Naomi Assaraf

7 Work Productivity Tools to Help You Get Things Done

January 4, 2021 by Naomi Assaraf

A summary of all the things you accomplished with cloudHQ productivity tools in 2020.

In normal years, we work diligently to create, release, and improve work productivity tools so you can create better results with less effort.

Now, I know I don’t have to tell you this, but 2020 was not a normal year.

Across every metric, we saw customers turn to cloudHQ tools to help them organize, prioritize, and execute their daily tasks.

Like weightlifting or endurance training, it’s good to check the numbers every now and then. For this article, we wanted to take a moment and recap everything our customers accomplished with cloudHQ’s work productivity tools in 2020.

1. Over 2.4 Million Marketing Emails Sent

MailKing—our easy as pie tool for turning your Gmail account into a full-featured marketing email campaign platform—we saw big jumps in usage in 2020.

In total, 13,000+ users created 220,000 campaigns using the MailKing—totaling over 2.4 million emails sent throughout the year.

2. 1.8 Million Emails Tracked

Email tools became even more important in 2020 as consumers and businesses adjusted to working, living, and shopping from home.

To navigate the economic impacts of the pandemic, companies also looked to cost-effective tools to increase productivity.

Following those trends, we saw the impact of those changes in the usage numbers for Free Email Tracker.

After installing the tracking tool, users could easily track if recipients had opened or clicked on the links within their emails.

3. Over 1.3 Million Emails Exported to Google Sheets

Over 21,000 users installed and used Export Emails to Google Sheets in 2020, more than doubling the usage numbers from 2019 for this cloudHQ productivity tool.

Some users set it up for a one-time export of their emails for archiving or data analysis.

By contract, others set up the tool to continuously export emails using a tracking spreadsheet to monitor email data in near real time.

In total, more than 1.3 million emails were exported to a Google Sheet using Export Emails to Google Sheets.

4. Over 1 Million Emails Sent With Gmail Email Templates

It was a big year for Gmail Email Templates.

Over 158,000 Gmail users installed or used the tool at some point last year, sending well over 1 million total emails using one of our templates.

In December, we released a major design update to Gmail Email Templates. The new template builder makes it much easier to design and send beautifully designed emails straight from your Gmail.

5. 950,000+ Emails Saved to PDF

One of the easiest work productivity tools to use—Save Emails to PDF also saw major growth compared to 2019.

Throughout the year, over 115,000 users used the tool to save over 950,000 individual emails to PDFs.

6. 50,000+ Labels Shared in Gmail

In 2020, over 12,000 users installed and used Gmail Label and Email Sharing to share over 50,000 individual labels within Gmail.

As a result, users gained the ability to share emails and attachments, assign tasks, track the status of their hiring process, monitor support emails, and sell as a team—all without leaving Gmail!

7. 20,000+ Unique Email Signatures Created

Finally, personalization and customization was another major trend in 2020, one we expect to continue in 2021 and beyond.

Following that trend, 12,000+ Gmail users created over 20,000 unique email signatures using our Free Email Signature Generator work productivity tool.

This gave them the ability to better match their email signature to unique email situations they faced throughout their day.

Try cloudHQ’s Work Productivity Tools for Yourself!

If you are a Gmail user, or your business email is hosted through G Suite, there are now 75+ cloudHQ productivity tools available to help you use email more effectively.

To see everything we have to offer, check out our full list of cloudHQ work productivity tools!

How to Set Goals for 2021 with 10 Simple Productivity Resolutions

December 28, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

The end of 2020 is upon us! Here are 10 ways to set goals for 2021 as you plan for the new year.

The end of 2020 is here! As we set goals for 2021 and make productivity resolutions, a quick review of 2020 can give us some perspective.

This year, everyone learned to Zoom—some more successfully than others:

Remote learning went from an option to a requirement—with mixed results:

Parents got creative:

Ann—all joking aside—there was an immense amount of tragedy.

We’re no different than you. We’re ready to put 2020 behind us.

As we look forward to 2021, here are a few productivity resolutions we’re considering as we set goals for 2021.

1. Explore Remote Opportunities That May Not Have Been Available Before

LinkedIn Remote Opportunities to set goals for 2021

COVID destroyed the notion that you have to be in an office to be productive.

Major players like Facebook, Slack, Twitter, and Shopify have announced that remote work will be a major part of their workforce even after the pandemic has ended.

Countless other companies are planning a similar approach.

What does this mean for you?

It means there are thousands of remote job opportunities that simply didn’t exist before.

If you haven’t taken a look, go see what’s out there!

In LinkedIn, for example, you can search for a job title and then check the “Remote” box to find remote positions.

2. Make Time for Yourself

I know some of you are stuck at home by yourself. Others of you have spent entirely too much time with spouses, children, siblings, parents, or roommates.

Whatever your situation, there’s a difference between staying at home and intentionally taking time for renewal.

As you set goals for 2021, here’s one to consider that’s easy.

Make a goal to spend one hour a week doing something non-work-related that renews you.

It could be as simple as taking a long bath or a long walk to get out of the house.

Put this time on your calendar as a recurring meeting, and don’t miss it!

3. Take a Social Media Vacation

Social media is great for keeping up with friends and family.

It’s also good for a laugh or two—if you’re following the right people.

