Randy Dean's Timely Tips

You may have read Timely Tips on Randy Dean's web site, but now you can interact with it here on Blogspot.com. Please feel free to add comments and tips of your own, and thank you for your continued interest.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Timely Tips JUNE 2009: Urgent E-mail Subject Lines


I have to give my props to my old high school tennis buddy Frank L. for the inspiration for this great tip. I hadn't heard from Frank for years, but we found each other again through Facebook recently. Frank read what I was doing with e-mail, and sent a quick note on how he titles urgent e-mails that became the inspiration for this month's tip.

If you have an e-mail that needs IMMEDIATE response, use "911" in the subject line: something like, "911: Need Your Immediate Yes/No Decision on Meeting Tomorrow" This will help your receivers know that this is an e-mail to give priority attention. Of course, as I mention in my training programs, if you ever SEND a "911" e-mail, I believe you should also CALL all recipients to verify that they received the e-mail and understand the immediate urgency. You need to let them know an immediate response e-mail is now in their inbox, and also deal with any undeliverable e-mail issues. Also, if they aren't at their desk (and thus can't get the e-mail), you as the sender need to know that -- then you can use other methods to try to "close the communication loop".
If you are sending an urgent e-mail requiring quick response (but NOT immediate response), use "URGENT" in the subject line -- something like "URGENT EOD: Please get me the spreadsheet with 2Q fiscal projections for tomorrow's meeting." EOD of course stands for "End of Day". You could also use "1TT" for "First Thing Tomorrow". As I mentioned, these are for e-mails with tasks or responses needed in a short, but not immediate, time frame. If you aren't giving them much time to respond, once again, a courtesy call or voice mail will help to also close that communication loop.
If you are sending a normal priority e-mail, either use the word "NORMAL" at the start of your subject line, or just write the subject line as you normally would. Of course, it is always good etiquette to clearly state the reason the person is receiving the e-mail as well as any embedded tasks/desired actions AND deadlines in the first 2-3 sentences of the body copy, even with "normal" priority e-mails. That way, they know how to appropriately slot this new request/action into their existing prioritized task list.
I think using "911", "URGENT", and "NORMAL" will greatly help your message recipients with appropriate management and response to your messages/requests. You might need to train them a bit so they know how to administer this new "subject line regimen" (you could just forward this message to them!), but if you can get your team to use this technique, more items will be acted upon in an appropriate and timely manner.

Thanks again Frank for the inspiration! A great idea here!

A Reminder Note Tuesday


Yes, I'll be sending another e-mail first thing Tuesday (maybe even Monday night!) reminding you about the launch on Amazon. I'd really appreciate a big response from all of you -- and encourage you to take advantage of the amazing bonuses provided by my launch partners. Please feel free to forward this e-mail/information out to your list/contacts too. Watch for my e-mail on Tuesday!

Until then, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips MAY 2009: Three Great Air Traveler Tips

We are coming into those summer travel months, and since it has been a while since I've done some tips on effective travel time savers, I wanted to share three new ones I've been using this travel season.


1. Wear your suit/best outfit on your flight. I've simply found that my suit arrives in much better shape and much less wrinkled if I wear it on my flight vs. packing it (a nice bonus - you look good on your flights, which are very often filled with good potential business contacts - never hurts to look professional). Now, coming into the summer months and higher temperatures, I obviously don't like to wear it more than necessary, so I actually also pack hangars in my carry on bag, and then immediately change my clothes into something more comfy upon arrival at my destination airport if I'm not heading straight to a client event or meeting. I've also found out that P&G has produced a travel size bottle of Downy Wrinkle Reducer. Having that along with wearing the suit on the flight pretty much takes away the need to press or iron the suit upon arrival (and a little money saving tip: get a regular size bottle of the Downy Wrinkle Reducer to use for refills of your travel size bottle.)
2. If going to a conference and/or meeting by air, and you are expecting to be giving lots of program brochures, attendee lists, goodies, and freebies, consider packing a posted Priority Mail packet or box and/or UPS, DHL, or Fedex box/mailer, preaddressed to you. That way, you can pack light enough to avoid checking bags (often saving 15-45 minutes on each side of your flight), but you'll still have the capacity to send some of that stuff back to you upon your return trip. You can easily collapse down a flat-rate Priority Mail box and ship a pretty significant amount of stuff home too.
3. Are you an electronics or laptop lover when you travel? Find and pack a small multi-outlet electrical power strip in your computer bag. Very often, most airports only have a few power outlets available for charging, but if you have a multi-outlet power strip, you can walk up to a person that is already using the outlet to see if they'd be willing to share. And if you get to that outlet first, you'll be really popular with the other road warriors around you when you plug in your power strip and let others share your strip.



