Greetings!
It was all I could do to get Web Words out the door what with theater, Tanglewood, an inexplicable number of parties and celebrations and some recent drop-dead gorgeous weather. It's "the season" in the Berkshires, and we are blessed with a superabundance of wonderful events. It's wild; it's crazy; it's once a year and then it's over. Whew! This month Web Words addresses a topic that is oddly seldom discussed-- managing email. And you'll learn the meaning of the term " Email bankruptcy." An online search produced so few current articles that I wondered if the problem been solved, and I missed the memo. I don't think so. Visit Shawenon on Facebook to add your two cents worth. The second article is about getting and capturing ideas for content and the strange relationship between the shower and inspiration. Continuing the discussion of online travel arrangements from previous issues, take this word of caution from a loyal reader. Be wary. She made and paid for a New York City hotel reservation with one of the major online services. Long story short--no room at the inn. And she did, as recommended, reconfirm directly with the hotel. Have you had similar problems? Let me know. And speaking of vacations, I wish you a wonderful one for your travels this summer. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. Follow me.
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Death by Email
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 Is your email inbox killing you? Mine is. But if, like my hubby, yours is clean as a whistle, you might as well go to the next article. There's nothing here for you.
Without knowing it, my husband follows the GTD® (Getting it Done) methodology touted by popular productivity author David Allen. More about that here.
In order to do this myself, I would need to declare email bankruptcy. Venture capitalist Fred Wilson popularized this concept in 2007.
"I am so far behind on e-mail that I am declaring bankruptcy," he wrote. "If you've sent me an e-mail (and you aren't my wife, partner, or colleague), you might want to send it again. I am starting over."
I could do this since everything is duplicated on Gmail anyway. Should I? Come on over to my business Facebook page and give me your sage advice.
If you're not ready to kill your inbox content, here are a few good pointers for keeping email from running your life.
- Turn off notifications on your computer and phone. If it keeps chiming, it's almost impossible to avoid checking email.
- Get a second email address for store promotions and other situations where you have to give an email address, but you don't really want the email. I use Yahoo.
- Use bulk delete to get rid of time-sensitive emails. For example, if HARO is over 24-hours old, it's useless. Search for HARO and delete.
- Unsubscribe, but mindfully and, of course, not to Web Words. I keep certain organizations like NRDC and SBANE on my list because they are good barometers of what's going on in nature defense and small business respectively. But I bulk delete them often.
With modern, sophisticated search capabilities like Gmail and Outlook, you really can find what you're looking for in seconds. So maybe I should keep that inbox after all. What do you think? |
Idea Traps
|  Ever wonder why you get your most creative ideas when you're driving, washing dishes or walking the dog? I call these times "the spaces in between." It's when your mind is looking out of its peripheral vision--sensing things rather than focusing on them directly. For some reason, when we're not looking directly at an idea, the creative right brain can just pop thoughts in our minds. But easy come, easy go. Frequently those great thoughts dart away. Usually they come back, but sometimes they are gone forever. So here are a few tips on how to capture ideas before they slip away. Writing in the Shower Do your best ideas come to you when you bathe? Get an underwater writing slate. Though designed for scuba diving, the device works perfectly in the shower. You can get one for less than $10 online or at your local scuba accessory store. For driving, consider your Smartphone or a digital tape recorder. These tiny devices fit in a pocket and can go with you in the car or on your daily walk. They are good for capturing longer reflections, but you still have to listen to your words of wisdom. For a walk, often a small pad and a pen will do the job. I usually need only a few words to remember a concept or to capture the perfect title for an article. I still swear by my spiral notebook. Even in this digital age, I carry a notebook with me in my briefcase. I keep notes chronologically and have special pages for projects--my next speaking engagement, a big client job and, of course, Web Words. Collecting Content Ideas that gratuitously pop into your mind while you're doing something else are a fertile source of interesting content for your newsletter or blog. If you capture just the tip of an idea, you can flesh it out later. Anything--absolutely anything--is potential rich subject matter. I've written about fruit flies and vacations. The trick is to use the anecdote to make a point that is meaningful. Your writing is worth reading when you offer valuable information wrapped in a memorable image or story. Content will flow to you naturally because you're writing about what you do, what you love and what you think about all the time. Even in the shower. |
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Web Tips
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 Do you ever need to text someone from a computer? Maybe you're out of cell range, you've exceeded your text limit or you have to pay for texting from your cell phone. It's incredibly easy to do.
In the "to" field of your email enter the 10-digit telephone number you are texting followed by the carrier's email code, which you find here http://www.emailtextmessages.com Verizon is @vtext.com; AT&T is @txt.att.net Example:1234567890@txt.att.net
Your message will show up as a text on the recipient's phone. They can text a reply, and it will show up in your inbox. Want to reverse the process? Enter the recipient's email where you would normally put the phone number. Just remember to respect the 160-character limit.
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And Finally . . .
Shawenon Communications collaborates with small businesses, solopreneurs, professionals and not-for-profits to get their messages across in the written word.
We specialize in electronic communications, including e-zines and other forms of email marketing, Web sites and social media. We also ghostwrite articles and other business communications. As a solution provider, we resell Constant Contact's email marketing service. Thanks for reading. If you liked this issue, please click on the Forward email button below to share this newsletter with others.
You're also welcome to reprint material in this newsletter as long as it is unaltered and credited to the author. Be sure to send us a copy, too. If being reproduced electronically, the following link must also be included:
www.shawenon.com
Sincerely, 
Susanna Opper
Shawenon Communications413-528-6494
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| Survey Results |  |
I think Constant Contact is great. A recent independent study by the Aberdeen Group bears this out.
The study found that Constant Contact customers achieve 36% higher open rates, 60% higher click-through rates, and 29% more revenue than customers who use other email service providers.
You should be onboard.
Even if you already have the service, there are ways I can help.
Be in touch to talk about how you can use Constant Contact to boost your business with very little effort.
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