox at 1000, No Thanks to Bacon?

How are you managing that pesky inbox and keeping it at zero? For years I was able to happily keep up with my emails, until I started my own business that is. Now my inbox seems to stay unhappily at about 500-1000. Every time I clean it up it sneaks up on me in two weeks. That is partially thanks to being out of the office and just due to client/employee regular emails.

Too many emails? How to deal with them.

So how do I manage that ridiculous number of emails? I can't some days. Some weeks I want to ignore it and maybe eventually I will just hire a gatekeeper, but their are some basic things you can do to keep that number a little lower.

• Don't use your inbox as a task list. I did this for years and trust me the busier you are, the more it's not worth it.
• Manage your bacon.
• GTD - Get things done. Don't put off things for tomorrow that you can handle today. Respond to emails and archive or delete. If you may possibly need it again some day, archive. If not, delete. I generally save EVERYTHING, but that is because I don't use outlook (or any windows/PC products). I use gmail to manage all my email including Agency Couture.
• Don't check emails if your not in a place to do something about them. I'm guessing if you are checking them you should at least be in a place to respond. Unfortunately if you're doing that via phone you may not always have the archive option, but deal with that accordingly.

Managing Bacon/WTF is Bacon?

We each manage bacon differently, but I guess I should start off with telling you what I think bacon is.

What is "Bacon"? It is a type of email message you generally receive between 5-9am in the morning. They are emails that you sort of want, you signed up for, but often aren't good for you and just fill up your email inbox. It's a lot like real bacon, it is a yummy filler, but often too much and will just fatten you or your inbox. I offer my own branded bacon at: http://desaraeveit.com

I deal with mine by setting up a filter in gmail (You can do this by hitting the settings tab in the top left.. if you need more detailed instruction watch my video at http://youtube.com/desaraev6). That filter looks for the word "newsletter" and a list of email addresses that consistently send me bacon. I excluded all client names, especially ones that I do newsletters for. Then added a canned response auto reply, just in case in friends or clients slipped through and got archived. That email looks like this:

If you are receiving this email, for one reason or another your message has been marked as "Bacon" for me and may or may not eventually get read. If you think this is an error and you are not a newsletter, blog message, or another type of "Bacon" please call or email me so I can fix my algorithm.

What is "Bacon"? It is a type of email message you generally receive between 5-9am in the morning. They are emails that you sort of want, you signed up for, but often aren't good for you and just fill up your email inbox. It's a lot like real bacon, it is a yummy filler, but often too much and will just fatten you or your inbox. I offer my own branded bacon at: http://desaraeveit.com

Sorry for the inconvenience, but my bacon ha gotten out of hand and needed to be hidden away for a while.

This way I can go through and read my bacon when I have time.

How are you handling your bacon, emails, and overflowing inbox?

As always you are more then welcome to use any of my content, repost it, rewrite it, and broadcast it all I ask is that you link back to where you found it (http://interactivemedias.blogspot.com)

I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!


Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture

Image from: http://www.foundshit.com/

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I would also love to hear YOUR comments, questions or concerns of my posts and reviews! What do you think, its ok if our opinions don't match up! Leave a comment or let me know what you would like to learn more about and maybe it will become my next blog post or video blog.

Also don't forget to subscribe to my video tutorials (on youtube or itunes) as well as subscribe to my blog posts on here so you can have the latest web tips, tricks and book reviews delivered directly to your inbox!

Thanks for reading!

--Desarae A. Veit
Agency Couture

Catch Your Client's Attention with an E-Newsletter Campaign

Build your brand with a wide exposure for your small business by producing an email newsletter. You can offer coupons in your campaign, use e-newsletters to keep in touch with your target market, offer them tips and tricks with related products and services they may be interested in, all while building brand loyalty and stabilizing your reputation as a professional in your field.

Virtual businesses and conglomerates can both use e-Newsletters as part of their marketing plans. The trick is to know what an eNewsletter camapign can offer you, and what it's limitations are.

SmartBrief Reader Poll

Here are the Top 10 Reasons to use an eNewsletter Campaign:

1. Establish yourself as a Professional
   

   People like to do business with people they trust. Providing your subscribers with content focused on solving their problems or helping them build their business will give you credibility in their eyes, and make them more likely to pay attention to your message.

   Be sure to always give your audience relevant and helpful advice. Web readers have seen so much fluff and fraud that they tend to be a skeptical bunch, so your advice must be solid, well-thought out and creative. Stay away from promises of "The Ultimate This" or "The Most Fabulous That!" Unjustified hype makes people hit the unsubscribe button.
   

2. Archive the Information on Your Site to Enhance SEO
   
   If people are too busy to read your great newsletter right now they may want to read it later, or they may find you because you archived it. Simply add another page to your website. Then archive all your optimized pdfs on your website. Title the page Newsletter Archives and your set.
   
