Lisa Hendrickson is the owner of Call That Girl. She is an Outlook Expert and Microsoft 365 Consultant.
I got an email from someone today and they said that they didn’t get my email because it was in their junk email. I don’t understand why people aren’t checking their junk mail more often because I check mine everyday, like it’s another inbox.
Why is that? Because I have found no matter how high or low my junk mail settings are, some regular emails sneak in there! So I might as well just turn the whole thing off and just start adding each email as just so I know that it’s junk. But what’ s the point, I will still check my junk email because I don’t trust it! ARGH. I don’t know what is worse, one overloaded inbox or checking two of them.
I love Outlook 97 before the junk email box existed. It was just easier to delete unwanted emails and create rules to force them to the garbage. Seriously.
So the point of this post is this…I recommend checking your junk mail everyday and add folks to the “not junk list”. You may be suprised to find a few emails in there that you were supposed to get and never did, but did. I will only take a few minutes and maybe, just maybe someone won’t be thinking, “wow, he never replied back…” Or if you’re getting way too much junk email, maybe it’s time for you to get a fresh email account that you only give to the “important peoples” and keep that old one for the junk. Just a thought.
To close: I know also that it’s not the subject line that sends it off to Junk Mail. I just looked at my junk mail and even the most simple words in the subject line get shoved down to no-whereville. So with that said, I turned the junk mail feature off. I will do it myself, then I won’t miss anymore emails.
Rant over!
What happened? I didn’t change any settings, the router/modem is blinking. What gives!
Happy Monday and welcome to my world today, the world of my boinky internet! I hate it, but thank goodness I have to go to work in a couple of hours and will come home to an unboinky internet. That’s how my computer rolls in this house.
Sometimes internet goes boinky for no reason, meaning….it’s not your computer, your internet provider or you router/modem.
A few things you can do when your internet is slow/not working is to reboot your computer. I did that this am and my internet came back, but then went boinky again….then came back. I think my computer is still sleeping to be honest. It is 6:37 am.
So what if you reboot and it’s boinky again? I usually say at this point to just turn off your computer and let it rest. So many of us are in a hurry, but if you haven’t changed anything….it could be just a bad connection that will fix itself shortly. On the computers time, not yours.
In the past 13 years of my computer repair career, I can’t tell you how I use the simple methods for troubleshooting and….it works. Just turning off a computer will often fix many issues. I know many folks who leave their computers on for days/months and with no reboot, things just go boinky eventually.
If you restart the computer and the internet is still boinky, then it’s safe to say that you can check the router/modem. (Usually unplugging the power cord for a minute does the trick) If those are blinking after a power cord unplug.. then call your internet provider. I will personally almost never call Comcast as I can’t stand doing the phone que (*Press one for this, *Press two for that, argh!)…but I will if need be. They aren’t perfect either and sometimes have to reset things on their end. But it’s always good to start with the easy stuff on your end.
But it’s always a good idea to do some minor things on your end. I never recommend going into your computer network settings and reconfiguring them. I have seen some folks delete some files or change things that take me awhile to fix. Just do the simple stuff.
That’s it today folks, hope to see you all at the Rudolph’s lunch! I’ll be there!
Lisa
Do you know the difference between a networker and a connector?
Network: –verb (used without object)
to cultivate people who can be helpful to one professionally, esp. in finding employment or moving to a higher position
Connect: –verb (used with object)
to join, link, or fasten together; unite or bind:
I was emailing with a guy yesterday from LinkedIn and we were discussing networking and I closed by telling him that I’m more of a connector type. I’m always trying to find ways to connect 2 folks for value of revenue or to save money somehow. I probably refer 2-4 folks a week to each other, easily. That comes from being a wide spread networker and having a gift of wanting to help others. (the point of networking right?). Most of these connections I make are just me having a day. I don’t seek them out. Just yesterday I was at a client’s office who said he was looking for a designer to make brochures. I knew of 2 people to refer him to on the spot.
