Email Inbox Zero: Managing High Volume Email

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    January 15, 2009

Posted in   Business Financial Publishing   |   Comments

I was recently turned on to the concept of Inbox Zero, an efficient system for managing a high volume of email messages.

The Inbox Zero system was conceived by Merlin Mann, a well known life-hacker and blogger at 43Folders.com. Merlin developed his Inbox Zero system in order to help better deal with a high volume of email messages. Check out 43Folders.com series on Inbox Zero and watch Merlin's presentation at Google Tech Talks - it is well worth the time.

I am definately a high volume email user. In 2008, I sent over 20,000 email messages. I received several times that many emails - maybe 60,000 to 80,000 messages. Until earlier this month, this was my approach to email. Save everything, except the email spam. Don't delete messages. My email inbox was a digest of my life. And I would sort through the 20k messages that were in my inbox at any given time, sorting by date, subject line, or name in Microsoft Outlook, or searching for things via Google Desktop for the hard to find stuff. My inbox was always full, and caused lots of problems with Outlook - including frequent crashes (gotta love Microsoft products).

Inbox Zero is focused on getting me to get rid of emails, and process to zero. Processing to zero means taking action on ALL emails every time you check your email. One of the core concepts is to convert emails into actions.

Merlin outlines five potential outcomes of an email (in order of desirability):

1. Delete (or archive)
2. Delegate
3. Respond
4. Defer
5. Do

Some of the ideas and tips for processing emails are the following:

• Do email less: check email once per hour for 10 minutes, turn off auto-check, and close your email program for periods of the day
• Always empty email inbox after checking mail
• Multi-tasking doesn't work - focus on email for short periods of time, not constantly throughout the day
• Time and attention is limited
• Email is only a medium for communication
• Checking email is not enough - take action
• Don't live in your email
• Take email messages and turn them into actions or items to complete (i.e. a to do list)
• Get out of email, and have a life

How is Inbox Zero working for me?

I began implementing Inbox Zero earlier this month. I'm not 100% there. Here is what I did to get started:

I starting my moving all old emails into a new folder named "2008". All old emails that were in my inbox, went into this folder. I then created folders based on topics (i.e. Advertising, Biz Dev, Marketing, Newsletters). And a folder named "Actions - To Do".

I then moved all previously flagged emails into the Actions - To Do email folder. And for all new mail that arrived, I processed, deleting most emails as I dealt with them. For messages that require more work than I have time for, I move them into the Actions - To Do folder. All other emails are either responded to, deleted, or filed. I use my seperate topic folders to save messages that are important that I wish to reference. Merlin recommends ONLY having an Archive folder for all emails, and NOT using folders to file messages. And my implementation of his plan differs from his recommendation.

I end every day with zero emails in my Inbox. Throughout the day, I don't always process to zero. I'm working on getting there. I'm definately loving having fewer emails in my Inbox, and proactively dealing with my emails, deleting more messages than I ever did before, and turning emails into actionable item.

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Teamwork results in quick launch of Trademaster video webinar

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    December 15, 2008

Posted in   Business Financial Publishing   |   Comments (1)

In the investment newsletter / content industry, there has been an increased push in recent months to begin using video as a means of delivering content and marketing messages to current and prospective users. In our industry, we are targeting individual investors, typically men who are 45 - 75 years old.

Three weeks ago, I was talking with Lee, the Director of Marketing at Business Financial Publishing. Together we decided that now was the time to stop talking, and start acting on this video web seminar (also known as a webinar) opportunity. Two days before Thanksgiving, we decided to go ahead, and launch our first ever video as a marketing video webinar for our Trademaster Daily Stock Alerts Service. In less than three weeks, we have accomplished this goal with a great video seminar event titled "Stock Summit 2008: Profits After the Fall." The event will go live at 6pm eastern time today, Monday December 15. To register for the event, please visit Trademaster.tv.

This event was complicated for several reasons. We had never previously professionally produced a video. There were the issues of staging the event, developing the content for the presentation, finding a videographer, selected a video hosting service (we selected Amazon Web Services, an inexpensive cloud computing service), compressing 30 minutes of video for web format, and finding suits and ties for the participants (our work environment is usually very casual).

