FILTERING EMAIL

Business, Home Business.

Keeping your email box organized & ready for business - learning how to get the most organization from your email software is very likely the most important skill you can learn to conduct a successful online home business. Those three are: - Microsoft Outlook Express. - Eudora. - Netscape Mail. There are three primary email applications on the market that folks use to manage their incoming POP3 email.

In order to get the most from your email software, there are three key processes that you should learn. - set up email folders. These processes are concerned with data organization, saving time and email database management. Organization is key to any emails that you intend to save. You are the best judge as to how to organize your email into topics that provide an easy method of retrieval of the information when you need it most. Having 2000 emails in one folder is a sure - fire road map to confusion and lost communications and information. Fortunately, the primary email browsers make it easy to organize your information.

To create new folders: OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click File - Folders - New - - - alternatively, you may also right click an item in the Folder window - - - and then type in the name of your new folder. - by allowing you to create folders within your email software, you can file specific emails into folders dedicated to the topic of the email. Highlight the folder above where you would like your new folder to be placed, and then click OK. When the window opens, type in the name of your new mailbox and click OK. EUDORA: Click on Mailbox - New - - - or right click on Eudora in the folders window and then click on New. If you want to create a folder to place other mailboxes into, click the checkbox before clicking OK.

Then from the drop - down menu, select the folder that you wish to be the folder directly above your new folder, before clicking OK. - netscape mail: click file - new folder. FILTERING EMAIL. Have you ever lost an incoming email under the deluge of email coming into your mailbox? Email filters are a tool to help you save time and frustration. With filters, you can direct the important email or not - so - important email into certain pre - ordained folders.

In fact, I even use filters to sort my incoming mail trying to catch the spam my ISP missed. - as part of the war against spam, most isp' s use filters every day in an attempt to keep the spam out of your mailbox. Do not be fooled into thinking you need some special software to filter your email. To setup email filters: OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Tools - Message Rules - Mail. Setting up filters is actually quite easy. A wizard will open to help you create your new email filters. EUDORA: Click on Special - Make Filter.

Just follow the instructions provided to direct mail based on certain criteria into certain folders. - once again, just follow the instructions in the filter wizard. Then click on New in the wizard. NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on Edit - Mail Filters. Once you click on New, you will be taken to a new wizard window. This will return you to the first window where you will set up the sorting order of your filter. Follow the instructions here, and then when you are done, click on OK.

CLEANING AND COMPRESSING YOUR MAIL DATA. - when you no longer need an email, it should be deleted. This is an important part of your email management. When you first delete an email, your software will send the email to the Trash Bin. Emptying your trash bin compresses the mailboxes from where the email was originally filed. Your email is not actually deleted until you first empty your trash bin.

This is absolutely paramount to the protection of your email data. - even after you have emptied your trash, compressing folders is a recommended step to prevent other data corruption. If you go too long between compressing your email data, then your email data could become corrupted and you might need assistance in recovering your email data. Once you understand that an email does not actually move from one folder to another until the folder is compressed, then you can better appreciate this advice. One file contains the header and body of the email. As an example, when Email A comes into your main Inbox, the data connected to Email A appears in two files. The other file contains only the email header information.

The body information will not be deleted from the original folder until which time the original folder is compressed. - when an email is moved from one folder to the other, only the header information is actually moved. This explains the purpose of emptying the trash AND compressing folders. The original placement of the email is not actually removed from the file that contains the body information until the message has been designated for compression. If the email was simply moved from the Inbox to another folder, then emptying the trash is not enough. To empty your trash: OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Edit - Empty' Deleted Items' Folder. Then click the button that says, "Clean Up Now" .

To compress the remaining folders, click on Tools - Options, and then click on the tab for Maintenance. - once the compression is completed, click ok. To compress the remaining items that need compression, and then click on Special - Compact Mailboxes. EUDORA: Click Special - Empty Trash. NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on File - Empty Trash Folder. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you utilize the tools for emptying the trash and compressing the mail folders.

To compress the mailboxes, click on File - Compress Folders. - protecting your email data on a regular basis is good practice for avoiding disaster in your mailbox. Once you master the tools provided in your email software, your online business will run smoothly also. So many of us rely upon our email software to keep our online business running smoothly. Let me share one important lesson I' ve learned about computer software. Learning how to get the most out of your software relies upon your willingness to dig in and learn how to use it. One should never be afraid to try new things.

Once you learn how to use your software to its full potential, then your life will be greatly simplified and your effectiveness will be dramatically improved.