If a client asks you to manage their email acct, here's what to do...

• Ask Client if they have a specific way they want their email to be managed. You want to do what makes sense to them, even if it doesn't make sense to you.

* Create a lot of folders

a. Projects: create a separate folder for each project

b. Affiliate information (if appropriate for your client)

c. Newsletters they receive from other people (You can filter them so they go straight to a folder. Then the client can read them when they have time and they don't clutter the inbox)

d. Joint Ventures (This is for people who are doing book launches and product launches)

e. New orders

f. Support Staff (webmaster, tech support, and customer support )

* Make a list of people who email your client often

a. Create filters for those people.

b. Place a label on their name, so every time they send an email it gets the proper label. (Example: Susie Smith gets a "newsletter" label. Debbie Lee is helping with ebooks so I mark her name with the "publishing" label.)

c. Decide if you want that person's email to go directly to the folder or if you want it sent to the inbox. Set the filter accordingly.

• Archive the email as soon as your client has replied to it.

• Back up client email by creating a new gmail account that holds copies of all the emails

* Periodically go through the email to make sure the client has responded to questions that were asked.

a. It is easy for a client who is very busy and who gets a lot of email to accidentally miss an email with a question from someone.

b. If I see that a client hasn't had a chance to respond to a question I will either ask them about it and respond for them or I'll forward the email to them again so it gets on the first page of their inbox.