This is also the reason why I think I avoided joining the large networking groups. I knew early on in my networking career that I need to be connected to many folks and the larger groups tend to work on internal referrals and bring on the mentality of “Let’s get together for coffee and see how we can help each other out”….where, if you’re a connector type, there is no need for coffee. Just let me know what you do and I’ll add you to my mental rolodex. You already know I fix computers, and I know what you do so it’s a done deal right?
“Let’s do coffee” for me only has value if we are going to do business together or partner up, etc. Networking is today’s world is much more accelerated and if you are busy like I am, there is no time for it. But I will say, that in my first 6 months, I did coffee dates with people and 90% of the time it turned out they wanted to sell me something they sold. It was pretty disappointing to be honest. And not one of those folks has ever called me or referred business to me (that I know of and I track all my clients).
2 weeks ago, I was talking to someone who does something for my business (he will rename nameless) and he said that he would like to get together to see how we could help each other network. I told him that we both already know what each other does, so what is the point? Then he got a big miffed at me and said, “You know, I’m a part of ABC networking group, I KNOW HOW TO NETWORK. I get most of my clients through ABC Network or from adopted clients from other folks.”
Wow! Congrats! I have built a business from scratch and got my clients the old fashioned way, HAND AND FOOT. Of course with that, comes referrals, but that’s how the service business works. Once you are established, you will get referrals and I thank my lucky stars everyday that I spent the first 6 months of building my business going to every networking event I could find. I also thank my lucky stars that my clients or people I have met networking like me and my business enough to refer me out to people.
Our conversation moved to the business we do now together, but I could not let it go. I stopped him and said, “You know, I just want to tell you that you have no business telling me how to network, I’m fairly well connected at this point and I don’t need you to tell me how to network”. PFFT. I was kind of angry… so angry I sent him a link to my LinkedIn profile just to sort of prove my online presence with one of the online media’s I use for “networking”.
Just sayin’
So to close, you can network, be a connector or be both. I know a few people out there that are good at both and I commend them for their efforts. It’s not easy to manage everything in your head, who does what and how you can help them out.
In my opinion, if you want to get to know someone to help them or have them help you, the best way in today’s busy world is to email someone with an introduction letting them know of your business and how you will keep them in mind as well. Email dates, saves time and money!
Below is a picture of me sitting in front of a USWest/Qwest terminal. I was a 411 operator from 1988-1995. I look back at this picture and just laugh. The reason why I am holding up a little notepad with the word “jerk” on it was because one of my co-workers just bought a new camera and was taking pictures of everything. So I wrote that up and when he said he was taking my pic, I flashed the “jerk” sign. What is really more hilarious is the big ol green screen monitor working off a terminal system. Little did I know back then I would own a computer repair company 20 years later (eeks! 20 years flies by!)
The Qwest job by far was never one of my favorites, but I was making great money for a kid that age. I drove a sports car and took trips often. Ah, the good old days of having freedom and not caring about anything but where I was going out that night. I had to work many split shifts and weekends, but that was the life of a 411 operator. Times have changed now, we get the computerized 411 lady now–which I hate. As I build my business I have learned a few things…I will do the exact opposite of everyone else and NEVER ever, no matter how big my business gets, ever have a phone queue, “press 1 for this, press 2 for that”.
Call That Girl will always always always have a live person answering phones…unless of course, I’m out of the office:)
Happy Friday everyone!
Last night I was talking to a friend about email and how out control people let it get. I have a few concerns about email. My biggest is why it takes some people days to reply to a simple email. But then I thought about it and I do the same thing. I read it, but won’t reply right away. My biggest problem is that I have 5 ways to check my email and only one of them is where I actually “control” where the emails go. Aka…have folders to sort them in and run rules.
