The Success Report

Recently I wrote a book called recently I wrote a book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail.

I intend to put together a number of articles where I extract these tips, ideas and strategies from the book for you to read. Each article will have five different tips and insights. You will notice that these tips and insights are simple, straightforward and useful in helping you manage an ever increasing inbox.

Look out for the remaining articles which cover many of the strategies you'll find in the book. If you do have other strategies that you think would be useful to me to add in my next edition, why not send me an e-mail.

1. Double check who the email is going to

One of the easiest mistakes to make is to send an   email to the wrong person. It is easy to scroll down through the address book and click on a name and hit send only to find out that you ‘shot and missed’ when you selected the email addresses.

This can be embarrassing at best and disastrous if you send confidential information to the wrong person.

2. If you have one or many email addresses, check them often

 The whole idea of email is to stay in touch faster than ‘snail mail’ , so check your business and personal email addresses regularly.

3. Set up an ’Auto Reply’ service when you are away

Have you ever sent an email to someone and received an automated response back? It will be something like ‘I will be out of the office until next Tuesday. If you need urgent assistance please call Sally Smith on (03) 9533-9533’. 

Auto responses are a nice feature because at least you are kept informed as to why you are not hearing from someone you have sent an email to.

Creating an auto responding message before going on annual leave is positive and proactive.

You might also want to consider creating a message if you are going to be unavailable for a couple of hours. This is especially useful if you receive a lot of  Emails. Most people who will send you an email and get back your reply stating that you are out of the office and will be back in the afternoon will at least be clued up to when they might receive a response back from you.

4. Follow the correct usage of grammar and punctuation

 Just because you are writing an email and not a formal letter doesn't mean you can drop the need for writing properly. Whether you are writing an  email or a formal report, good grammar and spelling are essential.

 Glaring mistakes in your style or ability to use the English language throws a dim light on your competency as a professional person. So if you are writing to a customer with a major proposal and fail to use proper grammar, your proposal not only looks sloppy but also appears not very well thought through.

If you feel that you do not have good writing  skills, or you have poor English skills, for goodness sake take a writing course. If you don't know when to use a semi-colon compared to using a colon, then it's time for some revision.

One final Thought

While it might be alright to abbreviate your SMS messages, it's not when you are using Email.

5. Be Careful sending emails in HTML

Most email software gives you the option to send email in plain text or HTML. HTML email allows you to add graphics such as graphic headers and footer. The problem is that HTML Emails and can often get caught by email filters.

Consider using plain text. It means that your Emails have a greater chance of getting through to the people you are sending your messages to.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

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Is your inbox overflowing? Would you like to feel more in control of your inbox? In this article I will be sharing five strategies from my book, "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. After you have read these five strategies, why not have a look for the other articles where I cover other ideas and insights about using e-mail more effectively.

6. Learn to type (Properly)

Your ability to type quickly and accurately is your ticket to a more productive day.

If you still ‘hunt and peck’, take some basic lessons in typing or try using some inexpensive ‘learn to type’ software.

7. Make sure your email date and time Stamps are Correct

The date and time stamp are taken from your computer clock so it is important to ensure your computer clock is up to date.

Having the correct time and date on your computer helps those who you are emailing know how long ago you sent the email and if they should give your message priority. You can update your computer clock using the control panel.

8. Email is no place to get nasty

Sarcasm and passive-aggressive conversations don’t work at all well in Email. If you have ever misinterpreted the tone in someone's email you already know the dangers of not being clear and concise with your email messages.

9. Structure a business email like a business letter

Email usually follows general business writing principles. When writing an email to a colleague or client, it's important to establish your reason for writing the email in the first sentence or two. Then, after adding any facts or context, tell your reader clearly what you would like them to do next.

In this way the person who receives your email can quickly establish its importance and value when they see it in their email preview pane during a quick email scan through their Inbox.

Like business letters, your email sentence structures should be concise, logical and built upon one another.

10. Create and use an email signature

An email signature sits just above the footer of your email and lists your name, title, company name, phone number, email address, and other useful information.

A signature not only makes your Emails look professional, it saves time by not having to type this information into every Email.

