Anyone who’s digital deals with e-mail – LOTS of e-mail. Dealing with lots of e-mail generally means lots of time – time to review, sort, file and/or act upon each e-mail messages you receive in a given day.

Since I’ve been using e-mail and have had a personal e-mail capable device since 2001, here’s a few of my recommendations/observations:

1. The first recommendation is to stop feeling like once you have access to e-mail on your personal mobile device, you have no choice but to always be connected to it. When BlackBerry devices first hit the scene, I saw otherwise sensible people become what I call very twitchy (always checking their devices like addicts).  In fact, I recently learned that a large number of people leave their mobile devices on the nightstand and check it before they have even showered or otherwise “eased” into their day.C’mon!?  Do you really need to be THAT connected?! As I said, I’ve had mobile access to e-mail since early in my VA career.  I learned about Year 2 that if it’s really important, I’ll get a phone call.  No call and there’s no need for me to worry that I’m “missing something”.
2. Also in my experience, the longer you are using e-mail, the more e-mail (including spam) you will receive each day. This means unless you put into place a process or system for routinely dealing with e-mail, you will spend an increasing amount of time (with a correlating drop in productivity) just managing the incoming. Want a easy way to sort and cull through the 100’s if not 1,000’s of messages you get each day?  Easy.  Go to my www.legaltypist.com/D-A-F-T to download the .pdf or sign up for The Legal Connection E-zine on the right side of this blog to get it e-mailed to you.  The .pdf is only 4 pages long, and explains with no geek speak, how to set yourself up to manage e-mail in a very easy and systematic approach.  Once you learn D-A-F-T, it sticks – or as one person’s feedback stated:  It just works!
3. Only have one primary e-mail address and point and direct all things digital to that one address.  I am andrea [at] legaltypist.com.  This means I only have to administer, check and maintain one address.  If I were to give myself a whole bunch of different e-mail addresses, I’d have to be on top of, track, respond to, save, follow up and store each one.  With one e-mail address, I go through the D-A-F-T process.  Done.
4. Get a personal mobile device for reviewing the incoming, not performing the outgoing.  I mean e-mails, texts and calls.  Being able to review e-mail, when combined with my unified messaging account with Onebox, means I am on top of anything that needs my attention from where ever I happen to be standing (and getting a signal) 24/7. When you are aware of what is going on, you can plan out your next 24-48 hours.  Many confuse being connected with being personally accessible.  Just as in any business, it is up to you to draw the boundaries.  The tech is there to make your life/work easier, not make you feel like you are tethered to your business no matter where you are.
5. As for outgoing texts and e-mails let me point out the obvious – there’s not one personal mobile device out there with a full size keyboard built right in.  Have you heard of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome?  It’s when you experience repetitive stress injury in your wrists because you didn’t do as your typing teacher in high school taught you:  feet flat on floor, back straight, head looking forward, eyes to what is being typed.  Using your thumbs to type out anything but a quick sentence or two should be avoided.

Don’t let e-mail overtake your life!  Use this wonderful tool wisely and it could lead to fortune, fame and riches – used the wrong way and e-mail can easily throw anyone into information overload.

Join me March 31, 2009 for E-mail Etiquette 101 – a 20 minute teleclass which helps busy, overworked and stressed out people learn how to effectively use e-mail in order to get more done with less – less time, less resources and less stress.  Sign up here.

From the January 2007 issue of The Legal Connection Ezine:

Dealing With Attorneys

Hiring an attorney can be a daunting task for many not familiar with the law.  Just as with any profession, there are good attorneys and not so good attorneys too.  Here are a few items to consider in the selection of any trusted advisor:

• Lawyers are Humans

We are all humans. If you think that an attorney has attained some level of humandome unavailable to those of us lesser mortals – WAKE UP!

Along with inspiring a feeling of trust, respect and the certainty that you can discuss anything with your attorney; ultimately, you are going to get better service from a practitioner you like. It’s a fact – humans like to do business with humans they like. Do you like your doctor? What about your accountant? Same principle applies to attorneys.

• You are Paying for a Service – Not an Outcome!

Everyone forgets this.  Throwing gobs of money and hiring only the most costly lawyer can have little effect on the outcome of your case – other than assuring the attorney will get a great deal of exposure from your matter should it be newsworthy.  Ultimately, you need a champion – someone willing to put in the time and thought required to protect or advance your case.  Not all champions charge top dollar!  A smart, resourceful associate or single practitioner with lesser overhead can be the perfect lawyer to handle your matter.

