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If everything goes well this Tuesday, you'll get a few e-mails about me and my new book, Taming the E-mail Beast. We're going to be announcing to more than 1 million e-mails, several blog sites, multiple social media nets, and more, to let everyone know about my new book, Taming the E-mail Beast. We've got the Amazon.com book info page up now -- http://www.TamingEmailBook.com -- feel free to go take a peek now, although I'd prefer for you to wait until Monday or Tuesday to buy the book if you can, to help us shoot up the Amazon.com rankings in Time Management and E-mail. I've got a bit more info on the launch to the right, but I also wanted to give you a great Timely Tip related to effective e-mail subject lines for urgent e-mails, inspired by an old friend. Check it out below: |
Subject/Title Ideas for URGENT E-mails
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I have to give my props to my old high school tennis buddy Frank L. for the inspiration for this great tip. I hadn't heard from Frank for years, but we found each other again through Facebook recently. Frank read what I was doing with e-mail, and sent a quick note on how he titles urgent e-mails that became the inspiration for this month's tip.
- If you have an e-mail that needs IMMEDIATE response, use "911" in the subject line: something like, "911: Need Your Immediate Yes/No Decision on Meeting Tomorrow" This will help your receivers know that this is an e-mail to give priority attention. Of course, as I mention in my training programs, if you ever SEND a "911" e-mail, I believe you should also CALL all recipients to verify that they received the e-mail and understand the immediate urgency. You need to let them know an immediate response e-mail is now in their inbox, and also deal with any undeliverable e-mail issues. Also, if they aren't at their desk (and thus can't get the e-mail), you as the sender need to know that -- then you can use other methods to try to "close the communication loop".
- If you are sending an urgent e-mail requiring quick response (but NOT immediate response), use "URGENT" in the subject line -- something like "URGENT EOD: Please get me the spreadsheet with 2Q fiscal projections for tomorrow's meeting." EOD of course stands for "End of Day". You could also use "1TT" for "First Thing Tomorrow". As I mentioned, these are for e-mails with tasks or responses needed in a short, but not immediate, time frame. If you aren't giving them much time to respond, once again, a courtesy call or voice mail will help to also close that communication loop.
- If you are sending a normal priority e-mail, either use the word "NORMAL" at the start of your subject line, or just write the subject line as you normally would. Of course, it is always good etiquette to clearly state the reason the person is receiving the e-mail as well as any embedded tasks/desired actions AND deadlines in the first 2-3 sentences of the body copy, even with "normal" priority e-mails. That way, they know how to appropriately slot this new request/action into their existing prioritized task list.
I think using "911", "URGENT", and "NORMAL" will greatly help your message recipients with appropriate management and response to your messages/requests. You might need to train them a bit so they know how to administer this new "subject line regimen" (you could just forward this message to them!), but if you can get your team to use this technique, more items will be acted upon in an appropriate and timely manner.
Thanks again Frank for the inspiration! A great idea here!
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NO MORE WRINKLES
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Thanks to the several Timely Tips subscribers that responded to last month's tip about ways to keep your clothes looking better when flying. Here are a couple very useful additional tips per last month's note:
Tessa Holst from Kaplan University had this to share:
"If you pack
your clothes and wrap them in tissue paper you will eliminate wrinkles
altogether. I hate ironing and this tip seriously works. I haven't ironed
business clothes in ages since I've begun wrapping them in tissue paper.
The key is to ensure each crease or fold is touching tissue paper and not
fabric. Works great!"
Morgan Leahy let me know about another P&G wrinkle product:
"I wanted to pass along an idea related to you first tip. You mention
P&G's Downy Wrinkle Reducer. P&G has actually produced a
product that is even better at taking out wrinkles called "Swash".
I've tried it and it is fantastic. Check out the website below:
http://www.swashitout.com/swash/en_US/index.html#/home"
Thanks for these great add-on tips! And please keep them coming -- they really add value for all readers!
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A Reminder Note Tuesday
Yes, I'll be sending another e-mail first thing Tuesday (maybe even Monday night!) reminding you about the launch on Amazon. I'd really appreciate a big response from all of you -- and encourage you to take advantage of the amazing bonuses provided by my launch partners. Please feel free to forward this e-mail/information out to your list/contacts too. Watch for my e-mail on Tuesday!
Until then, Stay Timely!
Sincerely,
Randy Dean
Randall Dean Consulting & Training, LLC
PS: 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 the E-mail Beast
READY FOR LAUNCH:
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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You can definitely go out to http://www.TamingEmailBook.com right now to see not only great info on this powerful
new book, but also the amazing set of additional bonuses -- thousands of dollars worth! -- being provided
to book buyers by a veritable "Who's Who" of experts in the field of personal and
professional development. Getting your copy of Taming E-mail is the
key to unlock an entire library of professional development e-books,
podcasts, and reports -- enough to keep you busy "getting better" for
the next year or two! Obviously, I'd prefer that you wait until Monday
night or Tuesday to actually do the order, so we can get all of the
bonuses loaded and also get full credit with Amazon in our effort to
top one of the categories and get a best seller on our hands, but if
you just can't wait, the info page is ready and working -- http://www.TamingEmailBook.com. (Yes, I'll be sending you a note again on Tuesday.)
And if you like the book after reading, please post a positive review on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com (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 and several experts 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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