How to Follow Up with Busy People

We've all experienced the feeling of wanting to follow up with a professional, whether it is about that internship position you've been gunning for or to schedule an informational interview. We even experience it when working with the media, trying to contact a journalist regarding a pitch we emailed earlier that day. It can get disappointing when we don’t hear back from a contact, but don’t get discouraged too quickly! As we all know, PR pros are busy so here are a few easy ways to effectively follow up with people who have little time to spare:

• Effective Subject Line. First things first, you need to gain their attention with a subject line that will stand out. They likely get tons of emails each day, so you don’t want yours to get lost in the crowd.
• Introduce yourself. Be sure to give an introduction (or reintroduce yourself) so they know who their reading an email from. It’s also a great place to mention a mutual contact or referral.
• Keep it Short. Industry professionals don’t have time to read a long and detailed email. Effectively getting your point across quickly with the least amount of work is essential. Cover your bases of why, what and why. 
• Do Your Homework. Do a quick Google search before sending your email. Mentioning an award they received recently or a new client they landed shows that you put in the effort. Chances are they’ll be more likely to get back to you.  
• Know Your Boundary. Of course it’s encouraged to send a follow up email when trying to contact a busy professional. But there comes a point when you need to realize that, unfortunately, they likely will not get back to you.

Lastly, if you plan in sending a follow up email, be sure to give them enough time respond. That being said, you also want to contact them again in a timely manner. Remember, don’t take it personally when your emails aren't immediately responded to, PR pros have a lot on their plate.

6 Ways To Avoid Email Overwhelm

Most professionals have a love/hate relationship with their email inboxes. Between never ending email threads and an ever growing number in the 'unread' column, it is easy to feel that your inbox is taking over your professional, or even personal, life.

Luckily, there are easy ways to regain control of your inbox. Here are six easy ways to make take some of the dread out of your mailbox:

1. Get rid of the junk. Have you noticed that half of the emails you skim through or instantly delete during the day are subscriptions or promotional offers you no longer want or need? Take the plunge, and remove yourself from those lists to avoid added clutter in your inbox. Use an unsubscribe service like unroll.me to help wade through what should stay and what should go.

2. Create labels or folders to help you organize. Labels and folders are a great way to make sense of your inbox and can help to sort through junk. Label or file always emails with important dates or information that you can't delete right away.

3. Don't hold on to old messages. Instead of having messages linger in your inbox, hit that delete button and let it go. If a message or thread contains important information, use a filter or folder to deal with it later. Otherwise, let go and don't allow the clutter to build.

4. Avoid numerous drafts. Drafts are a great way to work on an email before you're ready to send, but the draft folder can fill up rather quickly. Once your done crafting and your email is ready to send, go back and empty the draft folder back to zero. There is no need to take up space and add more clutter

5. Manage as you go. With all of our email now conveniently stored on our smartphones, keeping up with email during the day is easier than ever. If you have a few minutes while waiting in line or sitting in traffic, take a second a sift through. You're likely to find that there are some messages you can delete without even opening.

6. Stop emailing yourself! The advances in cloud software have made taking your files with you everywhere easier than ever. Services like Google Drive and Dropbox, which are offered free, are great to use. Gone are the days when you had to email yourself an attachment, message or reminder - further clogging your inbox.

What do you do to help avoid email overwhelm? Share your email tips with us in the comments!

Email Inbox Etiquette

An email inbox can be overwhelming. Especially in the generation of text messages and tweets, answering emails can seem very time consuming. As an aspiring PR professional, realize you will be relying on email a lot. Winter break is a great time to get organized and catch up!

Although email is a great tool, it can also be a downfall when it is disorganized. During past internships, the number of emails I received in just one hour was intimidating. Here are a few times to keep your inbox organized and to keep yourself sane:

Keep it as unread – If you don't want to read the whole email now, save it for later. Most of the time I am in such a hurry to clean up my inbox I click through emails without reading the whole thing. Instead of skimming through emails, keep it flagged for a little later when you have the time and patience. 

Check your junk mail folder – You never know what is in there until you check it! Try to check it once every day to make sure aren't missing an important message. 

Organize by subject – Creating folders for my inbox was such a lifesaver. If you have a lot of unread notes, organize by subject or sender to get through the important stuff first.

How do you organize your inbox? Let us know!

Email Inbox Etiquette

An email inbox can be overwhelming. Especially in the generation of text messages and tweets, answering emails can seem very time consuming. As an aspiring PR professional, realize you will be relying on email a lot. 

Although email is a great tool, it can also be a downfall when it is disorganized. During past internships, the number of emails I received in just one hour was intimidating. Here are a few times to keep your inbox organized and to keep yourself sane:

Keep it as unread – If you don't want to read the whole email now, save it for later. Most of the time I am in such a hurry to clean up my inbox I click through emails without reading the whole thing. Instead of skimming through emails, keep it flagged for a little later when you have the time and patience. 

Check your junk mail folder – You never know what is in there until you check it! Try to check it once every day to make sure aren't missing an important message. 

Organize by subject – Creating folders for my inbox was such a lifesaver. If you have a lot of unread notes, organize by subject or sender to get through the important stuff first.

How do you organize your inbox? Let us know!