Ever email someone hoping for a reply, never hear from them, then forget about your original email? That forgetfulness could cost you a lead or a deal. Here’s the system I’ve developed to keep track of emails I’m waiting to hear back from.
Many years ago, when I was enslaved to the Windows platform, I used ACT! — a great contact and task management tool. One of the things I loved about it was you could easily create a follow-up task each time you contacted someone. Then, if you haven’t heard from them for a week or so, you could ping them a reminder.
After losing track of too many emails I needed to hear back from, I developed this system in Gmail. Here are the steps you need to set this up.
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Setup (you only need to do this once)
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Step 1: Create the 1 WAITING label
In Gmail, Click the Settings link in the top-right of the page, then click Labels, as below:
Look for the Labels section down the page. It will look like this:
Type 1 WAITING into the box and click Create. (You’ll wait to put the 1 in front so that it sorts to the top of your labels list, making it easier to click.)
Go back to the main Gmail page by clicking the Mail link in the left navigation area.
Look for 1 WAITiNG on the left and click the small box to its left. Assign it a colour. I recommend white text on bright red background so that emails you’re waiting for really stand out in your inbox when they arrive.
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Step 2: Set up Multiple Inboxes
To keep your eyeballs on emails you’re waiting for a response from, use the Multiple Inboxes feature in Mail Labs. Here’s how to set it up.
First, click the Mail Labs icon at the top right of Gmail (it looks like a small green beaker to the right of your email address):
Scroll down the long list of labs features until you find Multiple Mailboxes.
Click Enable. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click Save Changes.
Click the Settings link at the top of the page again, then click the Multiple Inboxeslink.
Type in the information exactly as it appears below: is:1 WAITING — note: make sure there isn’t a space between is: and 1.
Click Save Changes at the bottom, then ?bo back to the main Gmail page by clicking the Mail link in the left navigation area.
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Usage
Now that it’s all set up, here’s how to use it.
Step 1: Send your email as usual
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Step 2: Apply the WAITING label in Sent Mail
Go to Sent Mail and find the email you just sent (it’s probably the one at the top).
Click the checkmark box to the left of the email.
Pull down the Labels menu.
Click the box beside 1 WAITING.
Your email should look like this. Notice that it now has a bright red 1 WAITING label.
Go back to the main Gmail page by clicking the Mail link in the left navigation area.
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That’s It!
You’re all set up! Your screen should look something like this:
You now have two areas on your screen — regular emails and important emails that you’re still waiting for a response from. I like this view because it keeps those emails front-and-centre in my mind.
When someone replies to one of these marked emails, it’ll show up in your main Inbox as per usual, with the bright red flag. Reply as per usual and, if you no longer need the flag, just select the Labels menu again and click 1 WAITING to turn the flag off or click the X beside the red label.
A New Presentation by Tod Maffin
Now booking for Fall 2010/2011
Can blind luck be reproduced? Absolutely, says Tod Maffin.
Today’s viral campaigns may seem like jackpots in a one-in-a-million lottery, but it turns out they are well within the reach of any marketing team’s grasp. All it takes is knowing the secret ingredients behind some of the world’s most talked-about campaigns.
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By reverse-engineering each element of a successful viral campaign in your industry, Tod Maffin will show your audience the key markers that can launch a campaign into the viral stratosphere — markers that can be programmed into the smallest budgets.
He will literally “deconstruct” a viral campaign, piece by piece, then show your group how to re-assemble a campaign for their own organization.
And, using his ASSURED ROI™ methodology, he’ll detail for your attendees each of the seven action steps required for launching an impactful and measurable viral campaign.
You will never look at a viral campaign again the same.
UPDATE: I did a segment on CBC Radio about this viral marketing campaign. Click the yellow Play icon on the bar below to listen.
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Kevin Rose had a fever. And, because he’s a nerd, he tweeted about it. That prompted the writers behind the deadpanned-but-hilarious TV ads for Old Spice to create a video response just for Kevin. You can see it below:
This video has been the talk of the web in the last few days — not so much for its content, but that the company would pick one person to direct a response to. But Kevin Rose isn’t just any ordinary nerd; he’s a well-connected and highly influential one. More than a million people follow his Twitter account.
The amount of publicity Old Spice has generated from this single well-directed message is incalculable.
Can you do the same with your business? Absolutely. And you should.
Take Canadian coffee chain Blenz. It reaches out to specific people through its Twitter account — sometimes rewarding them with gift certificates. While Blenz apparently pings random people, you may want to consider being more strategic.
Tools exist today to let you determine who the most influential people who follow your brand are.
Klout.com, for instance, gives you a score between 1 and 100 that estimates a person’s level of influence. It calculates everything from how often they are retweeted, how many influential people follow their social media accounts, and so on.
The recent release of the excellent and free Hootsuite social media dashboard now lets you filter tweets by Klout. In other words, you can see a stream of people who are tweeting about your brand — and can tell Hootsuite to only show those people who are very influential on the Internet. These are the people you should focus on. Invite them to participate as advisory board members. Send them a gift certificate. Invite them to your next staff party.
This screenshot shows one of the Hootsuite columns I run — a search for any time someone mentions my Twitter username, but only people with more than a Klout Influence Score of 39. These are the people who others trust to bring them valuable content. They are paid attention to.
When you randomly surprise influential people with something of value, they’ll talk it up. And your brand wins.
Have you ever randomly surprised one of your brand’s followers/friends? What did you offer them?
NB: You can do surprise your fan base and customers offline too — this summer, some Virgin Mobile customers will get replacement phones hand-delivered right to their door. To kick the program off, Sir Richard Branson made one of the first deliveries in Toronto earlier this week to an unsuspecting Virgin Mobile customer. “I don’t even know what to say right now. I can’t believe you guys did this!” said Morrison. “I got my new phone right away and Richard Branson is here. He’s the coolest delivery person ever – and I didn’t even have to tip him!”
I’ve been slowly assembling a list of CBC Facebook pages. If you can suggest any changes, please note them in the comments. (I’m looking for actual Facebook Pages, not those automatically generated Community pages.) Thanks! –Tod
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