How to create a distribution list in Outlook

How to, videos0 comments

Setting up distribution lists are a great idea if you regularly send emails to a specific group of people.  For example, you might be running a project and need to send emails to your team.  Rather than having to type in each person’s email address every time you send a message, you can just select the distribution list and the email will go to everyone on that list.

This obviously saves you a lot of time and effort and ensures that you don’t miss anyone out of important email messages.

So read on to find out how to create a distribution list in Outlook and send an email to it, or click on the image below to view the video in YouTube.

To create a distribution list in Outlook, go to Contacts and select New in the menu bar at the top and then Distribution List from the drop down menu.

Give the list a name.  Now choose the people that you want to add to the list.  For existing contacts click on the Select Members button and choose the people you want to add. To select more than one member at a time, just hold the Ctrl key down when clicking on the name. Then click on the Members button and the names will be added, and click OK.

If you want to add people who aren’t already on your contact list then click on the Add New button and type in their details, and click OK.

Once you have added everyone to the list then Save & Close.  As you can see, the list appears in the main Contacts folder.

To send an email to that distribution list, double click on it in the folder and the dialog box will open up.  Select Email in the menu and you will be taken to a new email dialog box.  Write your email and send it in the normal way.  If you don’t want to share everyone’s email addresses with each other then ensure that you move the distribution list to BCC.

So now you know how to create a distribution list in Outlook and send an email to that list.
 

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload
 

How to Flag an Email in Outlook

How to, Time management, videos0 comments

If you’re sent an email message that requires some kind of action on your part, then you’ll want to flag that email to remind yourself to complete it.

Now you can do that by creating a separate task if you want to but it’s far easier to use the flag function on Outlook.  This enables you to add a reminder to the email itself so you can refer back to the message and the actions you need to take.

Here are the steps that you need to flag an email in Outlook.

• Go to the inbox or appropriate email folder and you’ll see on the far right hand side, a column with the flag symbol next to each email message.
• To flag a message, just click on the flag symbol next to the appropriate email.  You’ll now see that the symbol is highlighted in red.
• To add a reminder date, right hand click on the flag symbol and select either one of the preset options or click on the Add reminder link to set a specific date and time.
• The email is now automatically added to your task list and you can view it by clicking on Tasks in the left-hand sidebar. Like other tasks, a reminder will pop up on the due date and time.
• An alarm bell symbol will also appear next to the email message to show you that a reminder has been added.
• Once the task has been completed, you can right hand click on the flag symbol and select either the Mark Complete or Clear Flag option.

Adding reminders to your emails is a great way to keep track of actions that you need to take on email messages that you receive.  By doing this, you will be aware of upcoming deadlines so you can plan your workload more effectively.
 

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload
 

3 Ways to Use Autoresponders for Your Business

Email marketing, How to2 comments

As I mentioned in my previous blog, How to Market to Your Contacts While You Sleep, autoresponders are a great way to stay in contact with your list.  They are automated emails that you set up on your email marketing system which get sent out at specific intervals set by you.

Here are 3 ways that you can use autoresponders for your business.

1.  The most common way to use autoresponders is to send out emails after someone has signed up to your list.  For example, I offer free guides on my website and once someone has signed up and downloaded one of the guides, then they receive emails over several days giving the top 5 tips from the guide.  Very often when you sign up to a mailing list, you don’t hear from that person for several weeks or months.  So it’s a good idea to set up a series of autoresponders so your list get to know who you are.

2.   Another good way of using autoresponders is to set up an online course. If you’ve already got Ebooks on your site or written various articles and blogs, then think about turning that information into a product that you can sell or give away to attract leads. You can set up a series of autoresponders for each module and these emails can contain video links, guides and worksheets which people can use to work their way through the course.

3.   Get feedback on your service or product.  If people are buying from you online, then you can set up an autoresponder after the buying process to get feedback on what they have purchased.  This is great market research which  you can use to either adapt the service or product or find out what your customers would like from  you in future.

