This morning, I received another email that had a WORD document attached. When I opened the WORD document it had a few sentences that could have easily been put in the body of the email.

It takes time to open attachments. Recipients might not have the program you sent the attachment in. I especially hate PowerPoint attachments because they take so long to open. Or worse yet, Publisher documents that cannot be opened on a Macintosh computer.

I’m encouraging everyone to think just a little bit before they send an email or an attachment. Here are five easy tips to get your emails read:

1. Use the subject line. Make it informative and change it if the email’s topic changes.

2. Keep your emails brief. Research has shown that six sentences is a maximum. Get to the point.

3. Be kind. An email can be easily misunderstood. Take extra effort to be kind and say something friendly.

4. Provide contact information. This enables the recipient to call, email or check out your website.

5. Use a pdf, png or jpeg attachment format. They can be quickly opened and read by almost anyone.

We’re all being asked to do more in less time. Let’s make the world a little easier and communicate clearly. What tips do you have?

Sally just got done reading Manage Your Day-To-Day. The subtitle of this book is Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus and Sharpen Your Mind, edited by Jocelyn K. Glei. Here's some of the best business take-aways from the book:

If you find you've been working hard and hardly getting ahead, this book is for you. It focuses on how our work day and work world has changed. Too often we're reacting and not working on our daily to-do list. The first thing to do is schedule your creative work first and schedule it at a time when you work best. This may take a little time to find - but instinctively you may know this already. Set routines and stick to them. If a project isn't complete one day, calendar it and move it to the next day. Your capacity is limited. Schedule your renewal or "sharpen the saw" time. Stick to it. Schedule thinking time or alone time to plan. Plan blocks of time to work - calendar it and stick to it. Stop multi-tasking - it doesn't work. Work on one project at a time, focus and finish it. Understand your temptations and resist them. In other words stay off Facebook and quit texting. Keep your workspace organized. Protect your DO NOTHING time. Your brain needs some R&R. Send really short emails. There is magic in a six-word email. Schedule your social media time and use it effectively to promote your business. Sally does hers at the same time she's updating client posts. Sometimes your soul needs to rest - take a long break from being connected. Finally, stop thinking everything must be perfect. We are human. Only God is perfect.
Get the work done, do your very best and let it go.

"The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say 'no' to almost everything."  – Warren Buffet

The business world is changing. Ten years ago, you would have never understood "sharing your contacts on the cloud." Two years ago Newsweek stopped all printed publications. Take a look around you. It's time to move your company forward.

Last week I spent three days learning about new trends in internet marketing.  I'd like to share a few ideas with you that can help grow your business:

  1. Grow your e-mail list.  Take a look at how many emails you have right now and set a much higher goal. This is one of the very fastest and best ways to communicate with existing and potential customers. This alone will help increase your business. Then communicate with your customers on a regular basis... which leads to:
  2. Send an e-newsletter regularly. Keep it simple and benefit oriented. Fill it with tools and information your customers can use. The key is to send it on a regular basis. If you're busy start out quarterly. Get a handle on it and move it to once a month. You can send twice a month if the content is good. I would not send much more frequently than that.
  3. Please tell me you have a website. If not, stop reading and go start working on it right now. It's that important. Take all of your old yellow page budget and pour it into your website. Then I challenge you to use video on your website. It's not hard - grab your cell phone, shoot some video and post it on YouTube then link it to your site. It doesn't have to be perfect - it just has to be beneficial to your customer.
  4. Build a business Facebook page and promote it. Most of the people in the developed world are on Facebook. It's time you figured out how to use it for business too. Then when people LIKE your page, go to their page and thank them. Saying "thank you" never goes out of style. Take time every chance you get to thank each and every customer.

Thank YOU for reading my post and stay tuned for more growing your business ideas.

Sally Poole

Check out our Facebook videos to see Sally's Secret Ninja Facebook trick! Find it here.

Want to try something new? Ready for a little innovation? Need something inexpensive? I thought so! The time is right for you to start using all those customer emails you've been collecting! You're going to start marketing your company through an e-newsletter. You can do this in your existing email program. Before you start, make sure you have something of value to give your customers. Find something really newsworthy, offer free advice, or a special discount. Then don't inundate clients with messages; send no more than one a month. A quarterly e-newsletter is a great way to get started. Remember to blind carbon copy your customers so you aren't sharing their email address with everyone. Dig into your e-mail program and start your e-newsletter this month.

There are so many ways to promote your business. It may seem overwhelming trying to decide which marketing tool is the most productive. You may be surprised but the answer is right in front of you. Your customer list and email list is the most valuable marketing tool you own. Are you using it in the best possible way? Can you even find it? Look at your customer list today and start adding emails. It's important to ask for permission to communicate with customers through email. This is the best way to stay in contact with customers - at no cost. With a good list you can communicate better than ever. Send out invitations, announcements, and updates. Just remember to make all your messages beneficial to the customer.

 ©2023 Poole Advertising, LLC DBA Poole Communications
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