When I was just getting started, I always thought that those big bloggers are simply absurd for not responding to all emails they receive. I mean there’s this guy right here sending a genuine email waiting and hoping for a response, only for him to be ignored because the blogger that he wrote to was simply just too “busy”.
Yes I always thought this is just part of the gimmick of those bloggers, pretending they’re doing a lot but in reality, they’re just never in the mood to answer emails unless it came from and advertiser or a friend of theirs.
That was before until I experienced it myself.
Since late last year, I have been having difficulties maintaining my email inbox to an organized one, much more definitely to replying to each and every genuine email that I receive. Its funny because there are times where I can reply to emails that just arrived within less than a second yet I fail to reply on the ones that have been on my inbox for a long time.
From the sender’s perspective, they would really get pissed off at it. As I stated above, its painful to send an email, patiently wait for a response not knowing whether the receiver will ever respond or not. At times, they even had to resend the email or reconfirm just to make sure they’re really waiting for something and not nothing.
I don’t know but over the past 5-8 months, I think doing these micro tasks like reading emails, responding to tweets, checking stuffs have become a daunting task for me. And this is where I realized that ‘hey, maybe these big guys are really genuinely having difficulties really’. If I myself who is not a big figure at all is getting bombarded, maybe they, themselves get 3 times more than I do.
Because of this I had to put systems in place. I usually set a time where I can read emails (usually at night) and I make sure I respond to them. I had this bad habit of checking my emails, then waiting for an hour or two before responding to it. Why read an email twice or thrice in the first place before responding to it?
Now I can say I’m really getting more and more organized with it but still I find it challenging. I’m sure there would still be many bugs with what I do but I guess I just have to adjust to it and eventually learn from my mistakes. What say you?
I understand what you mean. I experience this alot with my pinoymilyonaryo website. My inbox gets flooded everyday with the SAME questions from people. I would often respond but nowadays I find it very challenging. I guess that’s why Office Bosses Hire Secretaries. anyways, WOW this is amazing! I’m on your top commentator list. lol.
i am still to face this situation melvin but i do not know whether i should be
– happy because i do not get these many mails to which i cannot reply 🙂
– sad that people do not find me good enough to answer their query 🙁
Agreed Melvin as the communication grows, small stuff like mails and tweets become a huge task and at times tedious. And at stake is your repute where the belief that an unanswered mail can mean being rude.
Also liked the idea about fixing a slot for mails and replying them instantly that helps in clearing much of clutter in your inbox and in your head…
Yes its challenging. I mean I never thought it was going to be this challenging especially now that I have a day job w/c literally just cut off my time.
hehehe, lols. Could be either but Im sure you’ll come to that point and if you do, just be prepared. 🙂
Yea I agree. I mean if i don’t reply to an email in 2 days, usually the one who emailed would follow up having a pissed off tone.
Tell me about it… I get around 300 emails per day and probably 200 out of that is spam (even after spam filter). Out of the rest, most of them are in my office mailbox and a handful in private boxes. Fortunately, I am not getting too many queries in the dollarshower box as I used to get in the past..probably I am not responding to many of them lol.
Btw, talking about a budding bloggers sending a mail to the big shot – I have once sent a mail to Darren Rowse. God alone knows where it went lol.
actually, have either of you thought of creating a FAQ page or document where people with commonly asked questions can go to? Also, can consider doing a ticket-styled email with categories for easier management of emails and queries.
well thats an option but the thing is this is just a blog. it would be super impersonal if i would create an FAQ (since its mostly for corporate type of web properties). Same as ticketing type of system which more works for technical questions.
I think I’d rather have email inquiries rather than those ones
well that’s true too Melvin. Mmm, what do you propose? On one hand i think it’s more important to deal with the larger issues and let smaller issues be dealt with by a FAQ page, or tickets or even a personal assistant (perhaps this can be done?). Ah, i read before that actually you can outsource it by creating a different email to answer inquiries, doing it on your own initially before outsourcing to a PA or someone you trust.
I think systematising things are much more important, but i’m not saying being personal is not important. It’s dealing with personal inquiries MORE EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY which is my concern actually.
Mmm..food for thought. =)
Maybe can consider putting an autoresponder + disclaimer first to all emails received?
Melvin you are right, actually due to time shortage it is quite difficult to respond to every email. I am also getting 70 to 100 emails per days. Believe me it is very difficult tasks to spend your precious time on just replying to the emails. Because there are lots of other thinks also to be done.
hey Melvin,
Nice blog. I got here from bloggingwithsuccess. Reading and responding might not be that difficult, if you are well organized. There are two cirteria that determine effectiveness when it comes to emails.
1) your expertise on the subject
2) Your expertise on the email client
well that makes sense to me but what do you mean on the second point, expertise on email client?
Well… melvin, I have the same problem with you sometime back last year, but everything is ok now… I usually get about 10 to 20 emails from my list a week and it may seem small but sometime… I sort of miss them out of it…. now I always read and reply every email anyone send everyday before I sleep…
Yes, a good understanding of the interface elements of the email client and its functions will enable you to handle large volume of emails, tasks, or appointments with ease. I’m using Outlook 2010 and have automated most of my daily tasks. Now I find it easier to read & respond to emails. I feel that you should first list down the most common things you do with your email client and then find out how to do it effectively in the least possible time. This way you won’t spend long hours figuring out your mailbox and wondering if you missed reading or responding to emails.