Let Go of Your Email Folders

Go ahead. Pick an analogy to define just how crucial, frustrating and ultimately defeating email can be: the Tower of Virtual Babble, the Broken Rosetta Stone.

Through email, we're completely beholden to everybody we've ever had any contact with. And email can contain literally anything -- your next important piece of business ... or a virus that could destroy your full identity.

The good news for small businesses is that there's a rising tide of business communications tools based on email available from almost everybody including Microsoft(MSFT Quote) and startups like Coghead.

Kill Your Folders

But before we can take a crack at these new bits of communications software, it's wise improve the efficiency of the email tools you already have.

And that starts with killing all those folders that are cluttering up your email inbox.

I know, axing your friendly folders is heresy, but search technology has made those 75 meticulously labeled folders clinging to your inbox obsolete.

Desktop and Web-based search tools from Google(GOOG Quote), Yahoo!(YHOO Quote), Microsoft and others now let you find specific emails on the basis of any number of search terms, not just the folder's name.

Until now, when were looking for that overdue invoice from say, Hateful Client No. 1, you had to remember that Hateful Client is under "H."

You had to find that folder and scan down zillions of emails until you found that one invoice.