Marketing with Mike Volpe

I am 2 weeks into my Inbox Zero experiment.  So far it is great!  After having 300+ emails in my inbox on a regular basis, about a month ago I started trying to be more diligent about email and was able to get down to a steady state of 150.  Inbox Zero got me over the top, and while I have not hit zero, I am under 10 on a regular basis.  I feel much more in control of my email (rather than the other way around) and email is taking the same or less total amount of my time as before.

The 10 second version of "Inbox Zero"

Stop "reading" email and start processing it.  If you open a message, you need to DO something with it: delete/archive, delegate/forward and delete/archive, respond and delete/archive, or add to "to do" list and delete/archive.  The main point is to stop using your inbox as a "to do list" because you end up wasting time because your inbox is a messed up mix of things that need hours or days of work and stuff that needs a quick read or response.  Re-reading all the messages that you read but did not process ruins your productivity.  If you open the email, do something with it right then.

If you want to learn more, check out the slides below, or watch the original 2007 Inbox Zero Video.

I am almost at the end of the month.  I have to admit it has been difficult to blog every single day, and I fear I have become pretty uninteresting.  But I hate to fail.  So here I am writing a blog article at 10pm after a long day where I have even more work to do before I get some sleep before an early morning. 

What do you do when you have a project that is 80% complete, but you have trouble making time for the last 20%?

Today, I had a project just like that, and I had to lock myself in a room at the office - for two reasons.  First, for some peace and quiet.  I sit near our sales team, out in the open - the way it should be - but sometimes it makes it hard to concentrate since they are always on the phone.  The second reason was so it was hard for people to find me - having been around at the company for a long time means you get a lot of questions from newer folks.  Again, I love it, but I needed my space today to finish something.

Have you used the "Isolation Chamber" at work?  How often?  For what purpose?

Photo credit: P M M

This graph from www.CNN.com I think tells the most interesting story.

I know little about politics, but I think this is the first time in a long time that the younger portion of society has basically picked our president.  It will be interesting to see if this is a fad, or if the new generation will be engaged in society and leadership.

I am making a trip out to San Francisco to speak on a panel at Online Market World on Friday, check out the Tech Target ROI Summit on Thursday, attend the ProMarketers Happy Hour Meetup on Wednesday, and meet with some other friends, customers and marketing gurus.

Send me a message on Twitter if you want to meet, or contact me.  I'll be back on the east coast in a week, and also going to the ProMarketers meetup in Boston.

Upcoming ProMarketers Events

Pro Marketers / Social Media Meetup - West Coast
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 6:30PM
Gordon Biersch, San Francisco, CA
Facebook Event    Upcoming.org Event

Pro Marketers / Social Media Meetup - East Coast
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 6:00PM
Lucky's Lounge, Boston, MA
Facebook Event    Upcoming.org Event