PSPinc Official Company Blog

When your desktop is so cluttered, you can no longer view the wallpaper or picture you set as the background, that’s a clear indication it’s time to organize and purge some files.

The fact is if you haven’t opened any of those files within the last 12 months, you should file/archive them into folders, or simply delete them. Not only will you be able to find things easier, feeling organized can lead to less stress and improved mood. It makes sense that when things are in order, you’d feel good about that!

Consider these simple tips for cleaning and organizing so you can start fresh in 2019:

- Clean up your desktop files first so you can view that nice wallpaper/picture background.
- Empty your recycle bin on your computer and your junk mail, clutter, and deleted items in your email program?
- Check your downloads folder. All the files you download from your email and browsers are stored there, which can take up a lot of space – until you go in and purge.
- Delete programs you don’t use.
- Organize your photos into folders by subject or year, or both, and delete duplicates.
- Consider investing in a utility software like Clean My Mac (Mac) or AVG PC TuneUp (Windows) that helps you clean up your files and programs.

In 2019 work smarter, not harder! The first step in doing so is organizing your workspace – both physical and digital. Take some time to clean up, purge, archive, organize, file, and go into the New Year feeling optimistic for what’s ahead.

Nowadays, everything is electronic. File folders on our computers act like file folders we used to have in actual cabinets. But just like our filing cabinets of old used to get messy with paper documents, our computers can get cluttered with electronic documents. It’s time to clean up so we can find things easier.

Here are some tips to consider when filing documents:

Use/Label Folders. Think of organizing folders on your drive like you would organize folders in an old cabinet or file box. For example, create a folder for each year by simply naming it 2019 or 2018. Work within the current year’s folder, but files from previous years will be easy to find when needed.

Use Special Characters. Your computer will sort file names alphabetically, but if you want to beat that system and sort a file or a folder above the rest, consider using special characters (i.e. ! @ # $) or numbers to your advantage. By placing ! in front of your folder name, such as, !Holiday_Party, you’ve now bumped it up ahead of the folder titled, Employee_Policies. Use this filing strategy when you’ll want easy access to a file or folder that would otherwise be pushed down the list. Also note that your computer will categorize folders with special characters in the order the symbols appear on your keyboard, so 1)! 2)@ 3)# and so on.

Tag Files. Certain software programs like Microsoft Office will let you add information to your file, beyond what you name it. From the file menu, if you view properties you’ll see where you can add a title, tags (keywords), and comments. Adding these elements to your document will make it easier to find when using the advanced search feature.

A cluttered desktop can result in frustration and time wasted more than anything. Start the New Year fresh with some new strategies for naming your folders and filing your documents.

This month we’re covering some tips on cleaning up your virtual office, starting with email. We’ve discussed making your inbox a priority on your to-do list, now let’s discuss the advantage of using your sent and archive folders to help you organize.

I try to keep about three months’ worth of emails in my sent folder, but typically when I send an email, I BCC myself to receive a copy of it in my inbox. Having a copy land in my inbox helps me stay on top of tasks. It also helps me remember to file the important emails once they land in my inbox.

In Outlook, Thunderbird, or MacMail, you can set up your email program to automatically delete emails older than a certain time period, but I prefer to manually clean up so I can review my tasks once more. It’s all a matter of preference, and these are simply ideas to consider.

A lesser-used but highly beneficial folder is the archive folder. It’s a great place to file emails “just in case” you need that information ever again. Your archive folder stores all emails on your local drive (or in a cloud-based drive). Most email programs compress this folder so your disk space doesn’t get filled up as fast as keeping them in your inbox or sent folder. Yet you can still search emails in your archive folder in case you need to retrieve the information again.

Moving emails from your inbox to the archive is simple -- just drag and drop, and enjoy a little peace of mind that your information is safely organized for use later on.

It’s hard to believe we are counting down the final days of the year. The holiday season can be a quieter time in the office – which makes it a great time to do some house-cleaning so you can start fresh in 2019! Follow along this month as we cover some tips on how to organize your virtual office.

First, we have to ask the big question: How many emails do you have in your inbox? 10, 100, 1000, or don’t have a clue…? Typically, in Outlook, you’ll see “items” in the bottom corner of your screen followed by the number of emails. Next to it, you’ll see the amount of “unread” emails.

Cleaning your inbox may seem like a chore, but putting it on your to-do list is a worthy idea. Cleaning up your virtual spaces, such as your inbox, can feel just as great as walking into a freshly cleaned office or kitchen or bedroom. And just like walking into a clean office space where you can find things easier, and the things you need are more accessible, the same can be said for email.

