Getting Organized: Drafts and Templates (Tackling Email part 3)
Last week we talked about how I clean up my inboxes and I alluded to my email templates and such. This week, we are going to actually discuss all the items that I have drafted and saved. I don’t just copy and paste and hit send for the most part, but I will discuss it more in detail below!
Why do you want drafted emails? As your blog grows, so does the number of incoming emails and eventually you have to figure out a better way to deal with them than just typing a response to the couple thousand incoming emails. So, you spend some time developing really good emails and then save them. Each time you find yourself saying the same thing over and over, make a new draft!
I have 21 pre-written emails in my drafts. Sometimes this number goes up depending on what is happening. For example: during my holiday gift guide I had a few more in there. Ok, so let’s discuss the types of emails I have in there.
1. My most used draft – I have a draft that goes out to every pitch that doesn’t ask for anything specific. Basically it thanks the sender for contacting me and quickly lists the types of coverage we offer at 3 Boys and a Dog. Then, it gives a link to my media kit and social media links. That’s it.
2. App Reviews – Thanks for contacting me and then how I do app reviews. I actually get a ton of app review requests these days and do not do them for free.
3. Interview Requests – This is an email that explains how I do interview requests
4. My Updated Stats – sometimes companies ask for my updated stats. I try to update this draft a couple times per month. It lists all three sites statistics including my social media stats.
5. SF Stats – Social Fabric asks for different things than normal companies. This is my response to them.
6. Twitter Party Outreach – This includes a case study of one of my past Twitter Parties and an pre-written email to a company. I have a few “x’s” in it that I fill out to personalize it per company.
7. Button HTML – I have a few different buttons and such that I use. This simply houses the HTML for them
8. Travel – My response to companies that pitch me travel locations.
9. Remodel Bullets – I was doing a house remodel and reaching out to companies about it. This listed all the things I could do for a company and what I was asking in return. I had to put this on the back-burner for a bit because I got slammed with Holiday Gift Guides. I will be pulling this back out shortly.
10. Winner Notice – The email that I send to giveaway winners.
11 – 21 – These are pretty specific to me so I don’t need to talk about them. They basically include other outreach emails from Holiday Gift Guides to Back to School and Conference Sponsorship.
Hopefully this helps you plan your email drafts to help you speed up the “email inbox to zero” process!