Your email account gives you access to the people in your life. You must be able to communicate in this way in order to maximize your effectiveness in the shortest amount of time. That’s why I was shocked to see so many people struggling with this during a three day marketing conference I attended and spoke at recently.
Each day there were people trying to find messages from friends and business contacts, and saying they couldn’t remember which email they had used to sign up for a particular program or event. They would log in and out of several email services, sometimes giving up before locating what they were looking for. I could not believe what I was seeing.
I am not an Outlook person. The idea of my email being connected to my computer, instead of being available from anywhere in the world, never appealed to me. Instead, I kept the process simple all of these years, and I believe it has paid off very well. I now receive hundreds of emails each day, and it is very easy for me to read and respond to the ones that need my attention, and to file or delete the ones that do not.
I have a main email that is connected to my domain name. This makes me appear serious and professional to my clients and other business connections online. This email forwards to my Yahoo account, which I check about every 6 hours. This makes it easy to stay connected with my coaching students, as well as my friends who choose to communicate with me through email instead of by phone. I also have a Gmail account for some high level coaching programs I am a part of. I check that one once each day. I have another Yahoo account where I sign up to be on everyone’s list. I typically check that one every other day.
My recommendation is to have no more than three accounts. Also, do not use services that censor and filter what you will receive. I do not like a company that chooses what I will see; that’s what parents do when we are growing up. We are in business and will decide that for ourselves.
Make it clear to your clients what your email policy is on a regular basis. You will find that people who are demanding and want you to reply back right away, even on a Sunday, are not the ones you want to spend your precious time with. Instead, decide what works best for you and then let others know what you have decided. It’s all about lifestyle choice, and email is a part of it.
Thanks for sharing this Connie. Email can completely take over our lives if we are not organized with it (I know this from experience). I love how you schedule when you check your email and how you separate which information goes where. That keeps it clear and manageable.
Ingrid
Bravo Connie, this is very important information and can help us to reclaim our day!!!!
D’vorah
Thanks for this… very useful.
If you do a seminar on this, please let me know. I’m interested in everything that I can use to be more efficient!
Thanks Connie, I like simple systems and this is simple. We need systems (Save You Some Time Energy And Money) and simple ones make life easy. Always appreciate your knowledge!
Kathryn
What great organizational tips! I had trouble setting up my domain mail when I first started out, but back then I had trouble setting up my FTP half the time also. Might be time to revisit this. Any tips for success setting up domain mail or is every host different?
Any light you shed connected with effective use of email will be gratefully received. Thank you!
Hi Connie, This a great post! I use my e-mail accounts similarly but not with the precision that you do. I got some great ideas for boosting my effectiveness and productivity.
Thanks,
Charles
Thank you for sharing these ideas! I’ve decided to create an email address just for my clients so that I get their emails first & I don’t lose them in my inbox. For newsletters, I created another email address & I’ve been using that technique for years. I use the same email program, but I created filters & folders & make it a habit to check the newsletter folder every other day. Thank you again for this post.
Hi Connie,
I do use Outlook and I leave it open all day because I have to check it often . My clients depend on reaching me on a continual basis throughout the day as I work on their sites. I also get literally hundreds of emails each day and that can be overwhelming, for sure! I’ve created a system that works well for me for the most part and it’s somewhat similar to what you have explained above… I can access it from anywhere.
Your idea to have a separate account for subscriptions makes a lot of sense. I’m definitely going to implement that! Thanks for the tips.
Good tips, Connie. I will try to separate my emails more.
Worse are all these free reports and webinars. I get so many emails and offers via FB and Twitter. I often sign up for the free report, but that can take so many clicks and entering of email addresses. So many steps that take your focus away from what you SHOULD be spending your time on.
I have started lately to “unsubscribe” with more vigor, since I am inundated with emails and it has become stressful.
Hello from Montana:
Obviously God and the Universe want me to listen to my mentor because I am drowning in emails. Glub, glub, glub oooooooo
So, once again I will repent and start over and set up a system to save my sanity and my emails.
Love ya all,
Judy
I do the same as you Connie, I seperate out my emails. Another thing I have been trying to do is limit the amount of newsletters I sign up for. If I haven’t read someone newsletter in over 3 months I unsubscibe.
Thanks for sharing!
Tina
Connie, I would certainly benefit from this program.
Ellene
Sounds good Connie. I also use filters to send stuff I want to their own folders and to send stuff I don’t want directly to trash. I probably have too many email accounts – aol, yahoo, msn, and over a dozen gmail accounts. One gmail account is totally out of control with over 72,000 unread emails! I definitely need more organization!
Terry
Helpful tips and thank you so much, Connie. It also helps just knowing others have to cope with this, too! I also find it helpful to have several email addresses be automatically forwarded to one gmail account, and then I can read it all in one place and file in folders. I need to set up more filters to help me streamline it even more. Thanks for the reminder to keep “organize email better” on my To Do List! 🙂
Evelyn gethappytoday.com
Hi Connie
Very interesting system. I’d be lost without Outlook, but I have all my e mail coming in through that address.
But… I am still spending way too much time sorting through the mail, and finsing myself wanted to SAVE everything, so…. Please let my know if yu are going to do a Tele Seminar. I need it.
Thanks,
LInda
Wow just 3 accounts- I would love if you do a seminar let me know
I’d really benefit from a session on this. Like many others, I suffer from ‘scope creep’ and am at a stage where I need to retrench, streamline and simplify.
Thanks for leading the charge as usual, Connie!
Hi Connie,
I manage my emails pretty well, but I always get so much
from your perspective on things, I’d be very interested in
what you have to say.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
Genevieve
Hi Connie,
Great topic! Email requires some thinking and strategy and you have some great suggestions. I would love to hear a teleclass from you on this topic too.
Lesli
Connie
Good advice. I am also drowning in emails. Thanks
Mary Pat
Great tips, Connie, especially this: Instead, decide what works best for you and then let others know what you have decided. It’s all about lifestyle choice, and email is a part of it.
I appreciate receiving this gift of acknowledgment.
Like you, I keep 3 email accounts: 1 biz, 1 subscriptions, 1 personal (for family and friends). I check biz 3 times a day, subscriptions every other day, personal 2 times a week. I use filters and folders to manage things but it’s always a challenge to keep up. Thank you for your offer to share more in a training. I’d love to hear more recommendations and best practices from you. We can all learn from one another’s sharing.
Thank you!
Debra
Hi Connie,
This is some great advice. I find my biggest problem is finding something in my email. I personally keep most everything that I have responded to or at one time found important. Now to go back to clean up would be a job in of its self. For example the emails I get from you go into a folder. I don’t keep them all but ones I may want to go back to in the future. So to find a certain email can be difficult. Sometime I also find myself not sticking to the rules of having my training or newsletters sent to one email. If I trust the person I will send them to one email or if I’m just trying to get something free I will send them to another. So that can create a lot of duplicate emails in the future if I decide they should be in the other email. Thanks for the advice. I need to clean up.