Even if you have a default signature, you can change it to another signature when you are writing an Email. For example, you might want one signature for your business email and another for your personal Email. You can ever add company logos of photographs for a more elaborate signature.

To use one of your other signatures when writing an Email, simply click on ‘insert’ while in the compose email mode in Outlook. Scroll down on the drop down box to ‘signature’ and all of the signatures you have already set up will be shown to you. Pick the one you want and click it and it will appear anywhere in the email you want it to show up.

If you are not sure how to create signatures, ask a colleague, contact your help desk, or try Googling it.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Read More...

If only your Microsoft Outlook program came with a manual that taught you how to better manage your e-mail! That's why I have put together my new book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail. Please enjoy these 5 email strategies. Be on the lookout for my other articles on how to better manage your e-mail and reduce the size of your inbox.

11. Preview your emails in your’preview’

Set up the preview pane so you can ‘preview’ your email before you open it. This allows you to quickly look through your messages to determine if the message is spam, low priority, or something you need to action now.

12. Check ALL of your email addresses directly from outlook

Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail won’t tell you this but you can check those Emails without ever opening your browser. These free email sites want you to log in so they can show you advertising. But you can set up your Outlook software to pull ALL of your Emails right to your Inbox.

Do a bit of research with each of your email addresses and you can usually find the instructions for setting up another email source in Outlook.  There is no limit to the number of email addresses Outlook will check for you.

13. Keep your address book constantly up to date

Keeping a record of your favourite email contacts is extraordinarily easy in Outlook. The easiest way to add someone to your Outlook Address book is while looking at their Email.

One of the easiest way to capture an address is to drag-and-drop the entire email directly onto the address book icon at the bottom of Outlook. Doing this will automatically create a new address entry.

14. Learn to live without printed emails

Only print Emails if you really need a paper trail. You can keep all the records you want digitally, so don’t fall into the habit of printing out Emails.

It’s a waste of your time and is not friendly to the environment.

15. Organise your address book with folders

You will be surprised when the number of email contacts you have runs into the hundreds. With that many names in your address book, it’s hard to find the ones you use all the time. So organise your email contacts into categories. You can create as many categories as you want.

Categories could include: Customers. Colleagues. Friends. Family, or Project Team Members.

Do some research into setting up and using categories. 

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Read More...

Wasn't e-mail supposed to make our life less complicated? Do you find yourself spending way too much time on e-mail every day? Would you like to reduce the size of your ever expanding inbox? That's why I have put together my new book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail. Please enjoy these 5 email strategies. Be on the lookout for my other articles on how to better manage your e-mail and reduce the size of your inbox.

16. Delete junk emails as fast as they arrive (and set up the spam filter)

Don’t let your email box fill up with spam, newsletters, or emails that you will not read again.  An empty Inbox is an efficient email box. Learn how to use the ‘junk Email’ filter so that you won't keep getting email from people or organisations you don't want to hear from again.

17. Set outlook up to empty your deleted items mail box every time you exit

Not a lot of good can come from hundreds of deleted items in your deleted folder in Outlook.

Get rid of it every day (at at least every week) by setting up the option of deleting email every time you exit Outlook.

If you have Emails in there you want to save, don’t delete them in the first place; instead put them in a folder to read later.

18. Be sure you understand the difference between cc and bcc

CC stands for Courtesy Copy and BCC stands for Blind Courtesy Copy. The difference is that if you are sending an email to one person and wants others to see the Email, you add the email addresses of others who you want to see the email also and put their addresses in the CC box. The email is not for them to action. It is simply a courtesy to them in the loop.

If you want to send the message to someone else but not disclose that you are doing so, you use BCC. Blind Courtesy Copy sends that person a copy of the Email, however their name is not shown to the others who also receive the Email.

The pros and cons of Blind Courtesy Copy?

CON

Some people use blind courtesy copy as a way of protecting their butts. In other words, they will surreptitiously put the email address of their manager in the BCC area.

While including your manager as a silent receiver can sometimes be a good idea (as a simple courtesy or to keep them informed of your progress with a client), it's rather sneaky if you are including them for ulterior motives or ‘political’ reasons.