Numerous studies have also found that spending too much time on social media leaves many people feeling unhappy.

If you need a break from social media, take one and don’t feel guilty about it!

Try to take at least a week off from a platform so you can break the habit of checking your notifications all the time.

4. Adopt a Retrospective Practice

A “retrospective” is an idea we stole from the world of Agile software development. It’s actually just one of many practices they’ve developed that we could use for productivity resolutions.

Once a week, sit down and ask yourself the following three questions:

In the last week, what went well?
In the last week, what didn’t go well?
What could I improve this week?

Take notes when you answer these questions, then review your notes next week when you sit down for another retrospective.

This iterative process is a fantastic method for making small changes that can add up to a big positive impact over time.

5. Stop Multitasking

The research is clear: Multitasking destroys productivity.

For example, one study found that it took participants an average of 23 minutes to refocus on a task after being distracted.

That’s 23 minutes of waste!

If you’re working at home, there are even more distractions than usual, so this one might take some extra work. A things you can do to help are:

Turn on “Do not disturb” on your computer and any device that’s in the room with you—including your smartwatch.
Put your phone, tablet, and TV remote in the other room.
Close all tabs and programs on your computer before starting a task.
Turn the “Busy” or “Do Not Disturb” light on in Slack or Skype.
Use the Pomodoro technique to break your work into small tasks so you can stay focused.

6. Start a “Don’t Do” List

As you set goals for 2021, one practial area to consider is your to-do lists.

We all make to-do lists. But what about the tasks we need to do—just not today. Those tasks should go on a “don’t do” list.

The outline for that book you want to write?

It’s important. But unless you’re a full-time writer, it’s probably not as important as many of the other things you need to get done today.

Probably not a task for today.

To make a “don’t do” list:

Make your to-do list as your normally would.
Prioritize it.
Remove all tasks that you know you shouldn’t spend time on today.
Put them on your “don’t do” list

That way they don’t stay on your list demanding your attention.

You haven’t forgotten those tasks. You’re just not going to do them today.

7. Be Less of a Perfectionist

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.
-Anne Lamott

Breaking the perfectionism habit might be one of the more difficult productivity resolutions we have on this list, but it’s also one of the best.

It’s good to be committed to quality. But perfectionism takes quality and turns it into anxiety.

It’s not good to get stuck—to go over a project again and again after you’ve completed it—tweaking and adjusting and editing.

If you’re good at what you do, B+ work for you will look like A+ work to the people you work with.

As the old saying goes, “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”

8. Schedule Time for Your Major Tasks

I usually have one or two major items each day that I need to get done—along with all the other things that are bound to come up as the day goes along.

If I’m not careful, I’ll spend my entire day responding to emails or social media messages and never take the time to get my primary tasks done for the day.

As you set goals for 2021, here’s a strategy you can steal: Schedule your major tasks on your calendar—just like you schedule your meetings.

When it’s on the calendar, I know I have a set time to complete that one task, and it keeps me focused until I get it done.

Try it for yourself!

9. Plan a Trip!

It appears (if all goes well!) that we’ll be able to travel again by the second half of 2021.

Taking a week of vacation and going on a trip where you completely disconnect from work is one of the best things you can do for your productivity.

You may not be able to travel today, but you can certainly start planning your next trip.

Start looking at destinations now that you could visit later in the year!

10. Automate Everything Using cloudHQ’s Free Productivity Apps

Finally, as part of your productivity resolutions, check out the 70+ free productivity applications we offer here at cloudHQ.

If you use Gmail or your email is business email is hosted with G Suite, you can have one-click access to:

All of that and so much more.

Wishing You the Best for 2021!

Whether you’re making productivity resolutions or not as you set goals for 2021, we wish you the very best for 2021.

Best Wishes as you Set Goals for 2021!

Christmas Email Templates: How to Create the Perfect Holiday Message in Minutes

December 21, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

Here’s how to find, create, and use Christmas email templates from your regular Gmail account.

Are you looking for Christmas email templates to create that perfect message for friends, family, or coworkers this year?

We’re here to help.

Instead of sending a generic text email, use well-designed Christmas email templates to create and send a beautiful holiday wishes in just minutes!

We recently released an all-new look and feel for Gmail Email Templates, our free tool to help you create beautifully designed emails in minutes.

With Christmas and New Year’s upon us, now is the perfect time to create a professionally-designed email using your Gmail account.

Note: While this service is free, you can save 15% this Christmas when you sign up for any of cloudHQ’s 75 premium productivity tools! Use the code Christmas2020 at checkout.

How to Use Christmas Email Templates in Gmail

The easiest way to use Christmas Email templates is by installing cloudHQ’s Gmail Email Templates Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store.

The extension is free and installs in sections.

As soon as you have it installed, you’ll see a new button in the top of your Gmail:

This is where you can access beautifully designed templates in just a click.

4 Ways to Use an Email Template

Gmail Email Templates gives you a variety of ways to select or create email templates in Gmail.

You can:

Choose from our library of 500+ pre-made templates
Create a custom template from scratch using our drag-and-drop builder
Import existing email templates from MailChimp
Copy the look and feel of any email that you receive to create your own template (most popular)

This gives you a variety of options you can use to create and use email templates.

