Best Tips for Email Organization

by Michele Duwe, Miss Task | Planning-Organization-Productivity

Best Tips for Email Organization

Either you control your email or it controls you. Here are my best tips for email organization and keeping your inbox in control.

When I chat with people about what I do and how I help, when I mention keeping your email organized the same reaction of Hallelujah is heard.

Your inbox should be treated as a tool in your online business, it should not be where you spend a bulk of your time. Here are the best tips that I provide or implemented for email organization.

Labels and Filters

Setting up labels and filters is the first step to an organized inbox. In the past, I've created a number of labels, but I've scaled that back a bit. 98% of the time if you go looking for an email, likely you’ll search for a keyword or person before you go and look for it. If that’s not the case, how are you finding those emails? Searching is quick and easy.

Here are the best labels or folders that I’ve found to use:

0-Immediate
1-Action
2-Active
3-Hold
Finance
Finance/Payable
Finance/Receivable
Review
Unscribe

Any specific folders that are needed in your business. Such as client or product folder.

Let's talk about labels or folders and the purpose they serve.

Dubsado Is A Game Changer a blog from Miss Task OBM

A Little Side Note

When you need a mindless activity use this time to unsubscribe to all those marketing emails that are no longer serving you. This not only helps you but also the conversion rates of the list you're opting out of. It's a win-win for you both.

1-Action

These are emails that require action by you but doesn’t require immediate action.

2-Active

These are emails for active projects that are getting a number of emails. I would suggest creating a filter to put them directly in this folder. The filter can be on an email address or subject.

3-Hold

These are emails for meetings, travel, reservations, activities. Generally anything with a date or an agenda that will no longer be needed after the event has taken place.

Finance

The actual Finance folder is used to hold the emails. Once the email has been completed it can be moved to either the payable or receivable sub-label/folder pending what it is.

Review

These are emails that do not have a timeframe as to when they need to be reviewed. This is where I put the marketing emails that I like to skim and archive for reference later.

Unsubscribe

This folder can either be manually added to or a filter can be created. I’ve done it both ways, personally, I prefer to manually add these when I’m sorting through my emails because some of the marketing emails will be added to my review folder to be skimmed later.

Inbox Applications

You have options, options and more options when it comes to inbox applications. I can’t even remember all the inbox applications I’ve tried out. These days I use mostly Spark, however, Kiwi is a very close second. Do not be scared to try different applications, you need to figure out what works for you. You have so, so many possibilities!

Why I like Spark

I like Spark because it has an app for my iPhone, I can pin emails, save canned responses, I can schedule emails, and I can have them come back into my inbox. They also have a paid option for teams to chat back and forth on emails. One other feature that I like is Quick Reply this option allows me to set up canned responses that I can send with a click of the mouse. For example, that allows me to send a quick email to let my customer know that I’ve got the email and will take a look at the request. It is handy dandy.

Why Kiwi

Kiwi brings your Gmail to your desktop and if you have multiple Gmail accounts they receive tabs to jump back and forth with. With kiwi, you can use Boomerang. This will allow you to set up emails to be sent at a later time or to snooze a email to review later.

Get out of your inbox

As an online business owner, it’s important that you get out of your inbox. Your work should not be driven by the emails that you receive. It’s best to block time to work on your email. I check mine twice per day. About mid-morning and at the end of the day when I’m looking at planning the following work day. My emails are sorted when I open up my inbox to the appropriate project. Everything gets filed in the correct label or folder so that it is completed in the correct time block.

It is possible to get your inbox to zero, it just takes a bit of time to clear out the clutter. Once you have the system in place email is so much more.

Create An Welcome Email Series – MailChimp Automation

by Michele Duwe, Miss Task | Content Marketing

Create An Welcome Email Series – MailChimp Automation

Hello Friend, are you ready to chat about creating a welcome series with MailChimp Automation?

Even if you’re new to your online business, I’m guessing you've heard that you need to move the conversation from social media to your email list.

