The Gmail Genius Issue #5 – 3 email mistakes that could be hurting your response rate

How the plus sign can save your Gmail inbox from becoming a pit of doom

The Next Web’s Matthew Hughes reminds us of an interesting Gmail feature and explains how and when it might be able to assist you.

3 surprising email mistakes that could be hurting your response rate

The length of your subject line might just have something to do with it, according to this CNBC article reporting on an email study.

Social media didn’t kill email — but it did change it

Len Shneyder, a VP at email delivery service SendGrid, breaks down how email and social media complement each other.


Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Religion Reporter at The Washington Post  

Email is a non-negotiable part of everyday life. For some, it’s an unruly time suck, but enlightened email users have systems to ensure they’re not a slave to the inbox. We’re asking smart thinkers to give us a peek inside their inboxes, share tips, ideas, gripes, and everything in between.

This week, we chat with The Washington Post’s Sarah Pulliam Bailey who covers how faith intersects with the issues of the day. As a busy reporter, email is a big part of Bailey’s day. She discusses how Canned Responses help her stay on top of things and why she’s not intimidated to hit “Mark as Read.”

Read the full interview here.

On managing her inbox:

I make sure that anything unread is something I need to do or respond to or some kind of action item. I don’t know if that’s the best approach, but it works for me.

How she gets by with a little help from one Gmail tool:

I also use Canned Responses. I handle submissions for a site that I run for The Washington Post called, “Acts of Faith.” Often I get submissions that very clearly won’t work for us. So I have a canned response for that because I just don’t need to take a lot of time to write personalized, individual responses to every single person who is submitting them.

It’s really about email survival, right, because we’re able to email each other and contact each other with such ease now. I’m trying to find ways to field those emails with respect and acknowledgement. But also, my time is valuable, and I can’t spend all day writing very personalized responses to every email I get.

The app she digs for helping her stay on top of must-reads:

I use Pocket. I have a button on my browser that’s to the right of my URL box. And so if I’m on, The New Yorker or whatever, and I say, “Oh, this is too long to read now,” I click the Pocket button.

I’m living in New York City, so I’m in the subway a lot. If I’m stuck in the subway for, you know, 20 minutes or whatever, it’s a good chance to open my Pocket browser, open the article, and scroll through it.

Read the rest here.

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