1. Use a Pre-designed Christmas Template

To select from our existing library of 500+ email templates, click the “Free Templates” tab, then enter “Christmas” in the search box:

You’ll see a selection of Christmas templates you can use for your email. Just click on it, edit it as you see fit, and it’s ready to send!

2. Create an Entirely New Email Template

To create custom Christmas email templates:

1. Go to the “My templates” tab on top, and then select “New Template”
2. Click the “My Templates” tab, then choose “New Template.”

This will open a drag-and-drop editor you can use to create a new template. It’s recently been revamped, so expect it to be super quick to design something incredibly beautiful.

3. Import an Existing Template from MailChimp

To import an existing template from your MailChimp account, click the “MailChimp” tab, then choose “Authorize MailChimp.”:

This will take you to your MailChimp account, where you’ll be able to authorize and import your existing templates into your Gmail account, including your Christmas email templates.

4. Copy the Look and Feel of an Email in 1 Click

Finally, if you receive an email with a design you like, you can copy it, customize the colors, fonts, and sections, then save it as a new template for your own use!

To do this:

1. 1. Open the email you want to copy.
  2. Highlight the entire email, then click Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+C to copy the message to your clipboard.
  3. Open a new Compose window, then click Ctrl+V to paste the message into an email draft.
  4. Click the “Save Draft as Template” button to save the draft as a template.

How to Send Your LinkedIn Network a Holiday Email

One easy way to use Gmail Email Templates this year is to send a holiday email to your LinkedIn connections and Christmas email templates!

This is easier than it might seem.

According to LinkedIn, you can download a list of emails for anyone in your network who has allowed their connections to receive their email address.

To do this, go to your account and follow LinkedIn’s instructions:

1. 1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
  2. Select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown.
  3. Click Data privacy on the left rail.
  4. Under the How LinkedIn uses your data section, click Change next to Get a copy of your data.
  5. Select Want something in particular? Choose the data files you’re most interested in.
  6. Select Connections.
  7. Click Request archive.
  8. Enter your password and click Done.
  9. You’ll receive an email to your Primary Email address, which will include a link where you can download your list of connections.

Use the email list to send personalized messages one by one.

*Tip: Or you can use MailKing to create a personalized email campaign for everyone to receive at once.

Build an Email List from Your Gmail Contacts

Finally, another easy way to send a Christmas message is to pull together the email addresses of everyone you’ve had a conversation with this year.

Whether for work or for personal use, cloudHQ’s Email List Builder will pull together a list of everyone you’ve interacted with by email, including their name, email address, and your message history—all in just minutes.

For example, if you’re a real estate agent, you can use your Gmail message history to create a list of everyone who you worked with this year.

Then, you can create an holiday email to send them using Gmail Email Templates.

Reminder: You can save 15% this Christmas on any of cloudHQ’s premium productivity tools! Use the code Christmas2020 at checkout.

21 Email Subject Lines That Work (With Examples!)

December 16, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

Email subject line formulas help you get people to open, read, and take action after receiving one of your emails.

Looking for email subject lines that work? Maybe you’re:

A marketing team emailing a limited-time offer to your list.
A sales professional following up with a prospect.
A support or customer service representative solving a problem for a customer.
A recruiter reaching out to a talented candidate.
A job hunter making connections with potential future employers.
An employee asking for approval to move forward with a project.

Whatever your situation, many, many, many of us need people to open and read our emails in order to be successful.

We’re no different here at cloudHQ.

As a company that creates email productivity products, we spend more time than most talking back and forth with email messages.

Here are the subject line formulas we use all the time in our own work—and find very effective.

1: Curiosity

The curiosity email subject line formula:

This [fact/item] [helps, hurts, surprises, scares, etc.] [X of Y people]

If you tease someone with just enough information in the subject line, it’s very difficult to resist opening the email to see what’s actually happening.

Here’s how to make people curious:

Make a promise
Ask an interesting question
Write something weird or different–something unlike anything else they’ll see in their inbox that day.
Anything that gets people wondering: “What’s going on here?”

Curiosity email subject line examples:

This poster scared 5 out of 6 of our employees
This financial mistake is hurting 94% of seniors
This debate is driving opinion: Red? Or Purple?

2. Humor

The humor email subject line formula:

[5-10 word joke]

Humor is one of our favorite ways to write email subject lines that work. Can you write a joke and a punchline in less than about 10 words? Or find one on the web you could repurpose?

If so, you might have a fantastic subject line on your hands.

Be careful with humor—what’s funny to one person might not be funny at all to someone else.

That’s especially true if you are emailing a list that includes people from all over the world (as we often do).

However, humor is often ideal when sending an email in one-to-one situations. Sales outreach, for example, is a great situation to lean into humor as a way to get a response.

Who doesn’t like an unexpected laugh when going through their email?

Pro tip: If you can find lists of dad jokes that are appropriate for your recipient or your audience, then customize them as subject lines, those often work extremely well.

Humor email subject line examples:

What kind of shoes do ninjas wear? Sneakers!
Steve left his laptop open so we wrote you this email
I like telling Dad jokes. Sometimes, he laughs!

3: FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

The FOMO email subject line formula:

[Urgency/Scarcity] + [Situation]

FOMO is real.

And you can use the fear of missing out by simply formatting your subject line in a way that takes advantage of this fear.