PROS

One of the advantages of using BCC would be sending out something like a request or a memo to a group of suppliers or providers that are all competitors. For example you might want to get a price on a particular product from half a dozen of your preferred suppliers.

First of all, you don't want all of the suppliers to know who you buy from. Second of all you don't want each of them to know who you are sending this email to. It would make good sense to place all of the email addresses of your suppliers in the BCC area.

Obviously when you send out the email you will not be addressing it to a particular person so there will be no need for a formal greeting with a person's name at the very beginning of the Email.

19. Don’t use 'Emoticons’' or other   email shorthand for business

Smiley faces and other ‘emoticons’ can add a nice touch when emailing friends or when using SMS on your mobile phone. It's common for people to text you with phrases such as LOL for ‘Laugh out Loud’, SYS for ‘See You Soon’ or FYI to say ‘For Your Information’.

So what is the business rule for using emoticons, acronyms and other abbreviations such as these?

It’s a simple rule – don’t. Treat every work email like a business conversation on the phone.

After all, you want your email to be taken seriously so stay away from anything cute or trendy when it comes to work Emails. Leave the fun stuff for your Hotmail or Gmail account. Work email is strictly for business.

20. Stay away from fancy fonts, colours or special effects

A business email that is dressed up with frilly stationary and other special effects lessens the business impact of the communication.

Fonts such as Tahoma 10 point  or Calibri 11 point are the best fonts to use for sending and reading Email.

Stay away from fonts such as Comic Sans and Times New Roman for Email.

Times New Roman is great as a printed font, but not so good for reading off a computer monitor.

Comic Sans is a very cute, child-like font. It is great for casual, personal Emails, but quite inappropriate in a corporate setting.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Read More...

I get really depressed when I hit send and receive and end up with 30 or 40 new e-mails coming into my inbox. How about you? Are you looking for a way to better manage your e-mail? Would you like to feel more in control, rather than having your e-mail control you? That's why I have put together my new book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail. Please enjoy these 5 email strategies. Be on the lookout for my other articles on how to better manage your e-mail and reduce the size of your inbox.

21. Colour code important emails as they come In.

One terrific function that can help you pick out Emails that are important is having Outlook colour code your Emails as they come into your Inbox.

For example, you can create a colour rule so that Outlook will colour an email from a certain person, company or group.

By using colour coding, certain Emails will stand out from the rest which is tremendously useful, particularly if you get a lot of Email.

Setting up a message rule to colour code your Emails is just as easy as setting up a rule for moving Emails to certain folders. Just go through the same steps we described above but when you come to the action you want Outlook to take, check ‘Highlight It with Colour’.

Then in the box where the rule is being created, you will see the word ‘colour’ there which is also a hyperlink. Click on ‘colour’ and you can pick the colour you want that email to become in your Inbox.

22. Do not let outlook automatically add people to your address book

There is a setting in Outlook where anyone who sends you an email automatically goes  into your address book.

This is a good way to end up with thousands of  addresses in your address book, many of which over time become essentially useless to you.

Turn OFF that feature in the Options area.

23. Always do a speel and grammer check

Just like in Microsoft Word, you should get Outlook (or your preferred email software) to check your spelling either as you are writing your email or  just before you hit send. It’s a good idea to turn on spell check and leave it on whenever you are writing Emails directly within Outlook.

The steps for turning spell check on are simple. Go to the ‘options’ menu in Outlook for details.

24. Set up message rules so outlook  keeps things organised for you

Outlook allows you to create ‘rules’ so you can have any email moved automatically to any folder you like. A rule can be set up based on who sent it, the subject line or almost any other criteria you choose.

This is a great way to keep your Inbox empty of things like newsletters or email you know that are not important to read this week, but you do need to file away (for later).

Just let Outlook send every email that you don't need to read (and has come into your Inbox), into its proper folder. You can look at them by category or based on what you want to see, not simply by what arrives in your Inbox.