Ever searched for a keyword to find something in your inbox and several emails come up? When you think of all the times you’ve had to wade through old emails (some with the same subject line) to find what you need, the time really adds up. Think of it this way. If it takes about 3 minutes to read one email, how many minutes or hours have you wasted in just the past year scanning over old information?

To increase your email efficiency, start sorting:

- Trash
- Assign to someone
- File to a folder accordingly
- Keep it as your task to complete
- Archive

You might start by going way back to the earliest emails you have in your inbox and see if you can mass delete a bunch of them based on the dates and subjects. Don’t forget to check your spam, outbox and drafts folders to see if you can clear those out as well.

1. Open Rate
What is it? The number of times your email has been opened.
Your open rate is a direct reflection of your subject line and the best time to send emails. Testing different subject lines and sending emails at different times will lead to different open rates.

Example: 25 people opened your email and you sent it to 100 subscribers = 25% open rate.

2. Bounce Rate
What is it? The number of emails that failed to send on your list. This could be a server mistake OR if you see the same number multiple times you probably have incorrect or old email addresses in your list.

Example: 50 subscribers on your list and it failed to send to 3 of those emails = 6% bounce rate.

3. Click-Through Rate
What is it? The number of people who not only opened your email but also clicked on a link within your email. This is a more accurate depiction of whether your content is working. The higher the click-through rate the better your emails are working.

Example: 50 links clicked divided by 1000 delivered emails *100 = 5% click-through rate.

4. Unsubscribes
What is it? The people who opt-out of receiving future emails. For any number of reasons, people will unsubscribe from your email lists. Following this metric will give you insight into how your emails are received. You might see unsubscribes if you send emails too often, don’t provide any valuable information, or come across as spam.

Example: 1000 delivered emails with 3 unsubscribes = 0.3%.

5. Web Traffic
What is it? The number of visitors that hit your website. When you send out an email with links to your website, you want to track how those emails affect your website traffic. A higher click-through rate should lead to more web traffic.

Example: 10 click-throughs from email links should lead to additional website visitors.

Knowing how to write an engaging email doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have a list to send it to. Whether you’re starting from scratch or you simply want to grow your existing email list – here are some tips to get you going.

1. Exchange Business Cards

Meeting someone in person and exchanging business cards is a great way to build up your email list. Just make sure you have an easy and clear way for them to opt-out of the list if they don’t want to receive them.

2. Add an Email Subscribe Form

Give your website visitors plenty of options to opt-in to your email blast. This could be done by adding a signup form on your contact page or by adding a pop-up lightbox with a signup form.

3. Host an Event

An event is a good way to meet people and build trust so they feel more comfortable giving out their emails. You could start exchanging business cards, have people signup with their emails to enter a drawing, or you could have them fill out a survey and check a box if they want to receive emails.

4. Offer “Email-Only” Deals

The email-only deal can spark a person’s FOMO (fear of missing out). By offering deals or promotions that are only available to people who receive your emails, you create a desire to be included. People will want to sign up because they won’t want to miss any potential discounts.

5. Encourage Forwarding

Your emails shouldn't always be about selling your product or your company’s image. Try to include valuable information in your emails so that people will want to forward them to their friends, co-workers, and family. Make sure you add a link to sign up for your email blast so that anyone who gets your email from a friend can join.

Boring Subject Line

The subject line of your email is your chance to shine! It’s the defining moment where someone decides if they want to open your email or drop it into the trash bin. So don’t be dull! If you’re having trouble coming up with a good subject line, think back to emails you’ve opened up. Why did you open them? Were they funny, witty, direct? Use this as a starting point.

Sending At The Wrong Times

Timing matters, but context also matters. Look at the content of your emails; is this information people need right when they wake up (i.e. news)? Or is it something they’re more likely to read on the weekend because it has to do with their hobbies? At the beginning, you may have to give your best estimate and try different times. Track your open rates and engagement on different days and times to find the one that works best for you.

Sending Before Testing

Before you send that email to 2,000 people it might be a good idea to send it to yourself or your team to preview it. Test the email on different platforms to see how the text and images line up. The email might look fine as you’re building it out, but you’d be surprised what can change when people open it. Also, click every link and button to be sure they’re working. Always preview your email first!

Spelling Errors

As obvious as it seems, it’s still very important to check for spelling errors. Even the best of us can slip up with a misspelled word or grammatically incorrect sentence. Take a minute or two and carefully read over your email before you hit the final send button. You might even ask a trusted associate to proofread it. You won’t regret the extra effort.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll dive into strategies that will help you take your email marketing campaign to a new level. First, we need to establish what makes an email campaign “successful” and some basic tips for improving on your current campaigns.

