Welcome to Hell…Wait, It’s My Inbox!

How to Take Charge of Your Email Once and For All

I am Indiana Jones entering the tomb. It is pitch black and I am carrying only one torch to light the way. Danger is lurking everywhere. That’s why I have my machete knife raised and ready to strike, should I be attacked at any moment. Yet I bravely plow forward, deeper into the abyss, because I know that somewhere, under all the rubble, there is a buried treasure I must find.

These are my thoughts every time when I open up my email Inbox or social media direct messaging tool.

PART I: Here are the Six Biggest Email Fails. ??

If it fits into one of these categories, I’m outta here. I’m not going to read your email or if I must, I’m going to be quite annoyed.

Weird, Way-Out-There Emails

Yes, this is pure spam yet sadly, I see some normal people doing it. Being professional with people you don’t know is imperial. I don’t want to join your “Glitter Sparkles Ladies” group. I’m not interested in manifesting wealth through a chant session with you. And I definitely find it creepy that you are commenting on liking my eyes or asking me, a total stranger if we can’t be friends (or more) since you are lonely. Flirts, creeps, and weirdos got blocked. It got so bad that I even created a support group on Linkedin. If you are seeking stuff like this, find clients or friends via appropriate online forums where people are seeking that, not through email or DMs to unexpected victims.

Totally Off-Target Sales Emails

“Read my profile!” I want to scream at my Inbox. No matter what, people will still email me offers that have zero to do with me. Examples I have received include “How to overcome shyness” course (haha, if only you knew me for 30 seconds), a “Learn to manage remote teams” book (I’ve worked mostly remotely for my entire career), and many offers to “fix my Linkedin profile” to “grow my audience” (have you checked mine, lately?). Why waste your time sending emails and offers to people who clearly aren’t your target audience? It is annoying and very unprofessional. If you don’t know your customer avatar yet, grab my free worksheet template.

Hop-On-a-Call Emails

This is a classic mistake. And to think these poor souls believe they are practicing a sales strategy! This is why I created a connection policy. Please value my time! I am not interested in your pitches and definitely less on the phone! There are MUCH better sales strategies. If you want to find them out, follow me, and I will help you.

Do-This-for-Me Emails

Ask-holes, as one of my friends calls them, are everywhere. You’ve ignored my presence all along yet when you need something, you suddenly want to be BFFs! I don’t think so. That’s not a relationship. Buy my ebook, subscribe to my (insert X), give me reviews or a recommendation, etc. Sound familiar? I’m overjoyed to do all of these things for people with whom I genuinely like and who regularly support me too. Be a giver first and you don’t even need to ask: people will happily support you!

Never-Answer-Emails Flake

You know whom I am talking about. These people are flakes. They keep saying they want to build relationships, advance their career, build a business, and more, yet they can’t be trusted because they show up once per year. In-between, when you message them, nada. Don’t be this person or else good people will stop writing to you.

Ridiculously Long Emails

Seriously, don’t make me read all of that! We all have better use of our time and disrespectful to your recipient. This is poor communication. Anything over one page needs to be a meeting, not an email. Whether it is a sales email or a work email, keep it short or avoid email all together!

PART II: Here are the 5 Things You Can Do Today To Rock Your Inbox

I’ve been at the point of overwhelm and returned alive to tell the tale. As a busy marketing executive, I receive more email than most people. I can’t even imagine what celebrities have to deal with! At least they can get someone to manage their emails for them! I can’t wait until bot technology is so developed that they can do the deed for me.

Regular Housekeeping

Go through your spam once per week so it doesn’t pile up and move it to your spam folder. Unsubscribe and block whenever needed.

Create an Inbox Management System

Here is mine: I sort emails into 3 types: 1. Answer right away because it is easy and quick or important or urgent. 2. Answer later because it isn’t urgent or requires a more lengthy, thoughtful response 3. Never answer because this is spam and doesn’t deserve a reply.

Decide Not to Answer via Email

Sometimes people become too reliant on email and typing and reading 4 emails takes twice as long as just picking up the phone and having a quick discussion. You can also better manage the tone and be persuasive, which is much harder per email.

Set a Specific Time for Emails

Instead of checking your email all day long, which isn’t very productive, build in specific times during the day to open your Inbox and stay out of it otherwise. My times are 1. First Thing in the Morning (30 minutes) 2. Mid-Day (20 minutes) and 3. End of the Day (30 minutes). If I didn’t do this, I would spend all of my time on emails instead of working.

Archive Answered Emails in Sub-Folders

I create folders for projects and move the related emails into them so that my Inbox remains uncluttered. This makes it easier too to find related emails later.

Do you have more tips or pet peeves about email? I’d love to hear from you! Please share in the comments. We need to take back our time and reduce junk.

That’s all, folks! Do your best and don’t do a spammer or an ask-hole. Keep your emails short and to the point and I will love you for it. Now go out into the world and spread the trend. Did I miss something? If you have more tips that I missed or pet peeves regarding email, feel free to share in the comments!

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