25. Set a time at the end of the day to do email maintenance

With so many people sending and receiving hundreds of Emails each week, taking time to manage your own email should become a part of your working week as much as brushing your teeth is part of your ‘getting-ready-in-the-morning’ ritual.

So set aside a certain time towards the end of your week to do your email maintenance. This includes reading new Emails that you haven't had a chance to review or respond to earlier in the week.

Managing your email also means cleaning out your Inbox by deleting Emails you don’t need, creating address book entries for contacts you will need again, updating your message rules, and making sure there are no important messages or tasks that have been overlooked, misplaced or misfiled.

It's also a good idea to check your calendar (for appointments due tomorrow) as well as your task list for things to do today and tomorrow.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Read More...

Could it be possible that you are addicted to e-mail? Do you get withdrawal symptoms if you haven't received an e-mail within 15 or 20 minutes? Do you constantly feel the need to look at your Blackberry or iPhone? If you have answered yes, you might be addicted to e-mail overload. Wasn't the world less complicated before e-mail arrived? Well, whether you like it or not, it is a reality. E-mail is here to stay and it is only going to increase in the weeks, months and years ahead. That's why I have put together my new book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail. Please enjoy these 5 email strategies. Be on the lookout for my other articles on how to better manage your e-mail and reduce the size of your inbox.

31. Learn to tell urgent email from unimportant messages

The problem with having a very active Inbox is that it won't take too long before you starts overlooking Email. So learn how to flag the important Emails and give them priority attention.

Those other lower priority Emails can usually wait to be reviewed and answered after lunch. Seriously, unless you have nothing else to do, don't waste huge amounts of your valuable time with low priority Email; especially before midday.

32. The value of using a ‘‘Read Receipt’’

A powerful companion to setting an email to high priority is to request a read receipt once the recipient of your email has read it. In this way you can confirm that your message got to your recipient and that they have read it (or at least seen it).

While people get annoyed with seeing too many read receipts in their Inbox, they do serve a useful function. Because you ask the reader to take the step of sending you an acknowledgement, they will probably consider that your email has some importance to you.

WARNING! You should use read receipt with some care and discretion. You should not use it if you feel there is any chance it might offend or be considered a bit too pushy.

Never use this function for trivial Emails.

By the way, consider the fact that you are probably not going to get an email back on every read receipt that you send out, so use it only when the issue under consideration needs fairly urgent attention or confirmation.

33. Don’t rely only on a ‘’Read Receipt’’

While using read receipt can be useful, remember that getting a read receipt doesn’t mean the recipient read or even understood your Email.

If your reader didn’t have preview on, they may not have understood what was in your message. If you need someone to read, understand and then action your Email, it's best to follow it up with a phone call.

34. Clean out your ‘’Sent Items’ folder often

A Sent Items box with thousand of Emails is of no value and just makes your email system slower. Once every couple of weeks review your Sent Items folder and if there are any messages that you want to keep, move them to a folder.

Any other Emails in your Sent Items folder that do not need saving can be deleted.

35. Learn what you should do if you lose an important email

Outlook (and most other email programs) can help find lost or misplaced Email. For example, all sent Emails go to your Sent Items folder.

Even if you delete an Email, it doesn’t leave your computer, it goes to your Deleted Items folder. So before you panic, look there first.

If you believe the email you are looking for is gone from your email program, you can first of all check with your IT department or internet service provider. Sometimes there is a backup service which means that the IT department or ISP might have a copy. This request will be time consuming and not 100% guaranteed, so why not call the person who sent you the message, explain your situation and ask if they could resend the Email. This option is usually faster.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Read More...

Do you dread going away for a few days on a holiday knowing that when you come back you will have hundreds of new e-mails in your inbox? Do you spend the first morning you arrive back at work going through a huge inbox? Would you like to reduce the size of your inbox and feel more in control? If you answered yes I have some great news; I can offer you some ideas and suggestions to take back control of your inbox.

That's why I have put together my new book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail. Please enjoy these 5 email strategies. Be on the lookout for my other articles on how to better manage your e-mail and reduce the size of your inbox.

36. Be careful about forwarding attachments

Forwarding Emails is a great way to let others know of important updates you have received. But when you hit forward, any attachments go as well.