Here is my take on it…
Email Etiquette
Normally, when YOU email someone, you want something from them, have a question, need information or are sending them requested information. As the recipient receives the email, they read it but then mentally sort you into a “mental folder”…
Reply now! She’s important and I need her to communicate back right now!
Ah, I can reply later...This is not that important, but tomorrow I will have more time to reply properly.
oh crap, this again….This is far from important, but you should reply at in the next week or so.
the Dread….I seriously didn’t want this email and really…I don’t need to reply and I won’t. (((delete)))
Now what you should be doing is having folders set up and run some rules to organize all this email. I have about 50 folders for my Outlook in the office. I have rules running for many different topics. Example? All my Linkedin emails go to the “Linkedin” folder. I can see when I have new email and as Linkedin is important, my clients come first. I breeze the Linkedin folder as I see new items, but it’s usually not important.
What about the non-folder items? I read the email, then move each email to different folders.
“Stuff to do later” (which means I may get to it, maybe I won’t)
And then I have oodles of subcategories because not all these emails require a reply or did and I replied and it’s now in a folder for archiving.
My inbox is always clean when I leave the office at the end of the day.
Newsletter Etiquette
We all gets tons of “spam/junk”. What constitutes junk or spam? To me, getting a newsletter from someone I met at a networking event or via LinkedIn is not spam or junk. What is? Viagra and emails from Nigeria telling me I was willed $E100000. How do you handle the junk/spam from someone you know or met F2F or online? Here are my simple rules:
If they are giving information that has value, I keep it.
If they are pushing workshops or just info about themselves, I unsubscribe. I get way too much email a day and know who they are and how to contact them, so it’s just best to get off that list.
Yes, it may seem rude, but I have a huge database that I email a few times a month and see people unsubscribe to my newsletters and many are my clients. They aren’t interested in what I have to say about this and that, etc. I get it! I don’t care….so don’t think you are going to hurt someone’s feelings, business is business and email is alot of my workday.
Last tip! DO NOT have 100’s of unread email either! It only brings you down and you should clean that up and start fresh! I love helping clients clean up their emails….it feels refreshing for them and me. If you’re interested in having me help, I can do that remotely and over the phone.
Happy Wed!
Many of you know of me because of LinkedIn. It’s really the place to be for now and the next few years. Last night Rich Fiene came over to my place and we shared some refreshments and had a nice long discussion about LinkedIn. If you don’t know who Rich is, he’s currently the #1 LinkedIn guy for Minneapolis/St. Paul. I met Rich last summer while we were both attending a LinkedIn workshop held by Mike O’Neil from Integrated Alliances. If you don’t know who Mike is, he’s a LinkedIn rockstar! I don’t know his current stats with LI, but he was #41 in the world and does have 21,000 contacts at this point. If you think I’m a LinkedIn maniac, you should meet this guy.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneil (feel free to invite him!)
Rich and I discussed many topcis in regards to LinkedIn, how we got to our levels of expertise and where we want to see LinkedIn go. As the manager of LinkedMinnesota, I see many opportunities for LinkedIn to grow and help our group. Rich is also the Director of the Project: Link It Forward that I founded last December. We are in discussions for the 2nd round of PLIF to be called PLIF 2.0. Watch for details, this is an exciting project!
You can invite Rich at http://www.linkedin.com/in/richfiene
As the conversation flowed from one issue to another, Rich and I have learned that we both are well connected on LinkedIn and both are using it in 2 totally differents way. We also discussed how there are so many other folks out there that are in our positions doing it their own way too. It’s almost crazy to think of the value of LinkedIn, if you make it work for you! Not everyone can do it the same way, you have to figure that out for yourself and your comfort level.
While I was ending the evening, I got my 4th client call that day, he was the 3rd client from Linkedin. It’s working for me as an advertising and marketing tool, but it took well over a year to finally see weekly results. Using LinkedIn takes time and you have to put time into it.
Just sayin’ 🙂
Happy Tuesday everyone!
