Tips to bring your email under control

Have you heard the phrase "inbox zero"? It refers to having no messages unread and unacted upon in your email inbox. With so many messages coming in all day long from colleagues, clients, retailers, and opt-in services (such as e-newsletters, newsgroups, and other subscriptions), is inbox zero even possible? In some cases, maybe not. But even if your inbox seems completely out of control, there are some things you can do to tidy it up and restore some sense of sanity.

For starters, create folders and subfolders where you can store messages in a more organized manner for future followup. Start with folders for email from clients, email from colleagues, newsletter subscriptions, etc. Add a folder for urgent messages requiring immediate attention, and consider a folder for each day of the week, where you can drop messages that require action on those particular days.

Once you have your folders in place, set up mail filters to automatically route your messages to the appropriate place. Filters are especially helpful for subscriptions and newsgroup messages, which might otherwise clog up your inbox. By having those messages routed automatically, you can focus your attention on the rest of your mail or check a specific folder at a specified time and see just the messages that are relevant for you at that time.

Another option is to set up an alternate email address for opt-in newsletters, newsgroups, and online transactions. This will help to declutter your main email inbox, cut down on the "noise," and help you feel less overwhelmed. It will also have the added benefit of reducing unwanted and unsolicited emails, as spambots won't have a chance to grab your primary email address off discussion boards, comment screens, and the like.

And finally, once you've acted on a message, delete it or archive it for future reference. Many people who struggle with inbox overload exacerbate the problem by leaving messages in their inbox, even after they are no longer relevant. If you can't bring yourself to part with old messages, archive them instead, somewhere outside the inbox, where they won't get in the way.

That Email is Bigger Than You

You want more business right? So you've been working on your database, right? You are working on your lead lists, your social media lists, your direct mail lists...right? I knew you were! Me too! What about your email marketing lists, So do you have a survey on what you are sending out? Are you asking people to "opt-in"? Are you linking properly?

Think about Forwarding... what happens if your email gets forwarded? The people you send the email to, presumably, know who you are and why you are emailing them...but hopefully your email is SO great and interesting and fabulous that they get forwarded to people DO NOT know you. If they like what you have to say, and you make it easy for them, they might just click a link in your emails to join your email list...so make sure that join button is in the email.

Think about FaceBook or Twitter: So someone clicks the link in your email and they get taken to your web page that is a web version of your email. That web version is what you tweet, put on FaceBook, LinkedIn...so you can spread that email around If you've got a link to sign up for "email-only" offers, these new readers just might sign up.

Think about Surveys: if you ask people what they think about you and your product you can get feedback, testimonials and comments. The answers you use to improve your business, put as testimonials on your website and focus your marketing. And you will get a greater response rate if you actually ask people to do something.

It's not hard to do, and doesn't take much to get a few new sign ups. And who knows? They may just become some of your best customers!