Internet Marketing - Women, Business, Canada

Email Management - Part Two

* Please note: While this information was written for use with Microsoft's Mail Program, Outlook Express, it can be equally useful for those using other email programs. If you are using different email software, open the "Help" section of your email program, then open the Index, find the Topic Heading and substitute the instructions for those given here.This material will, at least, make you aware of some of the features available in email software.

Sending a Duplicate Copy: To send a copy of an email message to a second party, type the address for the recipient in "To" and the address for the copy in "Cc".
**Only use "Carbon Copy" when you wish the receiving party to be aware that you are sending a copy. Don't use this format to send a message to a mailing list, as many people don't want their address published.

Sending Multiple Copies: When sending multiple copies of an email message, type each of the recipient's email addresses in "Bcc" and separate each with a semi colon. Type your own email address in "To".

Highlighting Messages: To ensure that you don't overlook an important message after viewing, you can choose to highlight it by marking it as "Unread". To do this, simply click on your right mouse button and select "Mark as Unread" so it will be listed with bold text.

Template Messages: If you find that you're frequently sending the same basic email message to people, create a template and save it in your "Draft" folder. Here are the steps that can save you a lot of time and reduce the risk of errors:

Determine the content for your message template. Make your message as general as possible.
Type your copy into the body of a new message and include your signature with the message.
Do not insert anything in "To".
Type a name for your template in the Subject line.
Click on the X in the right upper corner of your message to close. When asked if you wish to save the message, click on "Yes" and your message will be automatically saved in your Draft folder.
When you require the content of this particular message to respond to a related inquiry, locate the template in your Draft folder, then place your cursor on the message body and click your right mouse button. Click on "Select all" and then "Copy".
Open a new message.
Place your cursor in the body of the new message and click your right mouse button and choose "Paste". Your message template will appear in the body of your new message. It will only require a greeting and any specific information you wish to add.
Important: You must type in the recipient's email address in "To" and add a Subject line before you send your message.

Creating a Resource Folder: Whenever you are on the Internet, make a habit of watching for materials that might be useful to you. These might include articles, product information, new product ideas, and resources you would like to read at a later time or may want to link to your own web site.

When you locate these materials, send an email message to yourself that includes the web page URL, a title and perhaps a brief description of the content. Save these email messages in your "Resources" folder in your mailbox. You'll find this very useful.

Attaching Files to your Email Messages: You can send documents, links and graphics with your messages.

Create a new message.
Click on the paperclip icon at the top of the message and an Insert Attachment box will appear
Locate the document or graphic you wish to attach to your message. You will need to find the directory on your hard drive where this file is located and click on the file.
You will see an icon on your message that contains the attachment.
Complete your message as you normally would and hit "Send".

To View a File Attachment in an Email Message: It's very important that you determine the validity of every attachment before opening it, because of the risk of computer viruses. Do you know the person who sent you the message?

A computer virus can't be spread by simply reading an email message

But if you open an attachment that contains a program application and it does contain a virus, you are at risk. Your virus scan software can protect you to some degree but there is still a risk when new viruses are unleashed.

If you know the sender and are accustomed to receiving attachments from them, you can view the attached file simply by clicking your mouse on the icon to open it. A dialogue box may appear asking which program to use to view the file and you just have to select an appropriate graphic or text program on your computer. If you don't have a graphic viewer program, go to our Marketing Centre's Software Section and download the graphics viewer from there.

Maintaining your Email Program: The frequency of maintenance will depend on the volume of email you receive. There are some very simple procedures you can follow to ensure that your messages don't take up a great deal of space:

Under "Tools" at the top of your mail program, click on "Options" to open the Options box.

Beginning with "General Settings", ensure that the following are marked:

Check for new messages every ___ minutes: you specify the frequency.
Empty messages from the "Deleted Items" folder on exit.
Make Outlook Express my default mail program.
When starting, go directly to my "Inbox" folder.
Automatically display folders with unread messages.

For your "Send Settings", the following should be marked:

Save copy of sent messages in the "Sent Items" folder.
Reply to messages using the format in which they were sent.
Automatically complete email addresses when composing.

For your "Read Settings", the following should be marked:

Message is read after being previewed for 10 seconds.
Download 100 headers at a time.
Automatically show picture attachments in messages.
*You can select a preferred font for viewing of incoming messages here too.

Select the appropriate "Spelling Settings" if you have any concerns here.

Click "OK" to confirm settings and exit from the Options box.

Compacting Folders: Another step you can take to reduce the amount of space your email messages require is to compact your folders periodically.

Click on "File" at the top of your mail program, then on "Folders".
If you select "Compact": all messages in the folder you are currently working in will be compacted.
If you select "Compact All": messages in all of the folders in your mailbox will be compacted.

Text in your Email Messages: You can choose the type of font and size of text in your email messages with many of the newer versions of email software.

Click on "Tools" and "Stationary". A Stationary box will appear.
Click on "Font Settings". Select your preferred font type.
Choose Regular for "Font Style" and a size of 10 or 12.
Click "OK" which will close the box.
Click "Apply" and "OK" in the Stationary box.

*If you are familiar with HTML, you may choose to use HTML format for your messages. If the recipient does not have a mail program that reads HTML, your message will appear as plain text with an HTML file attachment.

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