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Gurus are stupid, email does not waste time
Posted On: July 21, 2009Posted In: Marketing Tips, Organization and Productivity, Personality and Branding, Video Blogging
Comments: 16 Responses
I know we’ve all heard it,
“checking email is a waste of time”
“don’t check email first thing”
Heck I even told you that before when I was on my super time management kick!
Now, I’m still managing my time, but as I continue to use personality marketing to attract customers and business,
I realize everything or most of what I had learnedabout email marketing was bull!
Checking emails isn’t a waste of time if they are from clients, potential clients, or partners.
Checking email IS a waste of time if it’s from your local neighborhood goo-roo selling or promoting something
that doesn’t fit in with your business goals.
Shoot, if Joeville isn’t helping your business, then you should be checking my emails first thing either!
Just keeping it real.
But if you have emails in the morinng from your customers, clients, partners, etc…check them, respond, and
you’ll see how they help you build trust, relationship, and longevity.
Do you think gurus are stupid or am I the one that’s stupid?
who’s the dummy?
leave a comment and let me know.
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July 21st, 2009 at 10:39 am
Joe, I like the grapes and your message today.
You are a straight forward kind of guy and it is easy to see why people would be attracted to you and your message, especially if you are speaking to them as real people and not drone followers like:
“Thank you for your replay, blah blah blah, now buy my course for $499 bucks and I will teach you something real”
I will try to remember this tip moving forward as I interact with my people and treat them as such.
.-= Checkout Top Ten Internet Marketing´s last blog ..Top Ten Twitter Uses for Internet Marketers =-.
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 10:48 am
Well thanks bro/sis I’m glad you like what I’m trying to do over here man! I’ve been subject to the “drone” mentality and it’s boring. People want something real nowdays, it’s all good if I can show you how to make money, but if I don’t connect with you, I can’t learn from you, period.
If we can connect, then you never know HOW much I’ll end up learning during our interaction, and that is pretty priceless to me!
so…I try to build long term fans of the Joe brand, not just “gas station by the counter trinket” customers
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July 21st, 2009 at 10:42 am
Alright Joe,
I feel you on the “real” interactions with your people. That’s what’s up. It shines through in everything that you do. Even your welcome letter to your newsletter is done in a manner that is all Joe and I am feeling it.
I sent out an email today in my plain voice. Let’s see what happens on the click through rate and responses, but I do know that it is not going to happen overnight as all my other emails were in the traditional sense of the word, but I am back now with my Joe twist and ready to make it happen.
Keep it coming and
I’M WITH JOE!!!
.-= Checkout Freddie Taylor´s last blog ..Balance: Living Goals, Passion, and Performance in our First Steps =-.
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 10:44 am
Get it Taylor! You got it man…also, you know you come from a more traditional marketing background, so you’re used to being super professional.
Nothing wrong with that, just talk to folks in your normal voice, just like you’d talk to me or any other friend.
Glad you like it man! I try to keep it 100% real man, and I’m constantly learning, tweaking, and implementing new things.
When I find stuff that’s working, I share it with the citizens of Joeville baby!
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH BOYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
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July 21st, 2009 at 11:19 am
Dude, you are totally the guy from UFC, you have to be with that kind of rapport.
Hey, I came to check out your site cause I got a very personal lookin’ email from you Joe. I’m glad that you posted this up. I have to say that the email I check most these days is the email that brings in business. Creating that connecting with your clients is super super super important.
Freddie, being traditional is a good thing, it actually means that you want to build a connection with that 80% as appose to wasting time on trying to reach the non producing 20% of your clients. Slowly bringing more and more clients into that 80% is key and building a relationship with them is as well.
Good luck to you Joe,
You’s man, Tony Tovar
.-= Checkout SEO Writer´s last blog ..Keyword SEO – Important or Not? =-.
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 11:56 am
Hahaha, Tony you crazy man! lol.
I agree, the emails I most check are the ones that bring in biz, the others are filed into their respective folders for checking during “leisure” time.
Freddie is dope man, I love that he has that training, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, he was just saying how he came from a more traditional angle and started changing it up, I think with his background and his personality, if he just continues to let it shine through he’s going to be an even bigger superstar than he already is!
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July 21st, 2009 at 11:42 am
Now you made me feel stupid Joe, cause I just bought “Lawn Chair Cleaner” online this morning. Damn it! Are you saying that was a scam????
I wrote about not checking my email in the morning, but it’s not about checking email being stupid. It’s more about getting stuff done. For me, personally, if I wake up, and go right to my tasks, I tend to see a lot more productivity in the mornings.
The basic problem is, your emails can have info in it that redirects you and distracts you from getting t”oday’s tasks” done..you know…the tasks that make you money!
I still check my email! lol. I try and schedule it like everything else though.
If I work for 4 hours “first” in the morning and then check / answer email for an hour after that, I’m still building a relationship, and they usually don’t care if they got their response at noon instead of 8am.
That’s what it is for me, anyway. I don’t follow that daily, cause sometimes I know there’ll be important emails when I get up that need immediate attention, but it’s a general productivity schedule that I try to follow.
Also, I REALLY believe in not keeping your email open all day, which was another solid point. I don’t care who you are, if you need to work on projects and other tasks, and keep email open all day, responding whenever it lights up, your not getting as much done as you could.
I also filter my email into smart folders. Do you? For instance, if you emailed me on a regular basis, I would filter your emails and any that came from your domain into a “Joeville” folder.
