Hi All,
I continue my four part series on Planning, Time Management and Organization
Part Two – Automate
Find ways to automate OR copy/paste. What do I mean by copy and paste? After events, networking, workshops and conferences, one vital component of my marketing and promotion efforts that I was lacking, was the very important communication called, follow up. I hated that I missed out on some relationship building, simply because I got too busy when I got home or crafting a message to say hello seemed headache inducing.
My copy/paste version is a short cut and it still takes just a few minutes, BUT it’s still faster and is certainly better than doing nothing. The copy/paste is simply to have a hello e-mail ready to go at all times. You can save it in your drafts folder or as a Word doc. In short, you’re saying
- Hi, it was great to meet you…and
- If you need a. b. and/or c., I can help you with …. And
- Finally, please join my mailing list where I’m always sharing good information around a., b., and c. One note, do not put anything too personal in the body or you’ll have to change it each time. Personalize something at the top, “I still want that lovely bag you were carrying.” and keep the body general and the same. You can cut and paste it every single time and you will have done the follow up that is essential in any business, AND it takes less time than crafting an entire message that addresses everyone individually. Automate, which many are already doing, goes for bill pay, reminders you can set in your Google or Outlook calendars and if you’re not sure how to do these things, simply watch a video on YouTube, it does exist.
I realize the suggestion of a form letter sounds a bit “formulaic” and cold. I agree with you, BUT remember it’s an introduction and it’s an attempt to follow up. NOT everyone you meet is a lead, but if they like what you’re selling, they’ll contact you, continue to communicate and this is ONLY meant to be a quick intro/reminder of you who are and what you’re selling. When (and IF) you have a nibble that’s where the real conversation can flow. Remember that I also said to give a little personalization at the beginning before you go into your spiel.
Lastly, who knew of course, there’s an app for that:
Text Expander – smilesoftware.com
The program above lets you write a messge once, designate a shortkey so you can cut and paste it numerous times without having to retype it each time.
Pretty cool.
If you’re a techie, in the app store, they list reviews and some offer free trails so you can try for 30 days to find out whether a program/software/application works for you. I will say that if I were going to use an app – I would try this one: Jamie’s To Do – http://www.jamiestodo.com/ – Its FREE!
(The creator, Jamie, (and the app listed above) were also mentioned in the O Magazine back in the March 2015 issue) but I’m a bit old school when it comes to apps, in that I just don’t care to put my entire life list online in some fashion. I don’t have that many apps that I use. You can’t convince me that if I put “Review Macbooks” on my list of to-do’s, that I won’t start to see ads for all things computers, Macs or otherwise EVERYWHERE? I may just see it from this post alone. It’s just the way our world works nowadays.
Regardless of the apps, beings I’m a writer, I’m just also a fan of pen and paper and I even type some of my to do list if I want to plan a longer/involved long-term and multi-stepped project.
If you would like to get/be more organized in your workspace, check out these two bloggers/newsletters that I currently subscribe to:
See You Next Week with Part Three – Giving Yourself Permission to Tell Others, “I dunno.” and The Brain Dump