   
3. Build Your Brand
   
   Monthly or bimonthly eNewsletters get your product or service offering in front of your target market on a regular basis. Offer quality content with helpful tips to your subscirbers, create brand recognition for your product or service, and in the process your product or service becomes the customers top of mind thought when they are ready to buy.
   
   
4. eNewsletters are Budget Friendly
   

   Producing an eNewsletter is an ideal way to promote your business on a budget. There are a number of eNewsletter services online that offer free trials for you to take a test drive and see just how easy it is to get your message to your subscribers.

   Prices for ongoing monthly subscriptions range from about $12-$20 per month or more, depending on the size of your list.

   And make sure that you are giving your subscribers some sort of value-added bonus for signing up. A short, free ebook, audio recording or free trial of a service is a great way to encourage people to subscribe to your list, and ultimately build your business.

5. Connect with Sales Prospects
   
   People may spend as little as five seconds on your site to decide if they like it or not, but may not want to roam around on it very long. Some may hit your landing page, sign up for your newsletter, and others may be referrals. So your first newsletter to them may be your first impression, chance to connect. This leads into Quality vs. Quantity.
   
   
6. Easy to Mass Distribute
   
   Just because you can send out 20 newsletters in a week, doesn't mean you should. E-Newsletters can be distributed with your own data base (for those who are more advanced), or for beginners and professionals who do this a lot and want templates their are options like constant contact, exact, icontact, Lyris, My Emma and many other sites that will help with the template process as well as tracking your master unsubscriber list.
   
   
7. Personalize - Build Relationships with your Target Audience
   
   The more personalized an email is, the more likely someone is to continue reading it. Why not know very specifically what each of your customers like to purchase from you, what services they prefer, what industry they are in, and what they struggle with from day to day. If you can ask them, or figure that out and customize more then one e-mail for your customers the better. Add your client's names to the top of each e-newsletter, and spell them correctly, by using a database to automate the process. Entice them with products or services related to the ones they normally purchase, or that other clients have also purchased both. Offer them recommendations or care instructions. This obviously takes a bit more effort, but isn't it worth it in the long run?
   
   
8. You can have an ordinary or extraordinary eNewletter Campaign the choice is yours, and its simple
   
   What you can't do yourself, hire a professional to do. Make every newsletter unique. Put effort into everything that leaves your store or office.
   
   
9. Easy to track Success
   
   Tracking online success is easier than mass media or traditional media. Just add analytics or tracking, or use pre-built tools. Whatever you do, know what is and is not successful, and learn from it. What are your newsletter campaign goals? A click through to your site? A purchase? A download of your new e-book? Whatever it is, track it. You can track when an e-mail is opened, when a button is clicked, when ANY of your links are clicked, when a form is filled out, and how many pages that person visits. Find the right tools for you, or again hire a web professional to do it for you.
   
   
10. If your new to the Internet, or E-Newsletters you can always hire a professional
    
    
    

Top 5 Obstacles When Starting an eNewsletter Campaign

1. CAN-SPAM
   
   With the recent CAN-SPAM legislation, there are certain laws you must abide by. In addition, many ISPs and e-mail applications deploy filters that will prevent your legitimate eNewsletter from ever reaching its intended viewer – and you'll never know if they read it or not!
   
   
2. ISP/E-mail application filters
   

   Users often employ their spam filters to avoid newsletters that they no longer want. Instead of unsubscribing they simply tell their spam-blocker that the newsletter is spam. Voila: the newsletter no longer arrives in the inbox.

   The fact that many users will declare a newsletter to be spam when they tire of it has terrifying implications: legitimate newsletters might get blacklisted and thus ISPs might block their delivery to other subscribers. This is a compelling reason to increase the usability of the unsubscribe process: better to lose a subscriber than to be listed as spam.

   
   
3. Too Long - Make your eNewsletter Scannable
   
   Try not to send newsletters too often, and keep them brief. Just tack on enough information to catch their eye, and lead them to the call to action. Design your newsletter to facilitate scanning. Use a professoinal copy writer to create a funny tagline, joke, or free downloadable screensaver etc and them real them into your website for sales.
   
   
4. Keep newsletters Current, Timely, and ready for Immediate Utility
   
   Know your client. Write about information that is useful, and relevant. Ie.:
   
   • Work related news, or activities that are related to their companies
   • Prices and Sales
   • Personal Interest or hobby related
   • Seasonal
     
   • Events, Deadlines, Important Dates
   • New Products - How tos
     
   
   
5. Keep it convenient
   
   Make the eNewsletter easy to read. Easy to unsubscribe to the newsletter. Easy to find later (on your site).