That means adding an element of scarcity (e.g. “available to the first 100 people”), urgency (e.g. “enrollment closes on Thursday at 5 p.m.!”), or both!

You can also include words or phrases such as:

Urgent!
Breaking
Important
Alert!
Limited time!

FOMO email subject line examples:

[URGENT] Sale ends in 2 hours!
[ONLY 100 TICKETS LEFT] Reserve yours now before it’s too late!
[TONIGHT ONLY] Buy 1 get 1 free!

4. Envy

The envy subject line formula:

[Celebrity/authority] + [item/situation you want to promote]

From entrepreneurs to celebrities, people often look at others who appear to “have it all”—and wish they could live that life too.

To tap into envy as a subject line:

Reference a celebrity or an authority.
Add something that they’ve either purchased or invested in.

The key here is to pick a celebrity or authority that the people in your audience already know and look up to.

You can choose a person (e.g. “Elon Musk”) or a group of people in a specific category (e.g. “hedge fund managers”).

Examples of envy email subject lines:

The pros love this sweatshirt
7 celebrities shopping our spring styles (with pictures!)
Hedge fund managers are quietly picking up this stock

5. Math

The math subject line formula:

[Situation] + [Opportunity] = [Result]

You may not see this one in many of the other lists about subject lines, but we have found it works great as a subject line.

Visually, it really stands out in the inbox against all the other text-based emails your recipient might be scanning through.

And there’s just something delightfully simple about a math equation. It’s hard not to open the message to get the rest of the story.

Examples of math email subject lines:

Your skills + This job opportunity = Success!
Cold weather + Hard work = Gains!
Angry customers + These 5 templates = Problems solved!

6. Pain

The pain email subject line formula:

[Pain point]? + [Tease of a solution]

We are wired to avoid painful situations even more than we’re wired to go after success.

For that reason, invoking potential pain is one of the most effective tactics you can use when writing persuasive content—including subject lines.

For this reason, pain or fear-based subject lines are extremely common.

<h4″>Examples of pain-based email subject lines:

Textbooks too expensive? Here’s an alternative
Stuck in your career? Try this
Hate your boss? Do these 3 things

7. Personal Connection

The personal connection email subject line formula:

[Name of person they know] + [Why you’re reaching out]…

This last one is specifically for those of you doing one-to-one outreach.

Almost nothing will help your open and response rates more than getting a referral or a recommendation from others—then mentioning that person in an outreach message.

Examples of personal connection email subject lines:

Josh Anderson said I should reach out to you…
Sarah Nichols told me you might be interested…
Shanna Reeves pointed me in your direction…

Email Subject Lines That Work

You’re now equipped with a bank of email subject lines to help you get better open rates and better engagement.

Be sure to follow proper email etiquette when sending your messages.

Make sure you format your emails correctly, and then establish a method to send out your email campaign!

We have two email marketing solutions you can try for free—and both work directly within Gmail.

1. Email Templates

If you’re wanting to send a beautifully designed email, don’t think that you need to create it from scratch (though you can, if you wanted to). Instead, find an email you received that you think looks fantastic, and appropriate it as your own with just a click of a button. We’re not even kidding—it’s that easy—just change out the text and images for your own branding and messaging, and you’re done.

Gmail Email Templates is free to use, and is about to become the most indispensable tool you have in your marketing arsenal. Take a look:

2. MailKing for Email Campaigns

MailKing turns Gmail into a fully-featured email broadcast system. It’s perfect for keeping in touch with customers, prospects, or subscribers.

MailKing is unique because it sends emails from your personal Gmail account. Most email systems simply insert your email address into their system as the “sender.”

Using your personal Gmail means you’ll get better delivery rates, better open rates, and better results overall!

Text Message Marketing for Small Businesses: How to Use Gmail to Send Text Campaigns

December 2, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

Did you know you can create and manage text message marketing campaigns using Gmail?

MailKing by cloudHQ adds a powerful suite of marketing tools to your Gmail account, now including text message marketing for small business:

Send mass texts from your Gmail email
Add URL links and track the click-through rate
Send images
Have text replies routed back to your Gmail inbox
Create a dedicated U.S. or Canadian phone number just for your text campaigns.
Respond to a text reply from your dedicated phone number—but actually write your messages and send them from Gmail
Archive all your text messages in your Gmail sent folder
Review text performance with an always-up-to date Google Sheets report

It’s a simple, easy way to keep your list of customers, clients, or students up to date about last-minute date changes, updates, or cancellations.

Here’s how to install and use MailKing for text message marketing. It’s free to get started, and the process only takes a few minutes.

1. Install cloudHQ’s MailKing Chrome Extension from the Chrome Web Store

First, install the MailKing by cloudHQ Chrome extension from the Google Chrome Web store.

The extension is free and installs in seconds.

2. Create a New Text Campaign

MailKing will add a Campaign button to your Gmail account—located directly below the “Compose button.”

Clicking it will take you to the Gmail Campaigns page.

From here, select “New text campaign” to create a new text campaign.

3. Choose Who Will Receive the Campaign

You have three options to select who will receive your text campaign:

Import from Google Spreadsheet
Upload from Excel or CSV
Import from Google Contacts

4. Add Text, Links, and Images

Add text, links, and images to your text message campaign just like you would with a regular email message.

You can preview what your campaign will look like by clicking “Preview.”