Delete any unneeded attachments. This is especially important when forwarding an email to a group.

37. Find other ways to send large files instead of using attachments

People HATE receiving huge files by Email. It is slow, clogs up the email server and can waste time. Instead try uploading large files (say more than 3 megabytes) to a shared folder on your organisation's server, or to a free service like www.mediafire.com.

Once you have uploaded the large file, sites like www.mediafire.com will provide you a url link to the file. This link can be sent to your recipient in an Email, allowing him or her to click on the hyperlink and download the larger file from there.

Please be aware that while these free services are very reliable, use your common sense. Don't send confidential or super-sensitive files using these free services. While the chances of these files being intercepted by a third party is low, it's better to be safe than sorry.

For added security, try zipping the file and using an encrypted password.

38. Get to the top of your customers and colleague's email queue

If you want your email to get noticed, make sure it hits your recipients email box last.

For example, when you open your email in the morning, have you ever noticed how dozens of new Emails fill your screen, withthe older Emails dropping down from view?

The best way to make sure yours doesn’t fall down in the list and will get seen is to send it at the end of the day or when you know they will be probably be checking and reviewing their Email.

For example if you write an email and send it on Sunday night, (not Saturday morning), then it will be closer to the top on Monday morning when your recipient opens his or her email program.

39. Make sure your attachments work

The best way to be sure any files that you send to others will work is to open it and try it first. Make sure that you only use formats that virtually everybody uses. PDF files, Microsoft Word, Excel documents or PowerPoint presentations are common.

Beware. Some newer PDF and MS Office documents are not compatible with older Acrobat or MS Office versions, so send your attachments using the most common format or compatible version.

40. Use short subject lines

Don’t use the subject line to type your entire message (unless it is really short and simple). Keep the subject line short but significant so the person reading your email will see the subject line, know what the email is about and open the email and read your message.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Read More...

Have you ever taken stock of how many minutes or hours a day you are spending answering e-mail? The average worker in Australia spends around 1/2 to 2 hours a day using e-mail. That really is a significant amount of time. Here's an interesting question. How many e-mails out of every 10 that you receive are really critical and important? How many e-mails must be answered immediately? When asked this question in my Zero Inbox seminars the answer is usually one or 2/10 are critical. That's why I have put together my new book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail. Please enjoy these 5 email strategies. Be on the lookout for my other articles on how to better manage your e-mail and reduce the size of your inbox.

56. Back up your address book

Anybody who has worked on a computer for any length of time knows how horrible it is to go through a computer crash and lose so much valuable personal information.

If you have either gone through this trauma or worry about it happening, the advice from the experts is always the same – be sure you back up your most sensitive information.

Within the context of Email, probably the most valuable single source of information in your email system is your address book. There you have perhaps hundreds of email addresses. To lose that information would be a disaster. Back it up.

At work your IT department will do this for you automatically. If you work for a small company, or work from home, you will need to do this yourself.

It’s a good idea to save your address book to a USB stick and store it away from your computer. After all, if you keep the backup on the same disk with your email system, a disk problem will wipe out the backup files as well as your critical information.

There are numerous places you can tuck these files away including on offsite storage sites or external hard drives.

57. Stay away from email chain letters

Bill Gates is not giving away free software and you will not help a child dying from cancer to get into the Guinness Book of records by sending a chain email to 20 other people.  These Emails are spam. If in doubt, visit ww.snopes.com and see if this email is spam or a scam.

58. Don’t read anything into not getting a reply

I know of some people that get upset when they do not get a reply from someone they have just emailed. Please – unless you specifically ask the recipient to reply, don't always expect a ‘nice’ reply or a ‘thanks’. We are all busy.

Many people can't afford, nor see the need to keep sending back little ‘thank you’ messages. So, don't take it personally when someone doesn’t reply; unless of course you have asked them to reply.

59. Use different passwords for different email addresses

One of the most dangerous and prevalent habits people use when they have multiple email addresses is to use the same password everywhere.

The problem is if someone hacks your one email address they can get into all of your email addresses. So if you keep a Gmail account for your personal life, be sure you don’t use the same password for your email account at work.