• The Consultation is Key

The consultation is generally where an attorney will meet with the potential client and learn/discuss the merits of the case. Call it a “consultation” but consider it a mutual interview.

Make sure to discuss how/when you are kept informed as a client on the status of your case; a contact telephone number for a support staff member should the attorney be unavailable; and any other issues regarding the management or details of your case you feel is relevant.

If there are no attorneys in any of your networking groups, contact the local County or your State Bar Association for a referral to a member in good standing.

• Know The Name and Phone Number of a General Practitioner

You should know the name and phone number of a general practitioner with an office close to your home or business.

Unfortunately, many of us only think to locate an attorney when a specific need arises. Often such needs are due to a sad or stressful event – a time when most people are apt to make rushed or emotionally charged decisions. This may include signing a retainer with an attorney simply to move a process along (such as a divorce or probate) rather than to establish a trusted relationship.

But you can’t know what type of attorney you will need until the time arises – which is why you should know a good, general practitioner – to use for little items like applying for a permit or working through a traffic violation. This person then becomes a trusted resource you can turn to get a referral to a specialist. Think of it like your general doctor who refers you to medical specialists when needed – same concept only there’s no insurance company footing the bill! ;)

• Laws Don’t Remove the Need for Judgment or Common Sense!

The law can be so stupid. This short film (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIJrBSfAabM) illustrates how breaking something down to the lowest common denominator ends up being where it all began in the first place!  Only now we’ve had too many law suits, the creation of organizations, institutions and laws to protect the differences rather than advance the common, IMO.  [2009 Insert: A LegalTypist DA is in that short film... can you guess which actor was the DA?]

The law is not always right and a very astute attorney once told me a successful negotiation is where everyone walks away feeling like they lost. Very rarely does one ‘win” when the judicial system is in play.

In the end, use your best judgment and apply common sense to every situation, including hiring an attorney.

I follow lots of people in the on line world and one of my favortes is Chris Brogan of www.chrisbrogan.com.  Here’s some information about Chris (directly from his site:)

Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency, as well as the home of the New Marketing Summit conferences and New Marketing Bootcamp educational events. He works with large and mid-sized companies to improve online business communications like marketing and PR through the use of social software, community platforms, and other emerging web and mobile technologies

Pretty straight forward – as is Chris.

Now, the reason for this post is because Chris recently wrote in his blog:  27 Things To Do Before A Conference.  As I’m headed off to Chicago for a conference in April, Chris’ post couldn’t come at a better time.  While all the information he provides is helpful, of particular interest to me and what I wanted to highlight for you is this entry:

#24  If you’ve got a business offer to promote at an event, practice and practice and practice how you’re going to talk about it. Be crisp. Make it easy to say. Be very clear about the ask. If you’re looking for people to review your demo, then make that the ask. If you’re looking for work, be clear that you’re available for a few extra projects. It seems that lots of folks beat around the bush or don’t exactly know how to have a beginning, middle, and end to a conversation.

I find that lots of people who are in business do not understand the importance of being able to answer normal, business type questions – what do you do, how do you do it, how much do you charge – and sound like a coherent, intelligent person (meaning not stumbling through scattered information in sentences laden with uhhhs and ummms).  Even if there is no networking event or trade show to attend, every e-preneur needs to be able to speak about their business.

It’s not that I don’t understand why…. I attribute it to the fact that e-preneurs spend a lot of time in the first few years on development.  Generally, working alone for one or two clients while putting in place the processes and tech their budding business needs to be in business and, of course, grow.  This means, e-preneurs don’t spend much time in the first few years talking to anyone not already familiar with them and their business, service or product.  Hence, no need to develop the lingo.

This is why I always suggest to newbie VAs and fledgling e-preneurs that they write out a list of the “normal” business questions they will be asked.  You know, the stuff they would ask of someone else if they were doing the hiring.  Then draft 1-3 sentence responses.  Some questions may require more information – but the goal is to deliver the answer in as few words as possible – keeping the answer somehow memorable, if possible.

Once the words are written, it is just a matter of practice.  I encourage literally speaking the sentences out loud, and refining the responses until each rolls off the tongue with ease.

For those who prefer a live audience to practice on, look to ToastMasters International – a true not for profit group with a mission to help ordinary people speak better and become better leaders.  I’m the VP of PR for the Syosset ToastMasters Club (http://syosset.freetoasthost.com), and can personally attest to the benefits I received from going through the manual of 10 speeches.  There are ToastMasters clubs in 100+ countries and you can find one near you by visiting the main site:  http://www.toastmasters.org.