Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Another way freelance writers could use autoresponders

The travel idea from yesterday reminded me of one more use for autoresponders.

Of course I haven't had the guts to try this one, but it sounds pretty awesome:

It's from Timothy Ferriss' book (The 4-Hour Workweek).

Set an autoresponder to say something like:
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As I work, my goal is to provide absolute excellence. That requires concentration, of course, so I'm doing something a bit different.

Each day, I'll check email at 10:00 and 4:00. At those times, I'll respond to any emails that need responses. If you need to reach me otherwise, and it's urgent, please call me directly.
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Wow! Ever done that? What do you think about it? Would you try it?

Just think how much more you could get done if you basically shut down your email at times other than those. Then again, if you're in the middle of a project and can't be reached quickly, it might frustrate your colleagues - or they could call you. (That's another little notice: I think the recommendation was NOT to supply your phone number. If someone truly needs to reach you, they'll probably already have it.)

Hmmmm.... not sure about that one - what do you think?

1 comment:

Hannah said...

I like the idea, only why would you need to say more than something like:

"I check my email at 10 and 4 each day, and respond to each email promptly."

I like that the message in the autoresponder emphasizes the benefit to the client--but still it seems like you're making an excuse for what's perceived as laziness. Why do you need to justify to anyone else why you're only checking email twice a day?