{"id":4475,"date":"2010-01-07T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2010-01-07T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/2010\/01\/using-email-templates-to-say-%e2%80%9cno%e2%80%9d-with-grace.html"},"modified":"2010-01-07T07:00:24","modified_gmt":"2010-01-07T12:00:24","slug":"using-email-templates-to-say-no-with-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/using-email-templates-to-say-no-with-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Email Templates to Say “No” with Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"

A good friend of mine who happens to be an author and blogger asked if I had an email template for saying \u201cno.\u201d Apparently, as a result of her rising visibility, she is getting numerous requests from people who want to meet with her or \u201cpick her brain\u201d about this or that.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

I get lots of requests like this, too. In fact, I have identified eleven different kinds of requests. I hate saying \u201cno\u201d to people. In fact, I don\u2019t know anyone who enjoys it. So to make the process less painful, I have developed a series of email templates to use for these requests.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I have entered each of these templates as an email signature. (Who says a signature has to be just<\/em> a signature? It can be any kind of boilerplate text.) You can do this yourself in Apple Mail<\/a>, Microsoft Entourage<\/a>, Outlook<\/a>, and most other email applications. You could also do this with a macro program like Typinator<\/a>, Quickeys<\/a>, Keyboard Maestro<\/a>, or iKey<\/a>. The tool is inconsequential.<\/p>\n

Here is my list of requests by category with my boilerplate text:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. People looking for a job.<\/strong> I don\u2019t take these appointments unless I am attempting to fill a spot that will report to me and the person sounds genuinely interesting. Otherwise I send them this:\n
    \n

    Dear [Name]:<\/p>\n

    As CEO, I do not get directly involved in the hiring process except in very rare instances, such as filling a key opening on our Executive Leadership Team or on my own staff.<\/p>\n

    Nevertheless, I can tell you how to get started. First, visit this page on our Web site:<\/p>\n

    Careers<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n