Once we have completed our Community Table series on E-Mail Blasts, it was easy to sit back and see what had to be shared next. As is the case with every Community Table event, the goal was education and ultimately progress. Well, with this series, the next step was obvious.
We heard from buyers that E-promos were just the tip of the iceberg for them and that once they received a relevant promo, they dug deeper on that artist and in their own way, filed their websites away for future reference. We heard that the systems for keeping track of the artists were varied and very complex, some buyers even creating their own complicated excel files to replace the old fashioned filing cabinets of the past.
While we sat at the table and discussed the amount of work the buyers take on (happily we might add) when it comes to researching photographers, our partners at Agency Access shared a brilliant solution with us called Mail Filtering.
Apparently, artists are now “Smart Tagging” their emails to help Art Producers and Creatives reduce their inbox overflow. By tagging the promotion either in the subject line or in the body copy, with a hash tag and their specialty (i.e. #lifestyle, #epromo. #automotive, etc), artists are giving creatives the chance to reduce their “main working” inbox. The greatest thing is that this can be used with any email system out there.
Here’s how it works:
Mac Mail
• Create a Folder in Mac Mail by going to the Mailbox Menu and select New Mailbox, give it a name and save it. Choose categories of photography you would like to manage. ie: Product, Lifestyle, Automotive etc.
• Create a Mail Rule in Mac Mail by going to Mail Preferences and select the Rules tab.
• Click Add Rule, then type a name for the rule.
• In the conditions section select “Message Content” from the first drop down menu. The middle drop down should have “Contains” selected, and enter your Text in the space provided to filter by (e.g. #lifestyle).
Outlook
• Create a Folder in Outlook by going to the File ribbon and selecting New Folder, give it a name and save it. Choose categories of photography you would like to manage. ie: Product, Lifestyle, Automotive etc.
• Create a Mail Rule in Outlook by going to the File ribbon and selecting click Info > Manage Rules and Alerts.
• Click New Rule and in the “Start from a blank rule” section, choose “Apply rule to messages I receive” and click Next.
• Under Step 1: Choose Condition; choose “with specific words in the body”.
• Under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click specific words.
• In the Search Text window, type the Text you want to filter by (e.g., #lifestyle), click Add, then click OK. Click Next.
Examples of filters to used based on your workflow and projects:
• #epromo (this is a catch all and all artists should be using this basic tag)
• #lifestyle
• #automotive
• #beauty
• #product
• #stilllife
• #food
• #product
etc.
Note, your IT department at your agency or company can use the above instructions to get you set up with your mail preferences (through Mac Mail, Outlook or Gmail).
Here’s to a happier work flow and creativity,
Heather, Lauranne, Kate, Matt and our partners are Agency Access.
Photo Credit: David Martinez