5. Schedule Your Campaign

Once you have everything ready, you can send your campaign immediately, save it for later, or schedule it to send at a later time and date.

MailKing Is the Easiest Way to Send Text Message Marketing Campaigns

Research shows that up to 98% of text messages are opened—often within the first three minutes.

Compare that to the 20% or 30% open rates many businesses see when they send emails, and it’s easy to see why text message marketing for small business is becoming much more popular.

MailKing gives you everything you need to send text message campaigns directly from your Gmail account.

It’s an easy, inexpensive way to send text message campaigns.

Try it for yourself today!

Get It While It’s Hot 🔥! Our Annual Black Friday Deals for 2020 Are Here

November 23, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

It’s that time of year again: Black Friday Deals!

Which means that you can again save over $500/month during our annual “all-you-can-eat” Black Friday Deals for 2020.

Signing up will give you access to the premium version of every single one of our 75 productivity tools for just $54.99/month. You’ll be able to supercharge your business with everything you’ll need. Take a look:

Here’s a look at 12 of the top products you’ll receive when you sign up for this limited-time offer:

1. Multi Email Forward for Gmail

Onboarding new employees and need to get them caught up on important projects they’ll be taking over?

Multi Email Forward is the easiest way to move emails from one account to another in just a few clicks.

Simple, safe, and secure, Multi Email Forward works in the background, saving you the hassle of manually forwarding conversations and emails one by one within Gmail.

It’s also the easiest way to securely archive emails any time you need to close an account when someone leaves your company.

2. Gmail Email Templates

Create professionally designed templates from the comfort of your Gmail inbox.

You can also create a new template from scratch and use it on demand for any future email with just a few clicks.

You can also copy any design from any email you’ve received in Gmail, edit it to make it your own, and save it as a template you can use for events, special offers, or your regular customer newsletter.

3. Save Emails to PDF

This lets you save and send your emails as one PDF file.

The premium version lets you save as many emails as you want—and encrypt and password protect them too.

It’s a simple way to securely save sensitive information like employee records, legal communications, or important notes about client projects.

4. Email Signature Generator

Don’t leave your company’s branding to chance!

Create clear messaging with email signatures for yourself, and your whole team, in just seconds—then manage their use with built-in G Suite admin integration.

5. Email Tracker

Work in sales or recruiting and want to know if someone opened your email?

Email Tracking for Gmail is a one-click solution that adds a simple tracking pixel to your emails.

It will then ping you the moment the recipient opens your email—that way you know if they’re just ignoring you.

6. Meeting Scheduler for Gmail

Stop wasting time going back and forth trying to find the right time for a meeting.

With Meeting Scheduler for Gmail, you can easily share your calendar with just a single click.

You can set standard times to be available, and you can quickly customize your availability based on the person you’re sending an email to.

Everything works directly from Gmail and is 100% integrated with your Google Calendar.

Book meetings with only one email. Say goodbye to email “tag game” for scheduling appointments – do everything with one email and one click.

7. Gmail Copilot

Get an instant snapshot of all emails and conversations you had with someone every time you open an email from them.

Gmail Copilot is a mini CRM that provides a report your email contact’s profile information and any past emails conversations you’ve had with them.

8. Gmail Label and Email Sharing

Gmail Label and Email Sharing is the ultimate Gmail collaboration tool. With one click, you can share a Gmail label in the same way you would share a folder in a cloud-based storage solution like Dropbox or Google Drive.

Thousands of Gmail users use Gmail Label and Email Sharing to collaborate with people within their company and with outside partners.

No more lengthy forwarding threads! With Gmail Label and Email Sharing, everyone on your team can stay up to date—automatically.

9. MailKing: Email Campaigns for Gmail

MailKing turns your Gmail inbox into a fully-featured email campaign broadcast system that’s perfect for keeping in touch with customers, prospects, or subscribers.

This is unique because it sends from your personal Gmail account (instead of a separate email system that simply lists your email address as the sender).

That means you’ll get better delivery rates, better open rates, and better results overall!

10. Gmail Auto Follow Up

Never again let a conversation drop just because you forgot to follow up.

Gmail Auto Follow Up helps you follow up with your clients, prospects, coworkers, or anyone! Just set up a sequence of emails to send to your prospects over time from your Gmail with the click of a button.

11. Export Emails to Google Sheets, CSV, or Excel

Powered by artificial intelligence, Export Emails to Google Sheets, CSV, or Excel can parse and export a wide variety of data from your email. Get reports of:

Order and shipping notifications from your email messages
Email leads
Bounced email addresses
Emails from foreign-language customers so that you can get them translated.

And those are just a few examples. Any type of message you receive on a regular basis can be parsed and exported to Google Sheets, CSV, or Excel.

Here’s a simple example showing how to export sales information from your inbox in just a few clicks:

12. Email List Builder

Email List Builder will quickly create an email list of all the people you’ve ever had contact with in your Gmail account.

In seconds, you’ll have a list of all your contacts that you can use for:

Email campaigns
Sales outreach
Partnership opportunities

Email List Builder can also be used to continuiously update your list every time you interact with a new contact.

Black Friday Deals for 2020: Get All 75 Premium Tools Included!

In addition to the 12 tools highlighted above, you’ll receive premium access to every single one of cloudHQ’s 75 Gmail productivity tools—a savings of over $500!