Don’t have an email marketing plan? Good news, we're here to help you get started!

Define your Objective

Before you start thinking about a witty subject line or writing your content, you need to establish your main objective for your campaign. Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Maybe you want to introduce a new product or increase sales. Whatever your objective is, define it clearly and specifically. This will affect how you format and write your emails.

Choose Your Audience

Not every email should go to every customer. Try to define and segment your email lists so you can target specific audiences. For example, emails with special offers or discount only available in select states wouldn’t be helpful to your entire customer base because they may not be able to use them. Being specific when defining your audience allows you to be more targeted in your tone and call to action – which should help increase engagement.

Personalize the Email

This one goes hand-in-hand with choosing your audience. We all get more emails than we want, so, if you want someone to take notice of your email, you need to get personal. Adding a personal touch, like referring to them by name, can separate your email from the obvious copy-and-paste emails we all get that are often addressed with the wrong pronouns.

Write Enticing Subject Lines

The golden egg of email marketing – this is your one chance to get their attention and entice them into opening your email. Short and clear subject lines work well and have a professional feel. Subject lines with a message of urgency are effective but may give some customers the illusion of spam. Test out different subject lines and try to analyze the connection between your subject line and your open rate. Make sure your subject line represents the email content accurately.

Keep It Simple / Call-To-Action

Congrats! They’ve opened up your email; you’re halfway there. Now you need to keep their attention and get them to take action. Don’t clutter your email with too much text, different font styles, or outdated designs. When in doubt keep it as simple as possible. End your emails with a call-to-action. You don’t want them to get this far and completely forget about your email after they read it. Be clear and make the call-to-action stand out.

According to the FTC Sentinel 2017 report, the type of email scams that tricked people the most were shop-at-home catalog sales, followed by business and job opportunities. Email scams reported to the FTC totaled more than 70,000, with a loss of $101 million. That’s a sad number. And those stats are based on what was reported, meaning those numbers could be higher based on unreported cases.

Often the scammer email looks like an opportunity to make extra money doing things like promoting a new franchise, working from home, making investments, and attending business seminars. Just know this – there is no easy money to make when it comes to email solicitations. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And if they’re asking for payment via wire transfer, the intent is clear – to steal your money and run away.

If you want to check the company’s authenticity, contact the local better business bureau, check state business registration records, and other established agencies. If you find their website online, check to see if their domain registration is legitimate (hopefully it’s not privacy protected so you can verify). You can also check D-U-N-S which is the acronym for Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) “Data Universal Numbering System.” Many corporations register for a DUNS Number and D&B can give you the credit report.

Please note, however, that scammers have no qualms about swiping company logos and posing as a legitimate company, so again, if you have any questions about an email, or if it seems fishy, send it to us at PSPinc. Make sure you educate your staff about this issue as well so they know what to look for, and your company can stay free and clear of online theft.

Source: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/consumer-sentinel-network-data-book-2017/consumer_sentinel_data_book_2017.pdf

One of the most common phishing emails we see is a scam asking you to renew your domain name registration. It looks very authentic by including your domain name, your name, and the registration period. Since it’s scary to think about losing your domain name, it makes you want to act quickly without thinking. But take a second look before you have a knee-jerk reaction.



The picture above is one example of a fake domain expiration notice. If you look closely at the small print, it’s actually trying to get you to register or renew your domain for a search engine optimization (SEO) submission service – a program you never signed up for in the first place. It’s a trick to get you to sign up for something you don’t want, and/or collect your credit card info!

Most phishing scams will ask for credit card information, so never, never give it up unless you have verified the source is legitimate. If you don’t remember where you registered your domain, call your hosting provider, such as PSPinc, to ask where your domain is registered. All domain names are registered at ICANN, certified registrars, and many hosting companies (like us) take care of the domain name registration on your behalf so you don’t have to worry about renewals.

Scammers can check your domain registration information as well, and then they simply steal logos from the registrar pages to make their emails seem authentic. The general rule of thumb is don’t click on anything. Instead, go check your domain registration information at InterNIC’s (Internet Network Information Center) Whois server. Enter your domain and you’ll get a lot of information about your domain, including the dates for your registration period.

For an added fee, you can add privacy protection to your domain – which means your registration information will be hidden from public access. Or, you can easily call us at PSPinc if you have any questions and we can take care of it for you.