60. Don’t click on spam emails to unsubscribe from them.

Many spam messages will give you an option to unsubscribe from them. Many spammers hope you will unsubscribe; this tells them your email address is alive and well. Unless the email comes from a reputable company (you know about), create a ‘junk Email’ rule instead, or simply hit delete.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Read More...

Who do you know that is really well-organised when it comes to managing e-mail and their inbox? I believe that success leaves clues and that one way of becoming more organised regarding your e-mail is to find out what other successful people are doing in managing their inbox and look for ways to emulate that behaviour. Amazingly, it's quite easy to get a grip on managing your e-mail and reducing the size of your inbox. All it takes is a basic understanding of the principles of managing e-mail.  That's why I have put together my new book called "The E-mail Manual". It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. I think if everybody had a copy of this book on their desks and read it before they started using e-mail, there would be a fewer problems and issues with using and managing e-mail. Please enjoy these 5 email strategies. Be on the lookout for my other articles on how to better manage your e-mail and reduce the size of your inbox.

66. For longer emails, use short paragraphs

Put breaks between your thoughts and express your thoughts in short, snappy sentences. This makes it easier for someone to scan your email quickly and know what you are trying to say.

Avoid long rambling sentences with endless paragraphs. If an email looks too long or too detailed most people will give it a cursory glance and move on.

67. Using a professional business greeting and closing

A good rule of thumb is to address the addressee as he or she addresses you. It may be appropriate to use ‘Dear Bob’ to start the Email. Often when writing business Emails the greeting can become semi-informal such as ‘Hello John’ or ‘Hi Jim’.

Informal greetings should only be used with someone you are in a continuous working relationship with. Greetings such greetings as ‘Hiya’, or ‘Yo’ should be left for your personal Emails.

Just as your greeting should not draw attention to itself, a good ending is just as important.’

Ending an email with ‘Regards,’ or ‘Kind regards’ and then your signature is always a safe bet.

68. What's the “ALL CAPS or all lower case? “

Good communication on the internet is called ‘netiquette’ (short for internet etiquette).

Because we can't see the writer’s facial expressions or hear their actual voice tone in an Email, we have to compensate by interpreting the tone of the message through the words and style alone.

Very often people misread the way Emails are composed and sent. This can cause all sorts of problems. One classic example is the use of typing only in capital letters. A good rule of thumb is this…CAPITAL LETTERS ALWAYS SOUND LIKE YOU ARE SHOUTING. Add a few exclamation points and you could have a FIGHT ON YOUR HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!

See what I mean? Shouting in an email almost always implies you are angry, so you want to take care not to introduce anger to your Emails.

 The same goes for the use of italics, underlines, or dramatic fonts that make your statements unusually bold. Use these things sparingly and only when they are intentionally making an emphasis.

69. Avoid sexist language and profanity

Whether you are expressing your anger or frustration at a colleague for failing to follow through on a project, or just feeling like using a

little ‘expressive’ language, the professional world has no room for prejudices, rude or unprofessional language in any email correspondence.

If you are sending email from work you are representing your organisation. It's also worth remembering that your email can be forwarded over and over again to many other people, or

all over the world for that matter.

Once you send an email it’s very hard to get it back. What you have expressed or said is out in cyberspace for eternity. email has a funny way of coming back to bite you!

The bottom line is not to write anything in an email (especially when you are angry) that might bring shame, humiliation or a legal claim on you or to your organisation.

NO – swear words

NO – nasty remarks about your manager or customers

NO – feedback about your ‘weekend conquests’

NO – comments about the sexual preferences of

co-workers (or anyone for that matter)

Many organisations have strict policies and guidelines about the use of Email, as well as the ability to monitor employees Email. Big Brother probably is watching, so don't put anything in an email that you don't want your organisation to read.

70. If gossip is bad face-to-face, it is a disaster in email

Similar to using email for sarcasm or low-brow humour, email is a terrible place for getting into gossip. If you find yourself dying to share a juicy tidbit with a colleague or friend, make a phone call.

