Jeff Graves

Opening New Windows in Outlook Can Save You Time

(Applies to Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003)

Switching back and forth between Outlook windows (Calendar, Inbox, Contacts, etc.) is sometimes necessary depending on your tasks. If you find yourself switching a lot, stop. Open each application in its own window and use the Taskbar (open programs to the Right of your Start button) to move quickly between them.

Simply right-click on an item button (i.e. Calendar) or in the folders list and choose Open In New Window. Open as many applications as you need. To move back and forth between them, simply click the appropriate icon on the Taskbar. That way, you always return to a window exactly the way you left it.

I find this to be a bit quicker sometimes...
If the Taskbar isn't available or it's crowded, use the Alt+Tab shortcut to cycle through the open applications.

To close a window...
Simply click its Close button ("X"). Choose Exit from any File menu to close all open Outlook windows at once.

I hope you found this tip helpful.

If it's taking longer than it should...
please give me a call and schedule a one-on-one session to learn the essentials to perform Outlook's Best Practices.

Please keep me in mind if you would like to have a one-on-one session, a small group session with people you know, or perhaps for your entire office.

Jeff

PS: Do you ever complain about...not having enough hours in the day?
Stop spending hours trying to figure out how to do something seek seomone who knows and is willing to help you.
For Outlook training - I hope you'll give me a call...206.850.9996.

I'll have you doing tap dances in your office...
Just give me a call or shoot me an email and I'll give you the knowledge you need to streamline your client communication and database use.

Please keep me in mind for a small group session with people you know (colleagues or clients), or perhaps for your entire office.

Thanks again,

Jeff

JeffsCoaching@comcast.net
206.850.9996 (Cell)


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with my Income & Expense Tracking system:
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Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffgraves01
Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffgravesmaui
Website: http://www.ImpactYourSalesNow.com

(Applies to Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003)

Have You Ever Sent an Email You Wished You Hadn't?
Here are some ideas to help you catch typos and other mistakes, and handle those "emotionally charged" emails that taunt you to respond.

Catch Errors...
We've all sent out emails with typos. Perhaps it's best to type an email...wait a bit...and then review it again before sending; we'll explore how to you can do this.

Anger Management?...
I have learned (sort of) to WAIT! before I send out an emotionally charged email. However, sometimes it's too difficult to just "let it go"...hmmmm (that's my Yoga hum).

Here are a few options to consider that can save you embarrassment with your clients and possibly heartache.

It starts with those DEFAULT Settings...
Outlook, as well as most e-mail clients, send e-mail as soon as you hit "Send", and that's why we get into trouble. So here's the thought...Instead of sending each e-mail immediately, let them sit in the Outbox. Later (maybe a few minutes or even hours), review the messages one last time and then send them.

You are guaranteed to...
Find small and seemingly unimportant mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless. Plus, letting a message sit for a while, especially if you're angry when you respond, will give you a bit of time to rethink and perhaps, even save face.

OPTION 1: Sleep it off
When responding about an email that has your emotions cranked up...sleep before your send.

OPTION 2: Uncheck the "Send Immediately" box
Outlook is configured to send mail when you click Send in the New Message window. To reset this option so that you control when Outlook sends mail, do the following:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. Click the Mail Setup tab.
3. You can uncheck the "Send immediately when connected" box and no matter what account you are using to send your email it will remain in your Outbox until:
> You click Send/Receive or
> the Automatically check email feature kicks in

OPTION 3: More Options
To look at more options - instead of unchecking the "Send immediately when connected" box in OPTION 2 click the Send/Receive button just to the right of that (in the Mail Setup tab).

Under the: Setting For Group "All Accounts" section

1. Uncheck the "Include This Group In Send/Receive (F9)" option.
2. Set the "Schedule an Automatic Send/Receive every..." - change this to maybe every 30 minutes or so to give yourself time to think it over and then review the email again.
3. When done Click Close and then OK.

After unchecking the Send/Receive option, you must remember to click Send/Receive on the Standard toolbar to send mail.

We have a saying here on Maui: "When in doubt don't go out!" this refers to the surf, especially when we have high surf advisories.

We can use that lesson with our email to say something like "When in doubt don't Send it out!". ;-)

I hope you find this tip helpful and that it can help you come across as more professional and understanding.

Jeff

A simple Expense Tracking system using Excel: http://budurl.com/jdzp

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffgraves01
Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffgravesmaui
Website: http://www.ImpactYourSalesNow.com

Calendar Tip - Viewing non-sequential days side by side

(This applies to Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003)

Make selecting a date for an appointment easier.
Let's say you have a customer call you and they have certain dates they are available - instead of scrolling to each of those dates and jotting down times that work within your calendar...view each day side by side!

