I just got back from the National Speakers’ Association convention in Orlando, where I attended Larry Chaing’s workshop – What They Don’t Teach You at NSA.

In that workshop, he asked attendees to text or email questions to him, AS HE WAS SPEAKING. Novel approach! He called it the 2 way keynote, which extends this whole social media concept of ‘conversation’ to another level. He took a break in his talk to read the questions texted to him, and he answered them. New way of keeping a record of the questions, heh?!

Another way this can be done is by having a compatriot monitor the text messages, emails and tweets, so as not to distract the speaker. Or to have them project on the screen.

Interactivity at its best! Kudos Larry.

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According to emailreplies.com…

The first step in professionalizing your email communications is to publish a corporate email policy. This email policy accomplishes three objectives:

Commercial objective: in teaching employees how to send effective emails and stating target answering times, you can professionalize your email replies and therefore gain competitive advantage.

Productivity objective: by setting out rules for the personal use of email you can improve productivity and avoid misunderstandings.

Legal objective: in clearly stating what is considered as inappropriate email content you can minimize the risk of law suits and minimize employer’s liability by showing that the company warned employees of inappropriate email use.

For more details on how to satisfy these goals when you create an email policy, read more from emailreplies.com by clicking here.

Urgent Business Forms has made available sample e-mail, Internet, and computer usage policies for businesses to consider.

They offer an 18 page preview of the employee handbook on their website. Although a preview, that 18 pages has some good stuff, including email policies.  Here is the link for the sample.

If you’re a business, you need a policy. ‘Nuff said.

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There are some people who intuitively understand and have the discipline to not be interrupted, and there are others who allow themselves to be interrupted continually. The ding or the flash of a newly received e-mail is like newfound treasure.

You can tell who is allowing that invasion by how quickly they respond to an e-mail you send them. If they respond within minutes, they are not being as productive as possible — they are looking up every time a new e-mail message comes in. Of course it’s okay to have this happen infrequently, but those folks who continually respond immediately are most likely not getting anything else done.

If you want to know who needs the most help managing their inboxes, the answer is easy. Just find those people who respond immediately – not just once or twice, but consistently.

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Be sure to subscribe to our e-mailed blog posts or RSS feeds to make sure you receive all of the tips and hints that will help you clean out your own inbox, and those of those around you during” Clean Out Your Inbox Week”  January 25-29.

Throughout the week we will  offer helpful tips, free downloads, and other tools that businesses or individuals who want to take control of their inboxes can use on our blog, www.inboxdetox.com <http://www.inboxdetox.com/> .

Between reading, responding, and recovery time, the average email interruption takes four minutes of valuable work time. If a worker receives an average of 15 email interruptions per day, one hour of time is lost to email interruptions. If that worker is part of a 20-person department, 20 hours of work time are lost per day. Then, if the employees average $20 per hour, the company loses $2000 per week due to a loss of worker productivity.

There is a cure for our current email e-ddiction. If you practice productive email habits, you will not only loosen the grip email has on you, but you will also reclaim hours of productive time every day.

For more information on “Clean Out Your Inbox Week” visit the website at EganEmailSolutions.com <http://www.eganemailsolutions.com/inboxweek.html> .

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Need help planning and orchestrating your” Clean Out Your Inbox Week” Campaign?

Visit http://eganemailsolutions.com/inboxweek.html for tools you can use to promote a weeklong campaign that will go straight to your bottom line. The best resource is the” Clean Out Your Inbox Week” eKit. This is a downloadable resource that will save you time and creative effort in building the campaign that your organization needs.

The eKit provides a complete intra-company plan to launch a corporately sponsored “Clean Out Your Inbox Week” campaign. The kit is divided into two parts:

Part One illustrates just how much email addiction and email mismanagement affects the productivity and bottom line of a given business – and the results are overwhelming.

Part Two then demonstrates a practical solution to run a successful “Clean Out Your Inbox Week” campaign, from concept to launch to the evaluation phase. The eKit also comes complete with resources, such as sample press releases, posters, and company announcements, as well as a suggested timeline for the initiative.

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From January 25-29, 2010, we are challenging businesses and organizations throughout the world  to take control of their email and regain lost time and profits.

Over the past decade, email usage has surged to staggering figures. Now, it is estimated that 247 billion emails are sent each day. Put another way, email users worldwide produce messages greater in size than over 16,000 copies of the complete works of Shakespeare each second! The 2008 AOL Email Addiction Survey revealed that 62% of at-work email users check their work email over an average weekend and more than 50% of Americans check their work email while on vacation. These shocking statistics go on, and it’s clear that in the new decade, email users must take control their email before it controls them.

