Apologies for the lack of blog posts on here recently! I’ve been very busy over the last few weeks – some of the things I’ve done include launching an ADHD parenting programme with a live webinar, packing individual toiletry bags for refugees in Calais, proofreading a book about a turkey farmer, and updating my own book ready for the publisher!
Anyway, I wanted to share with you a tool I’ve been using lately that can be really useful when managing email communication. It’s called Sidekick and it’s from Hubspot, who are internet marketing experts. Sidekick runs alongside your email programme and lets you know when someone has opened your mail. Yes, I know you can send a read receipt but they are easy to ignore; this tool runs in the background, notifying you the instant someone opens an email.
So why would you want to know that? Well, here’s an example of how I’ve used it … I was waiting for someone to send me some content for my book and worried it wasn’t going to arrive in time. One morning I saw them open one of my emails. I waited ten minutes and then dropped them a line, gently asking when the content would be with me. “Oh yes, right, I was just thinking about you,” they replied. “I was going to do it later this week, but tell you what, I’ll get it done today.” Result! (And think how powerful this could be if you used it to follow up on a quote – knowing they’d had your email open that morning!)
Of course, using Sidekick also means next time someone says they didn’t receive an email from you, you’ll know if they’re lying …!
Sidekick is free for up to 200 notifications or $10 a month for unlimited notifications. I get a lot of emails so the paid account is really useful for me, without breaking the bank. However, if you want to give it a go and you use this link, you can get a month’s free trial with unlimited notifications! (And I’ll also get a month free as well if you give it a go!) Definitely worth a look!
Image courtesy of ddpavumba at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