Never use your work email address. Use your personal email account. This way there may be fewer implications from a work perspective.

71. Send an email before making an important phone call

email can be a pretty phenomenal communication tool all by itself. But, like any form of communication, you really begin to realise the true power of the tool if you combine it with all of your other methods of communication. Just as music is great just to hear, it’s ten times more powerful to see it and feel it performed as well as to hear it.

If you need to speak to someone about an important matter, consider sending a short email earlier in the day. This way the email is going to prompt the person about your upcoming call as well as provide them some type of outline as to the purpose of your call.

For example:

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Good morning Bob.

I trust your day is going well. I wanted to send a short email to ask if we could catch up on the telephone around 3pm this afternoon.

I need to discuss the Jones project and want to get your feedback on two items:

1. Pricing

2. Delivery time

Could you get back to me by email before 12 o'clock to confirm that 3pm will be okay for a telephone catch up.

Kind regards…

PAUL

----------------------------------------------------------------------

While I could phone Bob totally out of the blue at three o'clock, I think you will agree that it is far more professional to give him some notice in the event that he will not be available at 3pm.

 
If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

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Is it possible that you can still get something from nothing? Well on the Internet, there are hundreds of sites that have really cool products and services that you can use free of charge.

I'm including a list of sites that I came across recently at http://www.theworkathomewoman.com

I've had a look at quite a number of these sites myself and the once I had visited look fantastic. I suggest you take a moment (in your downtime) to have a look at some of the sites and see which ones might be of interest to you.

Developing your "work smarts" also means that you use technology to your advantage. Just because something is free doesn't mean it is going to be any good. However, from time to time you will come across a website that is going to be very useful and allow you to increase your personal productivity.

Whether you are able to manage your time more effectively, or simply do things in a more efficient manner, developing your work smarts is important in order to you to get ahead.

Enjoy the sites and do let me know if you come across something that you find particularly useful.

1. Productivity Flourishing: Free planners, month action, productivity heatmap, productivity planner series, productivity jumpstarter, blog post planner and calendar and freelance worksheet.
2. Cozi: Free online family organizer.
3. SCORE: Free business templates: business plan, financial forecast, supporting documents, business planning tools for non-profit, projected balance sheet, bank loan request, cash flow statements, financial history, competitive analysis, profit & loss projection, sales forecast and startup expenses.
4. Practical Spread Sheets: Free spread sheets for personal and business use. Personal budget spread sheets, income statement and grocery list.
5. Open Office: Productivity suite, including word processing, spread sheets, presentations, graphics, database – all free of charge. No need to purchase Microsoft Office.
6. Google Docs: Create documents for free, word processing, spread sheets and presentations.
7. Dim Dim: Free webinars and conferences.
8. Free Conference: Free conference calls, up to 96 people for free.
9. Hot Recorder: Record calls for free, great for phone interviews.
10. Vista Print: Free business cards, 250 for free, just pay for shipping and handling.
11. Cute PDF: Create Portable Document Formats (PDF) for free.
12. PrimoPDF: Another site to create Portable Document Formats (PDF) for free.
13. faxZERO: fax documents for free, up to 3 pages, two times per day.
14. Dafont: Free fonts, over 9000 to choose from. Great for creating e-books and website and blog logos.
15. Snap Pages: Free 5 page website, 1GB storage, contact from, customizable themes and free hosting.
16. Skype: Free call, video call  and instant message for Skye to Skype members.
17. Gravatar: Free globally recognized avatar, helps to create brand identity.
18. Shrink Pictures: Resize pictures for free.
19. Random.org: Randomly choose winners for your giveaway and contest.
20. MadMimi: Free email marketing up to 100 contacts.
21. Free Press Release: Submit your press release for free.
22. Craigslist: Free advertising.
23. My Own Business: 16 free online sessions that provide the basic do’s and don’ts for starting a business.
24. Small Business Administration: Free resources for planning, starting, managing and for getting out of your business.
25. Mikogo: Free desktop sharing tool, ideal for web conferencing, online meetings or remote support.
26. Google Chat: Talk with family and friends over the internet for free.
27. Dreamstime: Free stock images and photos.

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