We only offer our all-you-can-eat Black Friday special once a year, and the deal won’t be available for long.

*Pricing valid November 26-December 1, 2020.
*Offer valid to residents of the United States and Canada.
*Offer excludes MailKing text campaigns, Gmail Phone by cloudHQ, and Send your email to SMS Text by cloudHQ.

How to Create Follow-up Email Sequencing in Gmail

November 5, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

Tired of manually following up on emails? Use a simple Gmail autoresponder to create an automated follow-up sequence.

Here’s a mystery of modern business…

For salespeople, 60% of customers say “no” four times before saying “yes.” At the same time, the average sales rep makes only two attempts to reach a prospect before giving up (source).

If that sounds like a lost opportunity to you, it does to us too!

To help salespeople (or anyone who needs to remember to follow up on emails!), we’ve added a small but powerful new feature to our Gmail autoresponder tool: Auto Follow Up.

It enables you to set a Gmail autoresponder sequence for any email you send from Gmail—all with a single click.

How to Create an Autoresponder Email Sequence

Here’s how to setup a new Gmail autoresponder in just a few minutes.

Step 1: Install Auto Follow Up for Gmail from the Chrome Web Store

Auto Follow Up for Gmail is a free Chrome extension available in the Chrome Web Store. It installs with a single click.

If you’ve never used a cloudHQ product before, you’ll be asked to create a free cloudHQ account, which takes only seconds.

Step 2: Create a follow-up email sequence

Open your Gmail account and click the brand new Auto Follow Up button—which will display in the upper left of your screen under “Compose”.

Under the “Automated Email Templates” tab, you can:

Use the pre-written templates we already drafted for you
Create individual emails
Create a campaign sequence of emails
- By choosing a campaign, you can create a sequence of emails to be delivered over several days.

This step might take a few minutes, but once you have your follow-up emails in place, the rest is easy!

Step 3: Compose a new email and select a follow-up email or email campaign from the draft window

Go back to Gmail and click “Compose” to draft a new email.

From the bottom of the draft window, you’ll see a new check box where you can select a email template autoresponder, or a sequence of emails from the email campaign you created in Step 2.

You can also do this from an email in your sent folder, and apply a sequence of emails to an email that you already sent. For example, you could auto send a follow up in 2 days to ask: “Did my email help you?”

Check the box, select an email or a sequence, and send your email!

From here, the follow-up emails will happen automatically.

Who can benefit from a Gmail autoresponder sequence?

If you use Gmail to send follow-up emails on a regular basis, you can save time and improve your results with automated follow-up emails.

1. Sales professionals

Salespeople are among the most active users of Auto Follow Up because it’s an easy-to-use, free tool that’s great for anyone in sales.

Don’t forget to follow up with prospects or customers; automate the task! Auto Follow Up is the easiest, fastest way to follow up with the right message—on time, every time.

2. Customer support and customer service

Using Gmail for customer service or customer support? If so, Auto Follow Up gives you a simple way to send follow-up communications after communicating with a customer.

One common way to use a Gmail autoresponder tool is to set an automated CSAT email for a day or two after a customer service interaction. That way, you never forget to follow up to ask what they thought of your customer service.

3. Business owners and entrepreneurs

Looking for investors or business partners? Or are you hustling to land a new strategic partnership? Just like salespeople, the best thing you can do in these situations is to automate your follow up.

Auto Follow Up is an easy way to automate follow up messages so those business conversations never go cold.

4. Nonprofits and charity organizations

Fundraising requires lots of follow-up. Automate your messages so you don’t lose touch with your biggest supporters or opportunities!

5. Political campaigns—including local campaigns such as school boards or city commissioners

National campaigns have huge staffs and a full suite of technology tools to help them reach potential voters. But what if you’re running for a local election on a shoestring budget?

Auto Follow Up is a perfect way to communicate with a local constituency by setting up a Gmail autoresponder sequence.

Pro tip: Check out MailKing, another free tool from cloudHQ that lets you set up email broadcasts to your supporters directly from Gmail.

6. Recruiters

If you’re a recruiter, you’re juggling dozens of conversions with prospects all the time. It’s easy to let one of those conversations sit idle for several days because you were too busy working on other opportunities.

Use Auto Follow Up to set simple follow-up messages to send on your behalf—that way, none of your conversations go stale just for lack of a follow up.

7. Job seekers

Searching for your dream job? Or just your next job? Stand out from other applicants with a simple Gmail autoresponder sequence.

If you have a Gmail account, you can do this in just a few minutes using Auto Follow Up and the steps listed above.

8. Internal communications

Are you a boss or an administrative assistant? If so, you spend a lot of your time following up with internal stakeholders to get things done.

Use automated email for approval follow-ups, gathering input, or ensuring nothing gets forgotten.

9. Anyone who regularly needs to follow up

No matter your situation, if you regularly follow up with people by email, Auto Follow Up can help you save time and improve your results.

Make sure those follow-up emails happen!

Auto Follow Up: A Perfect (free!) tool for Anyone Looking for a Gmail Autoresponder

The tool is free to install and use for anyone with a Gmail account or a business email hosted through G Suite.

Install it today with just a single click!

Halloween Email Campaigns Are Easy With MailKing

October 30, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

Email marketing that’s spooky, but mystery-free.

