You might be asking, what in the world does 5 steps to inbox zero have to do with an effective marketing strategy.
I’m here to tell you that it has EVERYTHING to do with it!
If we are not careful, emails can take control of our day and hold us back from spending time on some of the more critical business tasks.
By getting rid of email clutter, it helps to create more space for marketing activities within your business.
But how do we achieve inbox zero I hear you ask?
Well, it is as easy as these 5 Steps.
5 Steps to Inbox Zero:
Step 1: Set Up Multiple Inboxes (Stay with me here!)
Firstly, we need to have a think about why it is that we keep emails in our inbox…
- We need to reply to them
- We need to take action on them
- We want to save it for our records
Know that we know the reasons, we can split out inbox into 4 categories.
The categories that I use and find effective are:
- Main Inbox where everything is coming into
- Needs Action/Needs Reply
- Waiting on Reply
- Delegated
5 Steps to Inbox Zero:
Step 2: Create Labels and Files
Secondly, you will need to create Labels or files so that you can file away all of the other emails that you need to keep.
Now, I’ll let you in on a little pro tip….
You can actually create rules for all of your incoming emails to automatically be sorted based on whatever criteria you setup for it, making it even easier to file all of those emails away.
5 Steps to Inbox Zero:
Step 3: Sort, Sort, Sort
Now that you are all set up and ready to go, you will need to sort through all of those emails! I would recommend you go back through a few weeks of emails and sort them into the individual inboxes that you have just created.
Let’s be honest, if it’s more than a month old, it’s probably too late to respond anyway.
5 Steps to Inbox Zero:
Step 4: Zero Inbox
We are almost there! Now, you will need create a label or a file called “Zero Inbox Exercise”.
Once you have this, you will need to move ALL of your remaining unread messages into that label.
Now you can take your time sorting through those without having to look at an inbox full of unread messages and clutter.
5 Steps to Inbox Zero:
Step 5: Archive, Archive, Archive
Finally, you can “Select all” on the remaining emails left in the main inbox and click on ARCHIVE.
For those of us that want to keep things “just in case” they will still be accessible through the search feature and if you go to your archive folder. For me personally, I’ve had to refer back to old emails A LOT so its good to keep the rest in Archive.
Viola! Goodbye cluttered inbox and hello to inbox zero!
Can I get a happy dance?
If you want to check out my Facebook live on these five steps, you can check it out here and here.
Now tell me friends, have you achieved inbox zero? If you are looking for more effective ways to manage your business, book a call with us today.