Program Successes Continue

What a past 9 months this has been - the Taming E-mail, Finding Extra Hour, and Optimizing Outlook courses have all been performing great, and I've been BUSY (I've even already reached enough miles to renew my frequent flier elite status for 2010, and it isn't even the end of May yet!) I've received great reviews and comments from my recent sessions at the NALP, HSMAI Affordable Meetings, Michigan Recycling Coalition, and yesterday's session at the Law School Admissions Council in San Antonio (great city by the way - make sure to visit the Riverwalk!)

Deborah Peters, CMP, from SoigneCelebrations.com had this to say about my recent Affordable Meetings Taming E-mail conference session:

"Your workshops during Affordable meetings were exactly what I needed to get my e-mail and electronic files organized. After attending your workshop, now I feel confident in organizing my files and have found additional time to spend on more important matters."

Please keep me in mind for your upcoming meetings and events. Compared to many of the speakers out there, I provide excellent value for the dollar, with very timely and useful content delivered in an engaging and often humorous way. And from a training perspective, most people report that my content is immediately usable, thus providing an instant return on investment.

Look for me at Michigan State HRD, the Michigan Society of Hematologists, a Michigan Chamber of Commerce webinar, and the National Conference of the Institute for Management Accountants here in June, and the Indiana Society of Association Executives and American Dental Association Executives Conference in July. And watch for the Taming E-mail Amazon launch info coming VERY soon.

Until then, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips APRIL 2009: Drag & Drop the "Right" Way

Many of you that have attended my live Taming E-mail and Finding an Extra Hour/Optimizing Outlook programs know that I extol the virtues of "drag & drop" in Microsoft Outlook. Basically, you can take any e-mail and "drag" the e-mail over to your calendar, task, notes, or contacts icon to convert the e-mail into one of those items, with virtually no keystroking. (Left-click the selected e-mail, hold the click, and drag the e-mail over to the appropriate icon, then "drop it" on the icon - this was a previously featured Timely Tip, but for the many new subscribers, that is a quick replay of how this works.)

In the past, I indicated that the only issue with "drag & drop" is that any attachments to the e-mail do not move with the message. But, thanks to Scott Kerr of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, who attended my recent Affordable Meetings Taming E-mail session in Chicago, I've got a new wrinkle on the "drag & drop" routine. Scott showed me by "right-clicking and holding the message" (rather than "left-clicking and holding") when I drag & drop, that when I actually drop the message onto the desired function (calendar, tasks, contacts, etc.), I get a short list of options, including "Copy Message with Attachments" and "Move Message with Attachments". Thus, when you "right click, drag & drop", you can now move related attachments too!! Very handy if you have a document you need to refer to in that new task or calendar item you just created.

Now, of course, if you start using the "Copy Message with Attachments" option, you will be posting that attachment in two places in your Outlook - keep this in mind if you have limited memory storage in your account! I'd recommend going back to the original message and removing the attachment so you only have it stored in one place in your Outlook. And, if you use the "Move Message with Attachment" option, remember that the original e-mail will now disappear from your inbox - keep that in mind if you like to file messages in subfolders for later reference.

Still, this is a VERY cool enhancement to my past demonstrations in this area, and I encourage all of my Outlook users to test this one out and start using it when appropriate - yet another great keystroking time saver!




Now Using OUTLOOK 2007

YES, I've finally UPGRADED to MS Outlook 2007!

I know a few of you have prodded me for a bit on this upgrade, and I have finally done this. (To note: I had a few key clients that were asking me to hold back while they were still using Outlook 02/03. Also, I firmly believe that you should resist upgrading software until it has been out on the market for at least 6 months, while the developers work out the bugs!)

What is interesting is that I've figured out a way for me to still hold programs using the Outlook 02/03 version, so if your company is still working on this platform, we can do that too!! But any of you that are thinking about having an Outlook 2007 time management or e-mail training, please let me know. I'll even give a special deal that includes a few copies of my new Taming E-mail paperback to the first five companies/groups that contact me about a new program or session (mention this newsletter).

