Wednesday, November 23, 2011

How to Save Time Writing Emails

After a party I write an email note to my hosts letting them know that the order has been submitted and thanking them for their business. I also attach a pdf version of the Order Summary.

Then I write an email to all the guests who gave me their email addresses. I blind carbon copy them so that their email addresses are hidden from each other. I thank them for their order and remind them about how to order more later.

I frequently email people with my banking information so they can pay me through direct deposit.

Often I write to people to explain our hostess benefits.

What I found was that I was retyping the same things over and over again. Or I was looking in my sent items to find a note I'd written before and then I was copying it into the new message.

I don't do that anymore.

In Outlook, I now use a variety of signatures to pre-write all of these standard emails. One is called Host Thank You, one is Guest Thank You, another is Banking Details, and a new one I just wrote is PartyLite Benefits. My contact details are at the bottom of all of these signatures. I simply select the signature I want to use and then customise the "form" to suit each recipient.

It's been an amazing timesaver and I was introduced to it by Karen from A Little Elf. She is brilliant.

Try it with one and see how you go.
  1. Open Outlook
  2. Tools > Options > Mail Format
  3. Select Signatures
  4. Select New and name your signature (e.g. Host Thank You)
  5. Type in the words you want to use in most every email you send to hosts. Include contact details at the bottom
  6. Save
  7. Now Create a new message
  8. Click on the Signature icon and select the one you want to use
  9. Voila! No typing other than to personalise the email.
  10. Relax and feel super smart. :) (Then create more....)
I hope this is a good a timesaver for you as it is for me. :) All for now.

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