| Greetings!
Imagine my surprise on Tuesday when I received a Google Alert about my Taming E-mail paperback being available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com? (Direct links to the ordering pages are over to the right.) I opened up both sites and found that the paperback is LIVE, in stock, and ready to order. Wooo Hooo! Now, we'll be doing a more formal launch on Amazon and B&N.com very soon that will be including some extra bonuses, but if you decide to order right away, just let me know (simply reply to this e-mail), and I'll be sure to include you on any of the freebies that we put together. Things are definitely getting busy with the Internet launch now officially underway. Following this week's guest spot on the AskDrMac Radio show ( get the replay here -- please forgive the technical difficulties encountered!), this week I'll be presenting at the San Diego MPI meeting and leading a webinar for the Michigan Chapter of Meeting Professionals International in support of the Taming E-mail book and my related Taming E-mail speaking and training programs (see more below - this is a great way to get your new Taming E-mail paperback). The Michiana Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants will also be hosting me as part of their professional development day in South Bend, Indiana, on May 8, for my "Optimizing Your Outlook" Time Management program. Note that this is not limited to IMA members, so any of my Notre Dame and Michiana friends that are interested, please take advantage of this great opportunity to take this program live (more info below too!) All of my U. Michigan friends - please note that I will be leading a Taming E-mail/Office Clutter program at the NCAC in Ann Arbor on April 30 - you can learn more about registering by visiting the UM HRD web site. AND FINALLY, Timely Tips was named a "ConstantContact" All Star - a designation provided to e-mail marketers that practice successful and effective e-mail marketing and communications. OK - enough of this housekeeping. How about a GREAT Timely Tip this month for my MS Outlook users? |
| The "Right" Way to Drag & Drop |
Many of you that have attended my live Taming E-mail and Finding an Extra Hour/Optimizing Outlook programs know that I extol the virtues of "drag & drop" in Microsoft Outlook. Basically, you can take any e-mail and "drag" the e-mail over to your calendar, task, notes, or contacts icon to convert the e-mail into one of those items, with virtually no keystroking. (Left-click the selected e-mail, hold the click, and drag the e-mail over to the appropriate icon, then "drop it" on the icon - this was a previously featured Timely Tip, but for the many new subscribers, that is a quick replay of how this works.)
In the past, I indicated that the only issue with "drag & drop" is that any attachments to the e-mail do not move with the message. But, thanks to Scott Kerr of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, who attended my recent Affordable Meetings Taming E-mail session in Chicago, I've got a new wrinkle on the "drag & drop" routine. Scott showed me by "right-clicking and holding the message" (rather than "left-clicking and holding") when I drag & drop, that when I actually drop the message onto the desired function (calendar, tasks, contacts, etc.), I get a short list of options, including "Copy Message with Attachments" and "Move Message with Attachments". Thus, when you "right click, drag & drop", you can now move related attachments too!! Very handy if you have a document you need to refer to in that new task or calendar item you just created.
Now, of course, if you start using the "Copy Message with Attachments" option, you will be posting that attachment in two places in your Outlook - keep this in mind if you have limited memory storage in your account! I'd recommend going back to the original message and removing the attachment so you only have it stored in one place in your Outlook. And, if you use the "Move Message with Attachment" option, remember that the original e-mail will now disappear from your inbox - keep that in mind if you like to file messages in subfolders for later reference.
Still, this is a VERY cool enhancement to my past demonstrations in this area, and I encourage all of my Outlook users to test this one out and start using it when appropriate - yet another great keystroking time saver!
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| Follow Up on Last Month's "Kitchen Sink" E-mail Forum |
This was great fun, and thanks to all of you that responded! In brief, the response was almost universal - NO "kitchen sink" e-mails! Nearly everyone that responded thought e-mails should stick to one topic or subject and should only have tasks included that are related to that one topic or subject. Dr. Irem Kiyak of MSU perhaps put it best: "They only give you one subject line; thus, e-mails should only be on one subject or topic."
I did have one strongly contrarian voice on this forum though - she actually found the debate quite funny (I'm withholding her name out of courtesy). She thought that too many of us must be getting too many e-mails for us to even have this discussion, and even questioned what kind of professional lives we must be leading. I have to give her some credit here - could this discussion be indicative of a professional life/job design on the edge of out of control? Have we enabled people to (too?) easily swamp us in messages and related tasks? She definitely might have something here, and if you are feeling a bit "owned" by your own e-mail activities, perhaps this might be something to look at from a much higher level. She actually said for her personally, it is nice to get all of the info and tasks across multiple projects in a single e-mail, as that means you get less total e-mails. But she did concede that people using their e-mail as a de facto task and project manager might lose focus, time, and productivity getting these "loaded" kitchen sink e-mails.