Email is a very effective communication tool upon which businesses rely heavily.  However, we have developed a dependency on email that saps productivity. Many people can’t keep up with their inbox and simply declare email bankruptcy.

“Clean Out Your Inbox Week” is a focused attempt to get businesses and organizations to work together to not only clean out their inboxes, but to take control of the e-mail Tiger that has invaded their business productivity.  Whether the organization wants to set up their own program or use a tool that we have created  – “Clean Out Your Inbox Week” eKit, the objective of this focused week is to help all participating organizations reclaim productivity that has been lost.  Visit http://eganemailsolutions.com/inboxweek.html for tools to help you add megabucks to your bottom line…

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1. Content is King
Content is the most critical component of any successful email campaign. It is why readers choose to engage with the sender. The content (much like the subject line), should be brief but inviting. It should summarize the key elements of the message, invoke a call to action and target the right reader with the right message. The correct combination of inviting, brief and targeted content can ensure that a company’s investment in the 13.4 billion dollars spent yearly on American email campaigns remains competitive.

2. Graphically Rich Format
Utilize well structured, graphically rich email campaigns which provide a unified branding scheme. The graphics should support the content while remaining uncomplicated, fresh and vibrant. They should work to enhance the call to action established by the content but not overwhelm the reader. Proper graphic usage and placement can ensure that the email is able to catch reader’s attention amidst the 247 billion which are sent each day.

3. Personalization
Build a relationship with the audience as an email provider which always offers something of value to its reader. Developing trust with email recipients will generate success for the overall campaign. One way in which this trust can be established is by sending information from the same author. By having the same author publish valuable emails readers are able to connect with the company as a whole, its services and its values.

4. Establish a Goal
Take advantage of an email campaigns quantifiable analysis. Marketing tools are largely qualitative in there facilitation of a company’s cash flow. Email campaigns are among the few advertising strategies which can be measured in direct relation to a pre-existing goal. A company can track the traffic generated, amount of views received, number of senders and the ROI generated in response. A successful email campaign takes full advantage of this by setting into place realistic, measurable goals. Goals which reflect the $583 billion dollar return on email marketing investments which are generated yearly in the US.

5. Evaluation
Evaluate the campaign post-distribution. Measure it against the pre-established goal, determine where it was successful and what the shortcomings were. Future email campaigns can be weighed against this evaluation. This will reduce the failures and leverage the successes. One form of evaluation which can be taken is a cost-benefit analysis. This will outline the time required to produce the email, the costs associated with such and the benefits generated as a result.

 Republishing: 5 Steps to a Successful Email Campaign

By Carla Kostiak at http://bit.ly/5RbmO5

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Winter Clear-Out!

Is Your Inbox Screaming At You?
Bursting At the Seams?

Packed Full With Old Emails That Should Be Given The 3 D’s Approach?

Do it, Delegate it or DITCH IT!

Do It Now!

Read the full article on Michelle Waitte’s blog, Life Success Formula at http://bit.ly/8PvpZM

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1. Forwarding sensitive, privileged, or “trade secret” company information. Yup, you can be fired for that. In a heartbeat.
2. Using company email for personal use when it is against company policy. Some companies have very specific policies against personal use of email. You violate it, they find it. You’re gone. In a New York minute.
3. Taking shots at the company or the boss by email. You may think you’re safe, you’re not. Once it is in the email-o-sphere, it is public domain. It can, and probably will get into the wrong hands. It could take you a long time to dig outa that one.
4. Passing on ethnic or dirty jokes. This is sure to be against company policy, and once it is forwarded, your name is on the forward for all to see.
5. Carrying on an affair through email. You’re using company property for personal reasons. All this can be “mined.” So if you think you’re safe, you’re not. All it takes is one scorned spouse to call the HR department…

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We’ve all been on the wrong end of a phone call when the other party was clacking away at his or her computer. Probably doing email, right? Or maybe that culprit is ourselves? Maybe WE’VE been the ones doing email while the other party is trying to discuss something with us.People can’t do two things at once. We try, but it is physically impossible, just like we can’t be in two places at the same time.

When that inbox is open, it stares us in the face as a temptation. Truth? It IS a temptation!

Here’s a strategy you can try. Minimize or close down your inbox. Simple. Just do it! Then truly focus on the discussion at hand.

The benefits outweigh the milliseconds of productivity you fool yourself into thinking you’ve gained. Your discussion will be more fruitful because you’re fully engaged. It most likely will be shorter because you weren’t distracted causing repeats of information or the other party correcting our “misunderstanding” of dialogue. And, oh yeah, you won’t offend the caller.

You think they can’t hear that clacking? Think again.

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