Mom, Dad, brother, wifey, etc…all their emails go into one folder – “Family and Friends”. This way, you’re not sorting through a chaotic “inbox”. This is really awesome if you like to get notifications of subscribers, Twitter messages, etc as well. When they’re all auto-organized, you can quickly make a decision of who you answer first.
And one more thing that works well for me. I literally schedule an “empty inbox” session weekly. That block of time is just to sort/empty my inbox. Some people haven’t seen an empty inbox in years. lol
I could go on, but I don’t want to be thrown into the Joeville jail for talkin’ too much.
Cheers
Jay
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 11:54 am
I hear ya man! It’s all good head! I’m not talkin about checkin emails that distract you into all sorts of places, but those customer related emails.
I’ve heard “oh if you check those in the morning, it puts you in reactive mode and takes you out of productive mode” not so, that’s stupid lol
We’ve discussed this to great lengths, and I know exactly where you stand, and I support it son! I’m an email folder freak personally and I love to have a clean inbox.
I also go through and clean mines on a regular basis lol.
Email open all day can definitely distract you, but I’ve found it’s not email, but how you manage and respond to it that makes the difference.
I realized it’s not so much about having a set method, as it is about knowing what to handle and what to let wait.
I just think a lot of goo-roo-foos got it messed up man. I try to take the time and reply to my emails. Sometimes I miss them, but if I do, I will come back and get it.
You’ll never get thrown into the Joeville jail unless you do something freaky to a sammich while in town lol.
And for me, emails are tasks that actually make me money, it’s my email/customer/client interaction that is bringing in the most money for me, that’s why I made this post lol.
keep it coming man!
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July 21st, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Yeah, I think it’s all relative and highly depends on what your business model is. If you have a service and you have a ton of potential customers emailing you questions before they purchase from you, then obviously, getting back to them is pretty important. I might WANT to answer emails at 7am if each reply has the potential to turn into $500.
However, I have a lot of stuff to do every day, that makes me money, but requires no interaction with anyone else.
It also depends what types of emails we’re talking about, but my main point is I treat email like everything else – I schedule when I deal with it – regardless who’s emailing me and about what. For me, personally, if there’s something that can’t wait 2-4 hours for a reply, that person has my personal cel number.
If my business required 30 minute replies for help, I’d have a help desk. lol
Also, I prefer real time chats and try to get my “networking” done via Skype, MSN, Twitter, and phone. Tons of email sittin’ around stresses me out, man. lol
I’ve had too many experiences where a 10 day email thread could have been condensed to a 10 minute video Skype session. lol.
Like I said at first, ultimately, it depends on your business model, the level it’ s at, and what you prefer to do with your day. I don’t think anyone can say one way is better than the other without knowing those things first.
Man, I gotta get my blog back up.
Jay (“Head” of Joeville)
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Yeah man! that’s the truth right there. I’ll take it to an IM anytime I can man lol, If I need to, we can go to the phone. I think we agree, that emails are not something to be ignored, and some even suggest all email should be handled through a help desk. I don’t agree, only when your business requires that….
There is definitely nothing wrong with scheduling time to interact, the point is, to actually interact and do it in a real way, not in a “corporate” way…
but of course…everything I say relates to personality and attraction based marketing.
If that isn’t a persons goal or business model, then what I say don’t matter at all lol
so like the HEAD says, it’s all relative boyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
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July 23rd, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Well I wrote a post about this a while ago ….
My main problem was having an inbox flooded with promotions.
When I was using the Freshbooks to keep track of what I spent time on throughout the day, I found myself spending 2-3 HOURS per day just checking and handling emails (and the ramifications of the emails.)
Now I have filters set up so that the most important email arrives to me first. That includes personal emails, clients, friends, banks, and the like. Not promotions from gurus.
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Anna, this is EXACTLY how it should be. I love filters and folders etc, but I’ve heard more than once from gurus that you shouldn’t “get into conversations” via email because people will begin to think they can just converse with you anytime like a friend…..
me = DUH…I want them to think of me as a friend, I’m more inclined to listen to the suggestion, and purchase something a friend presents, than someone I barely know…
of course there are always exceptions to this but just a general observation that relationship building via email is more than just sending them your newsletter.
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July 27th, 2009 at 9:21 am
You’re right JK! I struggle with this myself but I’m working on it.
I prefer not to do all the emails every morning but I know I should get that out of the way first. It is also nice for customers to receive a quick response.I’m really falling with this now but you’ve reminded me to get back on track! The customers are very important.
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 27th, 2009 at 9:24 am
cool! Well I’m not saying you HAVE to answer them all every morning, basically i’m just saying taking the time to actually dialogue with people via email has helped me tremendously even though many gurus say it’s a waste of time.
for my newest venture, most rather ALL of my important connections and partnerships have been created via email.
every single one, and it’s definitely adding to the value and success of the site.
always a pleasure to see ya stop by!
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July 28th, 2009 at 10:59 am
You’re right – it does help to dialogue and get to know people online. I think that is a major part of why my book has been selling so consistently for the past 4-5 yrs. I attempted to stay on top of the emails and be personal as much as I could/can. The book has pretty much sold itself – you know I’m not a big “sales person” or anything like that- and i think it has continued on this way is because of word-of-mouth advertising. Customers are happy if you reply to them and even more if you are personal and real. It’s helped my business a lot – which is why this post is a great reminder for me to keep on top of things. Thanks JK!
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Normal Joe (2055 comments) Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I KNOW that’s a major part of your success with your book. I know you keep telling me to write something up, so do my other mentors…I promise I will do something lol.
Keep being you! It’s great to see ya around, I know I need to make it over to Hollyland as well, it’s been a little while since my last visit! I need to start checking my rss reader again lol.
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