Time Management For The Internet Marketer
Revised 2002 by Willie Crawford

After a very short while operating your internet
business you'll notice that you just don't have
enough time to do all of the things that you
think you "have" to do. I certainly felt that
way. I mean - you download from you ISP to your
desktop computer - 200 or 300 emails at a time
and it soon gets overwhelming. So what did I
do? Flounder - then learn what others were doing.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you
have a good email processing program. I use
Eudora Pro but understand Pegassus is just as
good. There is an excellent article comparing
the two - posted along with lot of other great
internet marketing articles - by a variety of
authors at my web site at
http://www.williecrawford.com So I won't bother
repeating the comparison here.

When I log in at my ISP: Eudora sends any email I've
composed since my last log on; downloads any emails
that have come in since my last download; and sorts
my mail.

SORTING MY MAIL - That's a biggie. I have filters
set up that look for key words in the from, subject
or body field of the message. When the program spot
any of these it filters my mail, diverting certain
messages to pre-labeled folders, responding to
certain messages with precomposed messages, and
deleting certain messages automatically. It's a
wonder to behold -filtering 300 message in under a
minute - so that I only have to deal with maybe 30
messages directly. These are usually internet newbies
asking for advice which I gladly give.(Orders that I
get are filled automatically too.) I enjoy helping
people just starting their own internet-based business
and I give them as much of my free advice as they
desire. The others messages I process when I visit
that folder - or if it's something filtered to the
trash - never.

What do I filter to the trash? Any message with just
question marks, or nothing in the subject field,
and messages from certain individuals, firms, or
domain names that are know for spamming! Setting
up very specific filters takes only seconds, and I
never have to deal with certain spammers ever again.
Spamming hurts your business more than it helps -
and if you haven't learned that by now, then I
cannot afford to be associated with you anyway.
Rules of the net also tell you that it's bad manners
to send a message without a subject. If you have so
little respect for your prospects' time that you
can't tell them why you are writing in the subject,
then sorry - but your messages should be deleted -
unread. At the same time - I have enough appreciation
for your time to always tell you why I am bothering
you in the subject of my messages!

My filters direct my favorite ezines to folders
created especially for them. I may read several issues
at once - when time permits. Other ezines - that I
may or may not have requested - I peruse. If they offer
anything useful I quickly process this information. Most
of my "learning" is from reading articles by those who
share their mistakes with me. I cannot afford to not
scan these ezines, but each one only takes minutes.
There are so many ezines out there now.

If I come across an article, an ad, or anything that
interests me, I send it to the appropriate folder.
I have folder labeled "As Soon As Practical," "Today,"
"Follow Up," "Good Idea," and folders for different
products or services that I handle - and I get to these
folders in that order. If whatever you send me doesn't
conveniently fit in one of these folder, it will either
be acted upon when first read or never acted upon. If I
come across something I want to save or use later in my
ezine or on my web site, I compose a message right
away and take whatever action is desireable. This is
the biggie for me taken from the offline world - you
can usually only afford the time to handle each piece
of paper only once. Pick it up, decide what to do with
it, and do it. Email is the same way. If you don't act
upon it when you first open it, the next time that you
open it you have to decipher it, and decide to do it,
and commit to act upon that decision all over again. Why
not just go through that though process only once.
Which issues a dire warning -- make your offers ones that
will be acted up when first looked at - otherwise they
are destined not to be acted upon at all.

The other area of time management I want to touch upon
briefly is autoresponders. When I first started out
there were days when I responded to over 200 requests
for information or free reports that could have
easily been processed by autoresponders. Now - 90%
of the free information/reports that I offer are sent
out by autoresponders. They give my prospect free
information - instantly, and in-a-way, prequalifiy my
prospects. Those that I end up dealing with directly
have already read my literature and are really
interested in my products or services. If you are not
using auto-responders then you are spending too much
time composing and sending emails that could be
processed much cheaper by machine. My ISP provides
unlimited autoresponders with my account - so my
business is largely on autopilot.

Just a few quick thoughts on time management. For my
free report on other time management techniques email
willie@williecrawford.com?subject=moretime, for my free
report on what ezines I feel are worthwhile reading -
email willie@williecrawford.com?subject=ezines
For my free report on what web site host I recommend
and use to send out my autoresponder messages, as well
as trust enough to host my own site, email
willie@williecrawford.com?subject=autoresponders and
For a complete FREE internet marketing education visit
my site at http://www.williecrawford.com where I soon
hope to have over 130 very informative internet marketing
articles posted. I want this site to be your Internet
Marketing Bible. willie@williecrawford.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Willie Crawford has taught thousands the secrets of operating
a successful on-line business through his free Internet
Business Success Course. It's more extensive than many $197
courses. Sign up today and start building your *successful*
online business: http://williecrawford.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Note:
This article first appeared in our ezine, Limitless
Marketing Ezine. I publish original material
similar to this in each weekly issue. If you are not
a subscriber please sign up today using the form at:
http://williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Feel free to publish this article in your ezine,
in your ebook or on your website. A note telling me
that you published the article would be appreciated.
My email address is willie@williecrawford.com

Thank you,
Willie Crawford

[Article Archive] [Discussion Forum] [Internet Marketing Workshop]

[Free Interactive List-Building Tutorial] [Free 20 Lesson Biz Success Course]