How to create a distribution list in Outlook

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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 Filter Emails in Gmail

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If you feel overwhelmed by all the emails that you’re getting each day and your inbox is getting cluttered and overloaded with messages, then using filters will enable you to spend more time focusing on those emails that require your attention.

A filter will apply automatic actions to messages as they arrive in your inbox.  Whether you want to mark your client emails as important, or move any newsletters you receive into a Read Later folder.  By organising your messages in this way, you can keep on top of your inbox with very little effort.

So read on or watch the video below to find out how to automatically filter emails in Gmail.

First of all, select the message that you want to filter.  Even if you want to apply the same filter to several messages, you only need to select one message to start with as there is an option to include other emails during the filtering process.

Once you’ve selected the message, then click on the More button at the top of the inbox and select Filter messages like these.

Choose the search criteria that you want to use to filter messages – you can do this by who the email is from or to, by what’s included in the subject header, and whether or not the message contains certain words or not.   Then click on link that says Create filter with this search.

Now you choose the action that you want to apply to the selected message.  For example, to automatically move a message into a folder as it arrives, you click the check box next to Skip the Inbox and then Apply the label and select the appropriate label name from the dropdown box.

This is also where you have the option to apply this filter to other relevant emails.  Just click the check box next to where it says  Also apply to xx matching messages.

Once this is done, then click on Create filter.  You will be taken back to the inbox and if you click on the Label name, you will see the emails have moved into that folder.  From now on, any messages that you receive that match these criteria will automatically land in that folder.

To edit any filters that you have set up then click on the Filter tab in the Settings menu.

Now that you know how to filter emails in Gmail, you can have more time to deal with the important messages that land in your inbox.
 

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

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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
 

How to Export an Outlook Distribution List

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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.

How to Export Contacts from Outlook

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If you use Outlook to manage your emails then you’ve probably got a lot of contacts stored in your contact folders.  However, what if you want to use this data in other programs such as email marketing or CRM systems?  How can you download this valuable information without having to physically input it into a database?

Well, it is actually very easy to export your contacts from Outlook into an Excel spreadsheet.  And by doing this, you will have it in a format that you can use in the future.

So here are the steps to export contacts from Outlook.

• Select the contact folder that you want to export and then click on ‘File’ in the main menu bar, and select ‘Import and Export’ from the drop down menu.

• Select ‘Export to a file’ in the list and click Next.

• Now choose the appropriate type of file – you want to select ‘Comma Separated Values (Windows)’.  A CSV file is similar to an Excel spreadsheet but without any formatting, and this format is the one you will need when uploading your contact data into other programs.

• Now select the contact folder that  you want to export and click Next.

• Give the exported file a name and choose where to save the file on your PC, and click Next again.

• Now click Finish to export the contact folder.

• Go to the folder where you saved the file and open it up to view your contacts.

So now you know how to export contacts from Outlook, you can use this CSV file in a variety of ways, including uploading to an email marketing or contact management program, or to Gmail if you’re switching email providers.