With just a few clicks you'll be looking at those dates, here's how:

Step 1: Start by going to the Calendar view in Outlook, you'll see a thumbnail view of the current month on the left hand side of Outlook .

Step 2: Press and hold the Control (Ctrl) key down as you click on the dates you want to view. As you click the big Calendar to the right will change to show you only those dates.

Step 3: You can even select dates in other months by continuing to hold the Ctrl button down while you click on the arrow to advance to the next month, and still Ctrl, + Clicking on the days.

Note: You can also grab the blue column divider (vertical) and drag it to the right to display more thumbnail calendars.

Try this tip out and let me know what you think.

If you like these tips and they've been useful for you...imagine what a one-on-one session can do to help you save time and streamline your daily or weekly tasks. Contact me today 206-850-9996.

Jeff

A simple Expense Tracking system using Excel: http://budurl.com/jdzp

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffgraves01
Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffgravesmaui
Website: http://www.ImpactYourSalesNow.com

(Applies to Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003)

Sometimes I'll receive an email that I need to follow up with and I don't want to forget..these I can tag for follow up in a couple of ways.

METHOD ONE: Adding a Reminder

1. Right-click the message you want to set the reminder for
2. Point to Follow Up, and then click Add Reminder.
3. In the "Flag to:" type your own memo or select from the list available
4. You can skip the "Start date:" if you like
5. "Due date:" select the date when you have to complete the reply.
6. Click the "Reminder" box and select a date and time for follow up
7. Click OK

METHOD TWO: Use Flag Status Sorting

Instead of setting a reminder sometimes I'll just "flag" an email to follow up with. Here's how:

1. Click on the greyed out flag on the far right of the email you need to follow up with - this changes the flag to a Red flag - so it's very noticeable.

2. I'll then sort my emails by "Flag Status". Simply click on the column header "Flag Status" (the column that contains the flags) - done.

This puts all your flagged emails at the top and then lists the remaining emails by date.

When I've completed the action I needed to take I'll click on the Red flag and this marks it as "completed" and places it between the To-do flagged emails and the remaining emails in my Inbox.

I either keep the completed emails if I need to wait for a response...or
> I'll Right click on the flag to change the status to "Clear Flag" (this places the email back into my Inbox in order of date received).

>Or I delete the email

I hope you receive some value from these tips.

Thank you.

Jeff

A simple Income and Expense Tracking system using Excel: http://budurl.com/jdzp

Jeff Graves
JeffsCoaching@comcast.net
206.850.9996

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffgraves01
Connect with me on LinkedIn for more Outlook Tips: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffgravesmaui
Website: http://www.ImpactYourSalesNow.com

A question about resources for surveys and polling was posted on LinkedIn...several people provided conventional responses, like:

• Survey Monkey
• SurveyBob
• Constant Contact

However, I think before anyone could really provide the best answer for this person we really nneded to know such things as:

> Where is your audience? (Online, in your database, etc.)
> How are you going to use the data? (presentation, personal use, will you need to have charts, etc.)
> How are you going to "promote" the survey (email, handout, online promotion, print ads, etc.) and
> What type of answers do you need (yes-no, rate 1-10, good, ok, bad, essay, etc.)

Since we did not have the answers to the questions above I thought I would offer a few unconventional and new ways to take Polls and Surveys. After completing my resonse I wanted to share this with ActiveRain members.

Keeping in mind: To get the best results you want to go where your audience (list) is, right? Keep it simple, quick and easy and more people will respond. Of course, you don't want to inundate your audience with polls and surveys...they can get annoying. Plus, if you do take a Poll or Survey, do it with the intent to move your relationship with yoru audience to the next level.

New innovative survey options

1. For simple Yes-no, good-bad, etc. and if your list is in your Outlook database - you could use Outlook and simply use the voting buttons on the email - this can be quick and easy - although not everyone will be able to participate.

2. If your audience is on Facebook you can use create surveys using Quibblo - http://www.quibblo.com/create

3. LinkedIn - of course as a LinkedIn member you can create your own polls http://budurl.com/zzze

4 Twitter there is twtpoll - http://twtpoll.com/

5. Website or blog? (Drive traffic to your website or blog)
Option 1: Easy to use on your own webiste or blog http://www.mystudiyo.com/create

Option 2: Of course if you have a website you can create a form where they can simply check a box and you then dump the results into Excel to run any graphs, statistics you want without limitations like many of the online survey companies.

Hope that helps.

Jeff

I specialize in helping the real estate industry integrate social media, blogging and their website into one cohesive marketing machine.

Jeff Graves
JeffsCoaching@comcast.net
206.850.9996 (Cell)

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffgraves01
Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffgravesmaui
Website: http://www.ImpactYourSalesNow.com