So as you can see, there are various ways of using autoresponders.  The great benefit to you is that once you set them up then they do the marketing for you without any other extra effort on your part.  And if you keep in contact with your list on a regular basis then they will think of you first when they want to buy your services or products.

Email marketing and autoresponders are great ways to promote your business to people who you know are interested in what you do.  If you want to know more about how to use these tools then download a copy of our free guide “The Essentials of Email Marketing“, which contains all you need to know to help get you started.
 

3 Ways to Keep Motivated

How to, Organisation, Time management4 comments

One of my aims this year is to be more clear and focused about what I want to achieve in my business.  It’s very easy to start the year off with great ideas and plans and then by the time February comes, find that the energy starts to drain away.

Let’s face it, there are some days or weeks when you just don’t feel as energised as others. And if you’re like me and running a business on your own then keeping the motivation going can sometimes be a struggle.

So I’ve found that there are three things that are helping me to keep motivated and focused on what I need to do to move my business forward.

Set deadlines. The first one is having deadlines.  This is important when you’re setting out your plan as having specific deadlines will give you something to work towards.  So before starting a project, think of the end result that you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it; and then break the project down into small steps, each with its own deadline.  This prevents you from becoming overwhelmed by a big project.  Also, don’t be afraid to set stretch targets for yourself but don’t make them so unachievable that you feel overwhelmed before you even start!

Limit your time.  Setting specific limits on my time has also helped to keep me focused on projects.  So if I’m writing a blog like this or spending time on social media, then I’ll set the timer on my phone for say 25 minutes.  When the alarm goes off, I stop what I’m doing for a few minutes and then either go back to the task or on to something else.  It stops you getting bogged down in one particular project and also prevents you wasting time on things like Twitter and Facebook.

Make yourself accountable.  It’s very easy to have a long to do list, but there will always be tasks on it that you put off because they feel like too much hard work.  With me, it’s sending out my monthly newsletter – some months I just can’t think what to put in it so I wait for inspiration.  And that can take a long time coming!  So making yourself accountable by sharing your goals and deadlines with someone else.  Most of us don’t like to lose face so if we’ve said that we’re going to do something then we’re more likely to do it.

So these are just 3 quick tips to help you stay focused and motivated with your goals and plans.  If you’ve got any other suggestions, then please drop them in the comment box below.
 

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload
 

How to Export an Outlook Distribution List

How to, videos0 comments

If you’ve got a distribution list on Outlook and you now want to use it in other programs such as email marketing, then you will need to download the list on to your computer.

This blog outlines the steps that you will need to take to download your distribution list and save it in a format that you can use in other software such as an email marketing or contact management program.

Alternatively you can watch the video below.

• First of all locate your distribution list on Outlook and double click to open it.

• You open up a new dialog box which lists the names and email addresses of the people on the list.

• Click on the “Send” drop down menu in the menu bar at the top and select “In Internet Format”.

• You open up a new email dialog box with the distribution list attached as a plain text file.  Open the plain text file attached to the email by double clicking on it.

• Copy the contents of the plain text file (information from the distribution list, eg names, email addresses etc) by selecting the text, right clicking on it and then selecting Copy from the menu.

• Now open up an Excel spreadsheet, click on the first cell in the sheet, and select Paste from the menu bar at the top.

• This will paste the names and email addresses from the plain text document into the appropriate columns in the spreadsheet.  You may need to adjust the width and height of the columns and rows.

• Ensure everything has been copied across correctly and then click on the Office button on the top left of the menu bar and choose Save As from the menu.  Give the spreadsheet a name and in the “Save as type” drop down box underneath, choose CSV (comma delimited).  This saves the spreadsheet as a CSV file which is basically the same as a normal Excel spreadsheet but without any formatting. Ignore any dialog boxes that pop up – just click on OK or Yes.

So now you have the distribution list in a format that be uploaded to other programs such as MailChimp or Aweber for email marketing, or Capsule for CRM database management.