Inbox Talk: Email, Lists & Spam

My Inbox is my gateway to the online world. I start my day by scanning my email for important news and updates, and I keep it open on a separate monitor so that I can glance over at it throughout the work day.

Depending on what type of business model you have, you may feel a similar sense of attachment to your incoming messages. Mine happens to be full of opportunities, reminders, fresh information and - cha-ching! - money that needs to be made.

Of course, you have to be very strict in how you filter and manage your email or it just gets out of control. And quick! Common problems are information overload and time management – none of us want to spend endless hours in the Inbox, that’s for sure…

I make good use of folders and filters to keep information stored and separated. Some notifications dont need my instant attention – so I have those filed the moment they come in. I can always open that folder and work with that information when necessary. Other notifications are time sensitive and need to arrive in my primary inbox.

Examples include subscriber notifications, blog comment notifications and forum reply notifications. All of those can filter into their own folder so that I can check them when I am ready to sit down and work with those items. Things like that dont need to interrupt your work flow.

I also have a great spam filter in place – my Inbox is prime real estate and the last thing I want is to filter through crap that doesnt belong there.

But even with this ‘ideal setup’, email can still grow into a monstrous time-consuming task. I probably receive over 100 emails per day not including spam, notifications and otherwise filtered messages.

Over time we just tend to opt-in to information overload.

Very few of these are actually personal contact from an individual. There are newsletters, mailing lists, etc etc etc. Affiliate managers that want to send you tips and updates. Special new offers from product developers. New features at a site you belong to. etc.

But this brings us to a whole new type of spam… the spam we request. Some mailings we specifically request, and others we request indirectly. And this is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to email management.

A good example is when you sign up to a notification list. YES, I want to know when this product is available, or when that book is published. NO, I dont want to receive 3-5 emails a week on that topic (and various others).

Or how about when you order two products from the same author or developer – and then end up getting two separate emails from them every time they have an announcement or a mailing? Even if you use the same email address for both orders. That’s just bad list management in my opinion.

I tolerate this from some list owners or mailing list publishers because the good out-weighs the bad. Others I just unsubscribe from – there simply isnt room in my Inbox for non-actionable messages. If it isnt something I am going to use today or this week, then I can look it up online when I am ready for it (if ever).

When I sat down to my Inbox this morning, I realized its high time for another clean-sweep. It may take a few minutes to set up new filters and un-sub from several lists, but it will be well worth it to keep my mind focused on the information I need most on a daily basis.

Best,