Keeping Your Email
Box Organized & Ready for Business
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-5814
Learning how to get the most organization from your email
software is very likely the most important skill you can learn
to conduct a successful online home business.
There are three primary email applications on the market
that folks use to manage their incoming POP3 email. Those
three are:
· Microsoft Outlook Express
· Eudora
· Netscape Mail
In order to get the most from your email software, there are
three key processes that you should learn. These processes
are concerned with data organization, saving time and email
database management.
SET UP EMAIL FOLDERS
Organization is key to any emails that you intend to save.
Having 2000 emails in one folder is a sure-fire road map to
confusion and lost communications and information.
You are the best judge as to how to organize your email
into topics that provide an easy method of retrieval of the
information when you need it most.
Fortunately, the primary email browsers make it easy to
organize your information. By allowing you to create folders
within your email software, you can file specific emails into
folders dedicated to the topic of the email.
To create new folders:
OUTLOOK EXPRESS: 1. Click File - Folders - New ---
alternatively, you may also right click an item in the Folder
window --- and then type in the name of your new folder. Highlight
the folder above where you would like your new folder to be
placed, and then click OK.
EUDORA: Click on Mailbox - New --- or right click
on Eudora in the folders window and then click on New. When
the window opens, type in the name of your new mailbox and
click OK. If you want to create a folder to place other mailboxes
into, click the checkbox before clicking OK.
NETSCAPE MAIL: Click File - New Folder. Then from
the drop-down menu, select the folder that you wish to be
the folder directly above your new folder, before clicking
OK.
FILTERING EMAIL
Email filters are a tool to help you save time and frustration.
Have you ever lost an incoming email under the deluge of email
coming into your mailbox? With filters, you can direct the
important email or not-so-important email into certain pre-ordained
folders.
As part of the war against spam, most ISP's use filters
every day in an attempt to keep the spam out of your mailbox.
In fact, I even use filters to sort my incoming mail trying
to catch the spam my ISP missed.
Don’t be fooled into thinking you need some special software
to filter your email. Setting up filters is actually quite
easy.
To setup email filters:
OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Tools - Message Rules -
Mail. A wizard will open to help you create your new email
filters. Just follow the instructions provided to direct mail
based on certain criteria into certain folders.
EUDORA: Click on Special - Make Filter. Once again,
just follow the instructions in the Filter wizard.
NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on Edit - Mail Filters. Then
click on New in the wizard. Once you click on New, you will
be taken to a new wizard window. Follow the instructions here,
then when you are done, click on OK. This will return you
to the first window where you will set up the sorting order
of your filter.
CLEANING AND COMPRESSING YOUR MAIL DATA
This is an important part of your email management. When
you no longer need an email, it should be deleted. When you
first delete an email, your software will send the email to
the Trash Bin. Your email is not actually deleted until you
first empty your trash bin.
Emptying your trash bin compresses the mailboxes from where
the email was originally filed. This is absolutely paramount
to the protection of your email data. If you go too long between
compressing your email data, then your email data could become
corrupted and you might need assistance in recovering your
email data.
Even after you have emptied your trash, Compressing Folders
is a recommended step to prevent other data corruption. Once
you understand that an email does not actually move from one
folder to another until the folder is compressed, then you
can better appreciate this advice.
As an example, when Email A comes into your main Inbox,
the data connected to Email A appears in two files. One file
contains the header and body of the email. The other file
contains only the email header information.
When an email is moved from one folder to the other, only
the header information is actually moved. The body information
will not be deleted from the original folder until which time
the original folder is compressed.
This explains the purpose of emptying the trash AND compressing
folders. If the email was simply moved from the Inbox to another
folder, then emptying the trash is not enough. The original
placement of the email is not actually removed from the file
that contains the body information until the message has been
designated for compression.
To empty your trash:
OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Edit - Empty 'Deleted Items'
Folder. To compress the remaining folders, click on Tools
- Options, then click on the tab for Maintenance. Then click
the button that says, "Clean Up Now". Once the compression
is completed, click OK.
EUDORA: Click Special - Empty Trash. To compress
the remaining items that need compression, then click on Special
- Compact Mailboxes.
NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on File - Empty Trash Folder.
To compress the mailboxes, click on File - Compress Folders.
I cannot stress enough how important it is that you utilize
the tools for emptying the trash and compressing the mail
folders. Protecting your email data on a regular basis is
good practice for avoiding disaster in your mailbox.
So many of us rely upon our email software to keep our online
business running smoothly. Once you master the tools provided
in your email software, your online business will run smoothly
also.
Let me share one important lesson I l've learned about computer
software. One should never be afraid to try new things. Learning
how to get the most out of your software relies upon your
willingness to dig in and learn how to use it.
Once you learn how to use your software to its full potential,
then your life will be greatly simplified and your effectiveness
will be dramatically improved.
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Reprinted with permission from the Plug-In Profit Site Free Website Builder.