That welcome series your working to create is significant as it is the most open and engaged your audience will be, setting up a MailChimp Automation will streamline this process and give all the warm welcoming feels.

Let’s talk about automation

MailChimp automation is a sequence of emails that send once triggered by an event.

For example, Sally Active signs up for your beautifully crafted opt-in from your landing page. When Sally signs up, it triggers your welcome series using MailChimp Automation.

The first email in the welcome series is the most open and read, so it's kinda a big deal.

In this message, you want to provide a link to your opt-in, give valuable information and when Sally can expect to hear from you again.

Setting up a MailChimp automation will allow for the email series to be delivered based on the predetermined schedule that was set when the workflow was created.

When they first sign up it is okay to send the first few emails in your warm-up sequence daily. Then you can space them out every couple days. You’ll want to shoot for six to ten emails.

Automation is different from campaigns

MailChimp automation is different from campaigns as the first email is sent when triggered not when it's scheduled by you.

Workflows

Various different workflows can be created with Automation such as after a purchase, signing up for an opt-in or clicked a link in a campaign that was received.

Automation merely is a workflow. MailChimp does all the administration of your emails with Automation.

Workflow is the actual process with the schedule, triggers, and emails. They have different predefined automation to help you set these up.

A Little Side Note

And if you haven’t heard, ya should be following an 80/20 rule. You’ll want to give 80% value and 20% ask.

MailChimp automation is a great tool because you are able to set up the number of emails and when they should be sent.

If you need to save time, streamline your processes and encourage engagement with your subscriber set up a MailChimp Automation.

Other posts that may be helpful to you are:

Creating A List Building Project In Asana

What Is A Sales Funnel?

What Is A Landing Page?

List Building Workbook

Download our list building workbook to help plan out your next email marketing campaign.

Download

What are the actual differences between a virtual assistant, a techie virtual assistant, and an online business manager?

by Michele Duwe, Miss Task | Online Business

What are the actual differences between a virtual assistant, a techie virtual assistant, and an online business manager?

Hey! What are the actual differences between a Virtual Assistant (VA), a Techie Virtual Assistant (TVA)or an Online Business Manager (OBM)? Because likely your business, depending on what stage you're in, needs to have all three.

Let’s jump right in

VA

Generally, your first hire is going to be a virtual assistant, that special someone that is going to come in and help with all those administrative tasks that you’re burying yourself with you. Trying to be everything to everybody. Trust me, I've got that badge along with the busy badge.

A Virtual Assistant will sort through your inbox, organize the to-do list, protect the time on your calendars, they simply are the organization and time-saving machine for you.

The VA will be a doer of all the admin tasks that you have in your business.

TVA

Depending on what drains your energy and time in your business, a Techie Virtual Assistant, possibly could come before an Admin VA. Most, but not all TVA are specialized on either a subject matter or software application. You’ll find a few Techie VA that do a few different subject matters. They also are done for you service providers.

For me personally, software is one of the things that come to me quickly and easily. I’m able to work on WordPress Website Design and a few different email service providers, such as MailChimp, ConvertKit and Ontraport.

OBM

An Online Business Manager. I’ve made the transition from VA, TVA to an OBM. An Online Business Manager actually supports the business owner and manages the business.

In an org chart for an online business the OBM falls directly under the owner managing all the team members. The focus of the OBM is on the how and the who. How the business owner's vision for the business is going to be carried out and by whom.

We manage all of the things. An OBM manages all the people, all the operations, all of the things that are going on with the projects that you have in your business so that you're able to focus on your vision and the elements that actually only you can do in your business.

Hope this has helped to clarify the differences between a Virtual Assistant, a Techie Virtual Assistant or an Online Business Manager

Two Resources

What? Yep, I have two resources that you could download. One is my Overwhelmed to Outsourced Planner and the other is my 100+ Ways An OBM Can Boost Business.

Enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions.

« Older Entries

Next Entries »