What To Look for in Email Management Software

The process of finding and selecting an email management solution (or any web-based software) should be similar to how a business might hire an employee. The company would search for prospects, group interesting candidates together, interview the candidates, check references and make a selection. When "interviewing" possible web software solutions, keep these questions in mind:

• Is the software easy-to-use and to setup?
• How long has the company been in business (they are, after all, managing your data)?
• Is secure access available?
• Do you do back-ups of the stored data?
• How is their customer support? Do they provide only an email or is there a phone number with a live person on the other end?
• What is their up-time?

Get answers to these questions, and you'll be better prepared to select the best and most reliable web-based solution.

Adding Images to Emails Within ReplyManager

The new ReplyManager HTML Editor includes an Add Image tool so users can insert an image into their email, which is different from simply including an attachment. Images are not uploaded, but are referred to by placing the URL of a hosted image (images stored at other virtual locations) into the HTML of the email. Here is how to do it:

Be sure the HTML Editor is active. While composing the email, click on the Insert / Edit Image button and add the URL of the image. Advanced features include positioning within text and linking the image to a URL.

Even better, if you use Firefox or Safari, the Drag and Drop feature is available to you when inserting images into an email.

If you are not sure what the URL of an image is (e.g. where it is hosted), but can see the image on a website (e.g. your company logo), right click on the image and select View Image, Copy Image Address or Properties (IE). You'll see the URL of the image in the address bar.

For example, if I want to insert the ReplyManager Email Management logo into an email I would include the following URL:

http://www.replymanager.com/images/rm_logo.gif

To include attachments, please use the File Attachment function.

Staying Positive is Good for Business!

It is hard in this current state of affairs to stay positive in your attitude and outlook on all things business or personal, especially when our media is keeping us informed on all the negatives.

Here is an interesting article from eMarketer on practical steps for focusing on things you have control over, recognizing opportunities and achieving positive results for your business.

"The answer lies in seeking a balance—anchoring yourself to reality while focusing on every glimmer of hope and opportunity you can find."
Read the full article
Commentary from Geoff Ramsey: How Staying Positive Is Good for Business – February 9, 2009

Boomers and Their Online Buying Trends!

Studies are confirming what we all know - Boomers are a powerful bunch!

Research is showing that Boomers, those between the ages of 44 and 62, are now one of the largest groups of online users. They are doing everything from shopping, gathering information on products and services and staying in touch with friends and family. Understanding and adapting websites to their buying trends would be beneficial to online Marketers.

Read the full article at eMarketer
You’ve Come a Long Way, Boomers, and You’re Online Now! – December 4, 2008

One Click Email Search for Reply Manager

Reply Manager provides a quick and easy way to search for all emails sent or received by the same email address. To do this, open an email from the person you would like to search. Click on the linked From address at the top of email. The system will automatically generate search results that include all emails sent to and received from this email address.

New mbox Format for Exporting Email

In addition to the 3 file formats used to export emails, ReplyManager now supports the mbox email storage format!

This new mbox feature will allow you to export email, and all its follow ups, directly to several common email clients that support this format, such as Thunderbird or Eudora, which can then be easily read. It will also allow import to Outlook via 3rd party tools.

While in ReplyManager go to:
Maintenance>Export>select format (mbox format in ZIP file), date range, folder, status of email, and process.

The file created can now be saved to your desktop and opened with Thunderbird or other email client.

Please see related link to Help area in ReplyManager:
http://help.replymanager.net/v4/help:maintenance#export

Spam and Email Management - An Oxymoron?

To many, the words spam and email management are two terms no one wants to see in the same sentence. No doubt, an oxymoron! Not only is spam a nuisance, but it is the catalyst for worms and viruses and the source of millions of lost dollars. So what do you do?

If you are using ReplyManager, here are a few reminders to keep spam at bay:

Start With The Accounts Tab
Spam can be managed for each Account. From the Maintenance menu, click on Accounts. Choose the account you wish to edit. Spam Handling is located at the bottom of the form.

What To Do With Emails Tagged as SPAM
You can select to delete spam or automatically move it to another folder for further investigation. We use a Junk or Spam folder for this. The emails within that folder can be bulk deleted in only a few steps.

Setting SpamAssassin Scores
Incoming emails are filtered using SpamAssassin. Detected spam can be auto deleted or moved to a folder for further investigation. Using a wide range of tests on the header, body and text of the email, SpamAssassin assigns a number on a scale of 1 to 10. Emails receiving a 5 or above, as a standard, are considered Spam. However, if you find that incorrect emails are being sent to your Spam folder (or other action selected), you may want to increase the rating. The higher the rating the more likely it is that the email is Spam.

Using Rules for Further Filter Spam
A new ReplyManager feature allows users to select a rule to process incoming emails, before SpamAssassin, in order to identify any email that might look like spam, but is not. These emails can be routed to a separate folder so that users do not lose any ligitimate emails. Basically, the rules look for keywords (that you set) within the email that might make it valid.

Built-in Virus Protection
Because ReplyManager is a web application (built with open source tools), it is less susceptible to viruses and worms. It also has a built-in feature that tags potential viruses and defangs executable files (which are often a disaster waiting to happen).