Tinkering with solutions for the email challenge is an ongoing process in my VO business. It’s always morphing as I try new add-ons and plug-ins.
I’ve gone from Outlook to ComF5 to Zoho, and now settling in with Gmail, ’cause that’s where the creative 3rd-party products are focusing.
The email challenge means:
- controlling the constant influx of emails
- not missing important messages
- organizing and categorizing
- managing email as a to-do list
- optimizing replies and signatures
- automating as much stuff as I can
Gmail is hearty and robust, and seems to withstand a considerable amount of tinkering and adding-on. Currently, I’m playing with programs that track your emails when they’re opened. YesWare went out the window after a couple of months when I found out how intrusive it was, especially on text-based (not HTML) mail.
Ridding myself entirely of YesWare meant rebuilding my signature from square one, including all the VoiceZam links.
Now, I’m auditioning Streak. I find it less meddlesome, and was pleased to know that Matt Cowlrick was also using it. Matt’s a bright guy when it comes to these things, and I always listen to what he has to say…most recently at FaffCon. He’s the one who also turned me onto Nimble. Nimble also has a Gmail plug-in, and both Streak and Nimble could be called CRM (customer relationship management) tools.
But there are more…and new ones coming out all the time.
I was inspired to write this blog after reading an extremely helpful article on Email management on Razor Social titled: 5 Email Productivity Tools Guaranteed to Save You 1 Hour A day.
Read it. You’ll find tips about managing mail, as well as the latest add-ons…one of which I’m also testing right now: Boomerang.
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