Halloween has sprung upon us and it’s scaring us half to death! But fear not: if you want to send your customers dark and magical Halloween email marketing campaigns, look no further than MailKing, cloudHQ’s full-service digital campaign management system. Equipped with email templates, email tracking, link tracking, video compatibility, and more, you’ll have exactly what you need to spellbind your client base!

Of course, with so little time left to send out your bulk emails, you’ll need the quickest possible way to create something absolutely ghastly. Thankfully, with MailKing, you can transform the best emails that have passed through your inbox into customizable templates that you can remodel for your own business within seconds. Watch the video to find out more.

Try this secret tool for your Halloween email campaigns

MailKing features a lot of unique tools to help you get the word out about your Halloween discounts. One tool in particular, however, is especially eerie: you can copy the formatting from any email you’ve received in your inbox—including exact fonts, spacing, images, and text boxes—and rewrite that email using your own information. Are you spooked yet? Let’s explain why it’s such a great addition to your marketing arsenal.

1. It’ll save you time.

Don’t reinvent the wheel: there’s no need to start from scratch when your deadline is looming. All you need to do is remember an email that you received that you really liked the look of. Then, save it as a template; repopulate the text boxes with your own lines; insert new images where the old images are, if need be; and the email is now yours. Obviously, with fonts predesigned and spacing predesigned, your email will look professional.

2. It’ll save you money.

Marketing pros and graphic designers cost money. But why waste money when you can do it yourself—using designs created by marketing pros and graphic designers?

3. It’s gonna look SCARY GOOD.

If it worked for them, it’ll work for you. The emails whose looks you love are available for your use.

4. You’re gonna want to use it again after Halloween.

This isn’t just for pumpkin season. The holiday season is here, and most likely, you’ll be using this tool to copy your favorite Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day promotions.

Are there limits to using MailKing? I want to send my Halloween email campaigns to as many people as I can.

We designed MailKing so that emails send directly from your email address—not through a third party service—to achieve higher open rates. So naturally, Google limits the number of emails that you can send from each email address to about 2,000 per day with Gmail send limits.

Of course, when you use a larger email marketing software system, your email goes through outside servers like Amazon, leaving the Google ecosystem. The downside to that route? Your emails are at risk of being counted as “promotional” by the Google servers, and oftentimes, they don’t show up in your recipients’ main inboxes.

MailKing avoids that problem by respecting Gmail send limits. That way, you can reach your audience.

How do I get started sending Halloween email campaigns?

Follow these instructions to get started with your email campaigns today.

Install MailKing here by clicking Add to Chrome.
In your Gmail, open an email whose formatting you want to copy. Click the Save To button on your Gmail options bar, and in the short dropdown menu that opens up, choose Convert to Template.
The email template will show in a dialog box, entitled “Browse Templates,” that opens up. Hover your mouse over the newly created template option and click the button that appears furthest to the left: Use this template.
A new message composition window will open with the original email now available for your customization. Customize your template by changing the words and images to suit the needs of your Halloween email campaign.
Next, click the MailKing button in your composer window’s options bar: it’s a blue button showing a white chess piece. This opens a new email campaign in MailKing.
First, name your email campaign. (This is just for your reference; it is NOT the same as the Email Subject Line which your recipients will see in their inboxes.)
Add your recipients. You can either add recipients manually by clicking Add and entering email addresses, or you can choose one of three options for uploading a list of contacts all at once: Import from Google Spreadsheet; Upload from CSV, or Excel; or Import from Google Contacts. Remember that you can only personalize your campaign with merge tags if you select one of these options. (You can’t personalize if you manually enter email addresses.)
Choose the “From” name for your emails. This is the name that will show who has sent the campaign. (Choose your business name, your personal name, your event name, or anything else!)
Choose your email subject. Cut through a noisy inbox with something snappy!
Above the “From” name, you’ll see two tabs: Edit and Preview. Click Preview. Here, you’ll be able to view your campaign as your recipients will see it. To the right of the “Email Subject Line” box, notice the dropdown box with options “Desktop” and “Mobile.” You can switch between these two options to see how your campaign shows up on a computer versus a phone. If necessary, make changes to your formatting based on what you see.
If you want to alter the template by manipulating the HTML and/or CSS code, use MailKing’s built in HTML editor.
Check the box to confirm that you understand Gmail send limits. Then, click send!
Once the campaign is sent out, you can view the results by clicking on the name of the campaign in your MailKing dashboard. You’ll be able to see each email, tracked for email opens and link clicks.

Don’t be a zombie! Take advantage of this email marketing tip now.

How to Create Halloween Emails to Send to Customers

October 27, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

For Halloween 2020, use these devilish marketing ideas when sending sales emails to your customers

Things can get spooky this time of year. But there’s one thing that doesn’t need to be mysterious: your sales numbers. And with the holiday season around the corner, a strong marketing strategy will prove essential as you push to maximize gains these next two months. Fortunately, we have a terrifying tool you can use to create bloodcurdlingly beautiful Halloween emails to send to customers with minimal effort. It’s sure to make your list of Best Halloween Ideas 2020. Especially considering its most enchanting quality: it’s free.