I am extremely impressed with the level of teamwork displayed by everyone at Business Financial Publishing in order to pull this off. It is truly amazing what a small team of people can accomplish in a very short period of time when they set their minds on a single goal. Our goal was getting this marketing video webinar done by today so that we could market our great service and generate new subscriptions for our Trademaster Daily Stock Alerts Service.

The video presentation focuses on what has been happening in the financial markets in recent months, including the decline of the stock market. Most individual investors have seen the value of their equities and investment portfolios decline by 30% - +50% in a few short months. Our surveys and interaction with subscribers indicates that they are very concerned about the value of their investments, and the future recovery of the stock market. These individual investors are looking for investment opportunities that will provide them with the ability to make money in this market today.

Our solution, which we present in this video webinar is Trademaster Daily Stock Alerts, a service that uses our proprietary system for screening and ranking +4,500 stocks each day to deliver the best stock picks to subscribers for only $49.95 per month. I won't get into the details of the service or system here - just check out the video at Trademaster.tv to get all the details.

I special thanks to several key team members who have been very involved with this promotion and event.
+ Benson for being the star of the show.
+ Bob for helping us young guys get some credibility on video and great insights into the content of the presentation for the target audience.
+ Brit for writing lots of copy to get people to register for the event, and reminding them to attend. Great copy to drive the sense of urgency.
+ Jason for helping with the research and reports to make this event possible.
+ Chris the freelance videographer for showing us what works and what does not in web video, and executing this event in a very short period of time.
+ Dan and Joshua for figuring out the technical stuff, and getting everything setup well in advance, so we didn't have to worry.
+ Lee for quarterbacking the entire event, and making this happen.
+ And to our late team that stayed at the office until 130am to get this DONE... Dan, Lee, and Chris, thanks for the hard work and dedication.

Thanks to everyone who was involved. The video looks great. This will hopefully be the first of many such video events that we will roll out in the coming months.

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Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Names Business Financial Publishing #66 Fastest Growing Company

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    November 23, 2008

Posted in   Business Financial Publishing   |   Comments

Business Financial Publishing was recently named to the Deloitte 2008 list of the fastest growing companies. Rankings are based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth over five years, from 2003–2007. Business Financial Publishing grew 3,791 percent during this period.

While it is nice to be recognized and receive this award based upon our past performance in the years leading up to and through 2007, I recognize that 2008 is proving to be a much more challenging year than last year. While Business Financial Publishing is unlikely to be receiving similar awards for our performance in 2008, I hope we can remember these significant achievements of our past, and lay the groundwork for similar growth and recognition in the years to come.

Click here for the Business Financial Publishing press release announcement.

Click here for more information on the Deloitte 2008 Technology Fast 500.

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Painted Picture: Business Financial Publishing 2011

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    September 23, 2008

Posted in   Entreprneur's Organization, Business Financial Publishing, Painted Picture   |   Comments

The best way to ensure that dreams become reality is to take the vision from our minds and share it with people. The following vision, what I call my Painted Picture, is a vivid mental image of what Business Financial Publishing will look like, feel like, and act like by December 31, 2011. The goal of this document and process is to share my vision for the company’s future with our leadership team, employees, advertisers, partners, and customers. By sharing this vision, together we can turn this dream into a reality. 

Our Business

We are in the business of building an engaged online audience through our websites, blogs, seminars, online videos, newsletters, and e-letters. Our target audience is individuals with compelling demographics who have a tendency to buy products online. We capitalize on the aging baby boomer population by developing online content products that appeal to their interests in the areas of wealth and health, with topics including personal finance, investments, healthy living, anti-aging, and wealth creation. We monetize our audience through advertising sponsorships, direct product sales, and product partnerships. Our audience depends upon us to deliver investment ideas that outperform the market, business opportunities that will exceed their expectations, and insights and tips about health and wellness that will improve their well-being.

We have expanded with successful divisions in the health and wellness, and small business / opportunity seekers markets, diversifying our revenue streams and helping propel the overall growth of the company. Our products include interactive newsletters, membership websites, webinars, home study courses, and live events.