So, I'd say the debate isn't fully closed. I'll still coach my staff, clients, and partners to try to avoid the kitchen sink e-mails with me personally, but each of you probably need to figure out where you end up on this. And I absolutely agree with the bigger picture question about what e-mail has done to our work and personal lives - all of us need to address that question and keep fighting for e-mail sanity!
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| Optimizing Your Outlook -- May 8, South Bend, Indiana |
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I'll also be the leadoff seminar leader for the Michiana IMA's Professional Development Day with my three-hour "Optimizing Your Outlook" Time Management Program program on May 8 in South Bend. This is a great course to not only learn how to use the e-mail function in Outlook, but also the other four key functions: Task List, Calendar, Contacts, and Notes (you'll be an Outlook/Time Management pro following the suggestions in this program.) The Michiana IMA has provided an early bird discount on the registration fee valid until April 22, so refer to their announcement/registration information here, and I'll hope to see you in South Bend in a few short weeks! |
| Now Using OUTLOOK 2007 |
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YES, I've finally UPGRADED to MS Outlook 2007!
I know a few of you have prodded me for a bit on this upgrade, and I have finally done this. (To note: I had a few key clients that were asking me to hold back while they were still using Outlook 02/03. Also, I firmly believe that you should resist upgrading software until it has been out on the market for at least 6 months, while the developers work out the bugs!)
What is interesting is that I've figured out a way for me to still hold programs using the Outlook 02/03 version, so if your company is still working on this platform, we can do that too!! But any of you that are thinking about having an Outlook 2007 time management or e-mail training, please let me know. I'll even give a special deal that includes a few copies of my new Taming E-mail paperback to the first five companies/groups that contact me about a new program or session (mention this newsletter).
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IN CLOSING ...
You may find it hard to believe, but I actually had to cut out some content this month that I planned to share. With the launch in progress, we'll be making a few special announcements here and there as merited, but you can also count on another new Timely Tip here in May. Please feel free to forward this message on to your co-workers, friends, relatives, and colleagues to help spread the word of the new Taming E-mail paperback on Amazon and B&N.com (as well as the great programs coming up), and keep sharing those great ideas and comments.
Have a wonderful spring, and until next time, Stay Timely!
Sincerely,
Randy Dean
Randall Dean Consulting & Training, LLC
PS: We've been upgrading the shopping cart on the http://www.randalldean.com web site -- I know a few of you have run into some hiccups. We've got the Taming E-mail e-book ordering working again, and expect to have the Audio+ version working properly in the next day or two. Thanks for your patience with our growing pains.
PPS: Always feel free to use the "Forward E-mail" option below to share this info with your family, friends, & co-workers. |
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Taming E-mail LIVE Webinar this Thursday -11 a.m. EDT! |
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Sponsored by the Michigan Chapter --Meeting Professionals International and the Michigan Association of School Boards
Get Your Paperback Copy of Taming the E-mail Beast by Participating!
I'll be delivering a one-hour webinar program on Taming the E-mail Beast for the Michigan Meeting Professionals International group this Thursday, April 23, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Note: You DO NOT need to be a MMPI or MASB member to participate in this webinar, and all paid webinar registrants will receive a copy of the new Taming the E-mail Beast paperback following the program. Note also the discounted rate valid until APRIL 20! What a great way to both get some real-time e-mail training and a great new book to boot!
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| More on the Amazon.com and B&N.com Web Postings |
Yes, the national bookstore launch release date has been set for June, 2009, but in advance, the paperback is now available on both Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. And, it looks like both sites are giving some great introductory deals on the book. Here are the direct links to each sites' ordering/info pages: Amazon.com (you'll see that I've already added quite a bit of additional stuff)BarnesandNoble.com( Note: if you search Amazon.com for the book, do not hyphenate "e-mail" - it doesn't appear in the search with a hyphen - we're working with Amazon to fix this little [yet highly important] issue.) If you make a book purchase on either site, please be sure to send me a quick note via e-mail with your basic purchase info (date purchased, price paid, shipping costs, where purchased), and I'll get you the info that you need to take advantage of the many bonuses being provided by other experts and authors in conjunction with this book launch. This info will be really valuable to us too - helping us to manage the marketing and distribution channels for this launch that much better. And if you like the book after reading, please post a positive review on these sites (please do the same if you've already read a past e-book version.) Reader reviews are hugely important, so I thank you in advance for doing this (and thanks to the two Timely Tips readers that have already done just that!)
Don't forget - we can get you even better pricing for large bulk orders, or if you order the book in conjunction with a live speaking or training program for your company, group, or organization. Please contact me if you have an interest in discussing either of these options. Also, we could even discuss ways to make the new book a "fundraiser" for your professional group or association. Just reply to this e-mail if interested in discussing several very doable options. | |
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