Yes, Gmail Email Templates allows you to magically rip the formatting of your favorite emails—images, text fonts, spacing, etc.—and use that exact formatting as your own. Sounds ghoulish, doesn’t it? In no time, you’ll have a frightfully good draft of an email ready for your customers.

Your emails want dress-up ideas for Halloween 2020

With Gmail Email Templates, you’ll have access to a library of nearly 500 templates, all free for your use. Indeed, with so many options, you may not even need the extension’s unique template-copying feature to draft the perfect email. Then again…when a great email arrives in your inbox and you think, “I love this,” won’t you want to copy it and save it for later? If the marketing worked on you, there’s a good chance it will work on your customers too.

Gmail Email Templates’ template-copy feature makes it easy to create stunning emails to send your customers this haunted Halloween. In fact, by using emails that already work well, you’ll save on hiring graphic designers or a marketing team.

How do I get started with Gmail Email Templates by cloudHQ?

Follow these instructions.

Install Gmail Email Templates here by clicking Add to Chrome:
In your Gmail, open an email with formatting that you enjoyed. On the options bar in your Gmail window, press the “Save To” button, which looks like a downward arrow pointing to a line. On the dropdown menu that appears, click “Convert to Template.”
A popup box will appear with an open library of templates to choose from, and your new template will be in the library. Click Use this template to start a new email with your copied template.
To customize the email template for your business, click on individual images or text boxes, altering information and media as necessary.
Send it out!

Tricks and treats for sending your customers ghoulish Halloween emails

We know that an email template is a great place to start, but we understand that you might also need a little more help to get this off the ground. That’s why we created two more email applications for you: (1) an email list builder, and (2) a professional email marketing campaign application.

1. Email List Builder

Don’t have an email list? Don’t worry. You can use Email List Builder by cloudHQ to identify every single email address that you have in your Gmail account and automatically organize it for you into a Google Sheets spreadsheet. It’s the perfect solution to get you started.

2. Email campaign management

Surely, you can send out your Halloween email as a BCC to all of your customers. However, for a little more sophistication, start using a professional email campaign management tool like MailKing. It’s an excellent way to send an email blast about your Halloween sale to your mailing list.

Fearsome small business marketing to close out 2020

If you’re looking for Halloween marketing ideas for your small business in what has already been a…spooky…2020, well then: look no further than your own inbox! Copy and customize a template now: then go get your candy supply ready!

Mass Text From Email Service: Text Message Campaigns

October 17, 2020 by Naomi Assaraf

Remind voters to head to the polls with MailKing’s new mass text campaigns.

With just over three weeks until Election Day, get-out-the-vote efforts are mounting. How can you be more effective in your voter outreach campaigns? Try sending mass political text campaigns from your email with MailKing’s new SMS campaign feature.

Studies in the 2018 election cycle proved that SMS (text message) campaigns had nearly 5x the read rate and 9x the response rate of email campaigns. In fact, all text recipients are 1% more likely to vote, and those between 27 and 50 years old were almost 8% more likely to vote than email recipients in their age group. (Those are some serious numbers, since even a 1% boost can turn many elections.) Right in time for the 2020 election, we’ve updated our comprehensive email campaign manager, Mailking, with text campaigns. Read on to find out more about what’s now possible for your text campaigns during the elections.

Mass texting from your email. Enjoy a broad suite of SMS marketing functionalities.

MailKing is cloudHQ’s full-service mass marketing manager. Previously equipped only for mass emailing, we’ve now updated its capabilities so you can send your campaigns as SMS texts as well.

Unlike other mass texting services, MailKing offers the following very useful and unique features:

Tracking functions for text opens and link clicks
Embedded image functionality
Schedule send at a specific time
Reply through Gmail: if your recipient texts back, you’ll receive an email. You can continue to reply back through email—they’ll receive it as another text.
Follow up with phone numbers via email by using their special email address (“sms+<their phone number>@cloudhq.net”).
All messages show up in your Gmail Sent folder.
Upgrading to the Premium version of the tool, your texts also back up neatly into a Google Sheets report.
Upgrading to the Premium version of the tool, you will also receive a dedicated phone number in the area code of your choice that delivers to your email.

When you send mass texts from your email, you’ll be more effective and more efficient. Which means you can make the difference you had in mind.

SMS marketing or email marketing?

Which is more effective, and in what situation? Refer to this infographic to learn just when to use each type of campaign.

How do I get started sending text campaigns?

Download MailKing here by clicking Add to Chrome.
In your Gmail, click MailKing’s Campaign button, which opens its own separate window.
Click New Text Campaign.
Name the campaign.
Import a contact list, or type contacts’ information in manually.
Write your message. You can insert links, and images. If you like to include a video, just upload an image and link it to your video on YouTube or wherever you want link to go. Your recipient clicks will be tracked.
Click the Preview tab to see how your campaign actually shows up on mobile phones.
Add a BCC address if you use a CRM like SalesForce, ZenDesk, SugarCRM, etc. That address will receive a log for each text sent out. If you don’t have a CRM email, you can just skip this step.
Want to schedule the campaign to send out at a certain time? Click the Schedule box and specify a time.
Check the CAN-SPAM compliance box.
Schedule it out, or send it immediately!

If you text them, they will vote.

The studies prove it: mass political text campaigns are highly effective. Don’t sleep on this very important tactic. Download Mailking.io today and reach everyone you need to reach—directly in their cell phones!

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