We have re-branded our company as a diversified new media Internet company, with a new name that encompasses our expansion in areas outside of the investment information market. Business Financial Publishing remains a division of our new company, and all employees are now part of our larger organization, creating additional growth opportunities for everyone within the company. We have additional divisions and operating companies in the areas of health and wellness, and small business and opportunity seekers. Our company is recognized as a highly credible diversified media company, participating and presenting regularly at events including Specialized Information Publishers Association, Direct Marketing Association, Mequoda, Marketing Sherpa, and Financial Publishers Association.

We are successful in part due to our rapid product development, and diverse product offerings that allow us to market different products based upon market fluctuations, and the changing interests of our audience.

Knowing Our Audience

Our audience is the aging baby boomers and those within 25 years of retirement. Baby boomers are in their 50s and 60s and are in the middle to upper middle class, and are nearing retirement. They don’t expect Social Security to pay for their retirement, and are concerned about their finances in retirement. Most of them haven’t saved enough, and may have to cut back expenses in retirement, continue working past age 65, or develop alternative sources of income. They seek sound investment advice and wealth-generating opportunities. They are also concerned about their health, diet, and general wellness. They are familiar with the Internet, and most have been online for +10 years. They are comfortable buying products online from credible sources and trusted brands.

It’s All about People

People make our business successful. Our employees are passionate about their work, and motivated to work hard to build and grow this company, and seek professional growth opportunities within our organization. We retain our best employees through great benefits, flexible schedules, competitive compensation, and outstanding bonus and profit sharing plans that allow them to share in the financial success of our company. Through group interviews and Topgrading, we’re able to find the best people for our job openings. We hire smart people who have a track record of success, and have a formal new employee orientation program that aims to help them understand who we are. With every potential hire, we ask ourselves "will this person raise the bar at our company?" Our employees have good work / life balance, and excel both in and out of the office. They consider it a privilege to work for our company.

Our leadership team includes a full time Chief Operating Officer, who runs the day to day operations of our company. Our leadership team is complemented and advised by our formal board of advisors, which provides needed outside insights, advice, and guidance. We meet with them individually, and also hold an annual meeting that includes employees, the leadership team, and the board of advisors.

Education & Training

We hire the best employees possible, and continue to invest in their education and training in order to keep them at the top of their game. The company encourages ongoing training and development, and pays for employee training. Our supervisors work with employees to find meaningful, high impact learning opportunities. Employees share their takeaways from training at our weekly education luncheon series.

Guru Driven Business

Consumers prefer to buy products from people and brands they know and trust. With health and wealth information, this is particularly true. Gurus are a core part of our success. We have successfully developed gurus out of achieving employees and from world renowned experts to help us build our business. We have been successful by approaching even those people who we think might be too big, or too well known to work with us. These gurus become the face and voice of our various products, developing personal connections with our audience through newsletters, video webinars, teleconferences, and live events. We aggressively promote our gurus through media appearances, speaking engagements at conferences and industry events, and print and online public relations activities.

The Numbers

We have successfully expanded outside of the individual investor market, and provide valuable information to our audience related to other topics of interest. Revenues from the financial / investment market are 65% of total revenues, growing at 15% annually for the last three years. We have greater transparency in the financial numbers, sharing more comprehensive P&L statements with our staff on an as-needed basis. Advertising continues to represent the majority of our revenues, and we’ve been successful in growing our product / service sales to one-third of our total sales. The company is highly profitable, and we share our success with our employees through our management by objective (MBO) program, 401k, profit sharing, and stock option / ownership plan.

Multiple Locations & Remote Work Options

With offices in Washington DC and Burlington VT, we can offer employees an urban or country work environment. Our employees travel between locations as business demands. Every employee tries to visit the other office at least once a year to interact with colleagues in the other office. Our dual locations offer employees two distinct work / life environment options. While the DC market offers us many more potential employees, we have found qualified people in Vermont seeking employment in our growth industry. Our offices are state of the art, and the environments are avant-garde. We also offer remote / work from home options for proven employees and top talent that we are unable to find locally. This flexibility allows us to hire the best, regardless of location.

Metrics & Accountability Driven Culture

Our business is driven by the numbers. We use numbers and metrics to monitor performance and improve every day. Michael Dell said, "I want to improve our business by 1% every week. Compounded interest is my friend." Like Dell, we seek small incremental improvements every day, knowing that combined, these small improvements will have a profound positive impact on our business.

