If you are using Outlook 2000 (or later) you can create awesome templates that include whatever message you want, formatted as either as text-only or graphic-rich HTML. They can also automatically include attachments, pre-set subject lines and even CC: and BCC: addresses.  And, the best part is you can bring these templates up anytime you want with just a single click of the mouse!

Let's first focus on text based e-mail templates because they are much easier to set up initially.

Creating Your Text E-mail Message Template

There are four steps to creating a text-based e-mail template in Outlook:

1. Create Your Message - write out the entire message, being sure to including your signature.  Keep line lengths to no more than 65 characters (so the recipient doesn't have to scroll horizontally to read it) and make sure it is spell-checked, edited and otherwise proofed for errors. Take the time to make it good —because you only have to do it once!  To create your messages I suggest using a good text editor.  Notepad, the program that comes with Windows is okay, but has many limitations, and saving Word files as text does not always work as advertised.  My favorite is TextPad, which you can find at http://www.textpad.com.  It is a full featured editor that lets you easily format your text messages any way you want and even includes a built in spell checker.
2. Add Attachments - add whatever attachments are appropriate to be included with this message.  There are no limits here, however be advised that the more you include, the longer it takes the recipient to download it and the more likely it won't even get through.
3. Add Subject Line And Addresses - simply add your subject line and, if you want, any number of CC: & BCC: addresses that are appropriate.  For example, you may want to BCC: your virtual assistant on all template messages that have to do with an active transaction.
4. Save The Template - select "Save As..." under the File menu in the message window.  When the dialog box pops up, change the file type to ".msg", name the file something that says what it is, choose the folder where you want it stored (more on this below), then click the "Save" button.

If this seems a little daunting, it really isn't.  In fact, I created a self-paced and very cool online "slide show" tutorial that shows you step-by-step how to do the entire process from start to finish.  Just CLICK HERE to view it!  Also, if you are currently using Outlook 2000, XP (or above), just CLICK HERE to download the example template referenced in the tutorial.

Now to make these templates load with just one click, you need to store them on your hard drive in an organized and easily accessible way.

Organizing Your E-mail Templates

The quickest way to launch an Outlook template is to make it accessible via the "Start" button found at the lower left of every Windows computer screen. Also, since you are likely to create quite a few templates (creating them as you need them over a period of time), it is best to set up a folder structure now that will help you keep them organized and easy to find.  Here is how you do both:

1. Right-click the "Start" button and select the "Explore" menu item.
2. In the right hand pane of the file browser window that pops up, right-click again and choose the "New" and then "Folder" menu items to create a new folder.  Name that folder "E-mail Templates".
3. Within your new "E-mail Templates" folder create additional folders that best represents how your templates will be grouped.  For example, you can create "Prospects", "Expireds", "Buyers", "Sellers", "Agents, "Title", and "Lenders" subfolders to hold their respective e-mail templates.
4. As you create your templates, store them in the E-mail Templates subfolder that best describes its function.

Once again, I have created a self-paced, step-by-step tutorial to help you through this process.  Just CLICK HERE to view it.

When stored this way, you can launch any template by simply clicking the "Start" button and following through with your mouse to the template you want.  The template you will select will instantly appear, whether Outlook is running or not!

While this is a good start down the road to creating killer Outlook templates, the real magic happens when you create HTML e-mail templates, something we will cover in detail in PART II in a future issue.  So stay tuned!

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