Contents 21st April 2005

This issue is about you. If you are receiving lots of e-newsletters and emails, you can feel at times overwhelmed by the size of your inbox. How far can it stretch! Prioritising seems impossible. The article Take control of your inbox gives strategies to reduce the number of emails and to spot the important messages that need urgent attention.

The ebook 7 ways to prevent yourself becoming...Stressed-Out, Over-worked & Run Down is a gift from Michael Licenblat, one of our subscribers. Not only is Michael not charging for his advice but what's more, he gives you the rights to:

sell this ebook (valued at $27.00) and keep 100% of the profits
give it away to your clients
post it on your website.

And please, don't stress out if you can't implement the strategies discussed in this e-newsletter all at once!

Till next time, look after yourself,

Henriette

Take control of your inbox

If you are deleting important emails or can't face your bulging inbox, it's time to take action.

Solutions come in two flavours: prevention and management.

Prevention

Spammers use robots to harvest email addresses. Whenever, you leave your address unprotected on the web, you leave yourself exposed to receiving an influx of unsolicited emails. Prevention means less emails reach your main inbox.

Disclosure of email addresses

Is it safe to leave your email address in newsgroups or in guest books? Will your email be protected from unscrupulous spammers?

When disclosing your email address to receive useful information or a freebie, will your information be sold? What is the privacy policy?

It may be wise to anticipate the worst (being spammed) and take precautions. Many web users now provide a portable email address e.g. hotmail.com or yahoo.com to protect their main email address. But, those addresses are not always accepted.

Solution? If you have a domain name, create a new email account under a fictitious name e.g. if your address is normally helen@....com, use a fictitious name e.g. jonathan@....com. This way, you can delete the new address if your inbox is abused.

Email address on your website

Hide your email address on your website using one of the JavaScripts provided in previous article Anti-spam email address for your website (http://www.marketingcues.com/tools/antiSpamEmail.htm)

Management of your inbox

The emails reaching your inbox may be legitime but they may only be fully appreciated in small doses. An overflowing inbox becomes a work hazard, creating a stressful and sometimes unmanageable situation.

When receiving regular e-newsletters or frequent emails from the same source, you may want to set message rules for those incoming emails.

(The instructions relate to Outlook Express although Outlook has similar features. In Eudora and Netscape, look for 'filters' instead of 'message rules'.)

Message rules are instructions to your email program. They contain three parts:

Condition e.g. 'where the subject line contains special words'
Action e.g. 'move it to the specified folder'
Rule description: refinement of the condition and action. In this case, you would identify the 'special words' and the name of the 'specified folder'.

How to create a message rule using Outlook Express

Highlight the message in your inbox
On the 'Message' menu, click on 'Create Rule from message'
Select one or more conditions and actions.

The rule will apply on following messages coming from the same source.

According to your message rules, the incoming emails can automatically be:

1. Sorted into specified folders

Incoming emails can be automatically redirected in any specified folders you have created. For example, I have created folders for my numerous newsletters. This way, there are fewer messages in my inbox leaving important ones easy to spot. Furthermore, I feel no pressure to open my newsletters when I am busy attending other business and when the time is right, I can leisurely browse the newsletters all grouped in the same folder.
Note that folders are displayed in alphabetical order. Folders called '1-Newletter' or 'A-Newsletter' will rank higher than 'Newsletter'.

2. Deleted or blocked

When you cannot opt-out from some spammers' list, create a message rule to delete or block their messages as they come.

3. Colour-coded or highlighted
Messages in the inbox are colour-coded or highlighted. For example, email notifications of any sales occurring on my website are displayed in red and results from website forms are purple. The coloured fonts stand out and are ideal for messages that require immediate action.

4. Flagged
Incoming messages may already be flagged when first displayed in your inbox (using a message rule) or flagged after being downloaded. To insert a flag, click on the flag column next to the message. The flags are useful to draw attention and can serve as a reminder for future reference. To group flagged messages, click on the flag icon in the header of the flag column.
You will find more message rules in the Help menu of Outlook Express.

Conclusion

Take control of your inbox by reducing the number of emails and creating message rules for remaining messages. This will reduce the response time to important messages and produce a pleasant feeling of being organised and in control.

7 ways to prevent yourself becoming...Stressed-Out, Over-worked & Run Down

by Michael Licenblat

In his ebook, Michael Licenblat sums up the 7 mistakes or key reasons why we are making ourselves stressed-out, over-worked and run down:

Working as if you are unbreakable
Thinking yourself to death
Setting unrealistic time frames
Suppressing your feelings
Having no sense of purpose beyond work
Missing the lesson
Being too self focused.

Michael says "I have seen first hand the mistakes that people make which end up creating havoc in their personal and professional lives. I feel fortunate that I have been able to help so many people turn their stress into energy and enthusiasm by changing small aspects in the way they think, move, and live."

Take the time to read 7 ways to prevent yourself becoming...Stressed-Out, Over-worked & Run Down. It is a short read (23-pages). It provides simple and practical strategies that can make your life more enjoyable and worthwhile.

Download your free ebook

Feel free to sell the ebook for $27 (and keep 100% of the profits), give it away to your clients or post it on your website to help others. You have Michael's explicit permission.

Michael Licenblat is a qualified and experienced 'Resilience Expert' who helps people become resilient to pressure in both work and life. You can subscribe to his free newsletter at http://performancesolutions.com.au/newsletter.html.

Feedback and suggestions are most welcome

If you found this newsletter useful, why not tell a friend?