Throughout our offices, we publicly display our timelines, project status, priorities, goals and progress. Our company "dashboard" displays key performance metrics that are updated throughout the day on LCD screens.

Meeting rhythms are a core of our success. Our regular meeting schedule fosters effective communication company wide, between departments and individuals. Our routine of meetings keeps everyone on the same page, and allows ideas to flow bottom-up, and top-down. Our meeting rhythm includes a daily all company huddle, weekly department and leadership team meetings, and weekly one-on-one meetings. Our meetings are effectively run, starting on time, and ending early. Every meeting has an agenda, which is shared with participants in advance.

International Expansion

Developing countries such as China and India are changing the world. They have large and growing populations of middle class, who are seeking information related to their health and wealth, similar to our U.S. audience. These markets are huge. We have successfully entered one international market, and we are preparing to enter a second international market.

New Products and R&D (Rip-off and Duplicate)

Our successes are embraced by rewarding and recognizing those responsible, and by investing greater resources in these and similar projects with the greatest likelihood for success. We cut our losses quickly. "Successes teach you nothing; failures teach you everything." We don’t dwell on the past or place blame, but instead embrace our failures as learning experiences and move on to the next great opportunity. We encourage our employees to take risks, and realize that if everything we did proved successful, that we’re not risking enough. Nothing risked, nothing gained.

At the same time we recognize that our success doesn’t entirely depend on the development of our own unique ideas. We closely study those companies that are achieving success in our market and others, and we steal smart. We learn from the successes and failures of others. By taking the best ideas from many competitors in the marketplace, and making refinements and incremental improvements in a quick and efficient manner, we are able to limit downside risks and costs, giving us an edge over our larger competitors.

Technology Focus

Technology is an important aspect of our business, and we invest capital and human resources in the systems that power our business. We recognize that there are many aspects of our business that are out of our control, including competition, the economy, and consumer spending. We know that technology is something that we can control, and by over-investing in this important aspect of our business, we can stay ahead of the curve and avoid challenges that result in lower sales for the company. We have built out an internal technology team in our Operations department with more than one full-time people to focus on the core technology needs of our company (servers and infrastructure, email delivery, e-commerce and fulfillment, etc.), and they are complemented by talented consultants.

Success

Success is having a lot of fun while doing something you love. Our company thrives because our employees view their work as more than a job. They understand and support the company’s growth objectives, and play a significant role in helping define our direction and plans for the future. We are accountable to one another and the organization. Our opportunistic view of the world allows us to see the glass as half-full, and pursue opportunities that might be overlooked by others. We aim to create and build products that contribute to rapid revenue growth, and healthy profit margins. Our audience, clients, advertisers, and partners love doing business with us and enjoy the experience provided by our employees.

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Business Financial Publishing #185 on 2008 Inc. 500 list of fastest private cos.

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    September 14, 2008

Posted in   Business Financial Publishing   |   Comments (1)

I've been bragging about this for a few weeks now, and think its also worth posting here. 

I highly recommend picking up the September issue of Inc. Magazine, or visiting the Inc. 500 / Inc. 5000 web site. The September Inc. 500 issue is my favorite of the year, and I look forward to it every year. The issue focuses on the fastest growth private companies in the U.S., ranked by revenue growth. Inside the magazine, you'll find great features on many amazing companies that are demonstrating that the American dream is alive and well, and thriving even in a challenging economy. This year I'm particularly proud due to my company's inclusion in the 2008 rankings (you'll find us on page 190 of the magazine).

My company was named #185 on the Inc. Magazine 2008 Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. We also ranked #2 in the Media Industry (although I'm not sure why we were placed in this category, since the majority of our revenues comes from advertising), and #16 in the Washington DC area. Our sales growth during the three year qualifying period (2005 - 2007) was 1,303%.

I'm so proud of the company we've been able to build since founding Business Financial Publishing in 2001. None of this would have been possible without the help and support of my family, friends, and colleagues. I believe this is a huge honor and wonderful recognition of our success over the years. More on the Inc. 500 later...

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