IN CLOSING ...

You may find it hard to believe, but I actually had to cut out some content this month that I planned to share. With the launch in progress, we'll be making a few special announcements here and there as merited, but you can also count on another new Timely Tip here in May. Please feel free to forward this message on to your co-workers, friends, relatives, and colleagues to help spread the word of the new Taming E-mail paperback on Amazon and B&N.com (as well as the great programs coming up), and keep sharing those great ideas and comments.
Have a wonderful spring, and until next time, Stay Timely!

GR8 1-hour Interview I did with Office/Home Organization Expert Joshua Zerkel CPO -- get download here: http://ping.fm/faXSY

Monday, June 29, 2009

Link to a FREE REPLAY of a 60-minute Taming E-mail Webinar program -- awesome content: http://ping.fm/dLnCP

Sunday, June 28, 2009

GREAT interview I did with Jan Bolick at BusinessClassInc last week -- 45 Mins. of great e-mail tips! Get I-view Here: http://ping.fm/69mnE

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Thx for Making Taming E-mail Beast the #1 E-mail Book on Amazon last week. GR8 Bonuses Still Available: http://ping.fm/xD9pw

Friday, June 26, 2009

Why do some authors always seem 2 make money online while others don't? Ask @AlexMandossian 4 the answer #VBT: http://ping.fm/JmZCD

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Final Tallies from Yesterday's Taming E-mail Beast Amazon Launch -- TONS of #1's!! http://ping.fm/XJLAC
Thanx 4 the Support!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Nice blog post from Meryl Runion -- good points on ethical relationship marketing -- http://ping.fm/pjdAL

GR8 new 45-min interview with me posted by Jan Bolick -- only cost? Your e-mail address. Go here: http://ping.fm/rgV5z

A day of #1's! Now #1 in Hot New Releases Computing & Internet on Amazon -- http://ping.fm/hZ2ym

Taming E-mail Beast now #1 on Amazon for Manager's Guides to Computing -- GR8 bonuses still available: http://ping.fm/OdbrA

Now #1 Hot Release in Biz Skills, Manager Guides to Computing & #2 Bestseller in Time Mgt -- behind David Allen & GTD! http://ping.fm/ZjIji

Now #1 E-mail Book, #1 Hot New Releases in Time Management, #2 Biz Skills, #4 Software on Amazon -- http://ping.fm/pOcyv

Taming Email Beast just became the #1 E-mail Book on Amazon.com -- THANKS EVERYONE -- Let's keep it going up: http://ping.fm/V79Ta

Taming E-mail up to #2 Hot New Releases in Time Management and #3 Hot New Releases in E-mail

RT @bizzia Convert E-mails Into What They REALLY Are : Slacker Manager - Management and Leadership A... http://cli.gs/4RpQ6 (via @tweetmeme)

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Taming the E-mail Beast just went Top 10 in the "Email" category on Amazon. Thanks Everyone! Remember to buy ON TUESDAY -- http://ping.fm/nGntQ

My New Book, Taming E-mail Beast, up to #30 in "Hot New Releases" on Amazon.com -- here's book info & bonuses: http://ping.fm/GgacH

Friday, June 19, 2009

New Timely Tips -- strategies for titling URGENT e-mails -- now available -- welcome your comments:
http://ping.fm/VQCmx

My new book Taming the E-mail Beast: 45 Key Strategies for Managing E-mail Overload, up to #18 in Time & E-mail Mgt. on Amazon: http://ping.fm/RHspv

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Now we're up to $7,000 in bonuses for my book launch on Amazon.com for Taming the E-mail Beast -- official launch Tuesday!! http://ping.fm/O2aDy

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

WOW! Nearly 30 bonus partners and $4,000 in bonuses collected for my Taming Email Beast Amazon.com launch this Tuesday 6/23. More info soon!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Article I wrote on leveraging e-mail signatures and autoresponders featured in SBAM magazine -- great tips for e-mail mktg: http://ping.fm/yhp9N

Monday, June 08, 2009

OOPS! Hosting a No Charge Office Organization/E-mail Management Teleseminar this Thursday -- 8:30 p.m. ET--more info HERE: http://ping.fm/GE4ep

Hosting a No Charge Office Organization/E-mail Management Teleseminar this Thursday -- 8:30 p.m. ET--more info here: http://ping.fm/lKSYk