A large number of people access email using one version of outlook or another. That is great – except when a friend repeatedly sends large attachments to your address. How can you become more effective in sending documents by email?
In an earlier tip the idea of sending images without bogging down others’ email inbox was explained. The same method can be applied for handling the need to send documents – PDF, DOC, and others. The WordPress media manager can make this a breeze and give you the confidence that more people are happy receiving your email.
1. Convert your Document to a PDF
By doing this you increase the number of your recipients who will be able to quickly open and read your content. How to do this?
Mac:
- In the Print dialogue, choose the “PDF/Save as PDF” option. (this is a standard option with all present day macs)
- Save the file with a name that has no spaces (the name of the file will be in the url of the link – no spaces lead to less 404 not found experience)
- Done
Windows:
- Download and install the CutePDF tool for windows
- Print your document – selecting the CUTE PDF Printer instead of your default machine
- When prompted – save the document as a PDF with no spaces in the name (the name of the file will be in the url of the link – no spaces lead to less 404 not found experience)
2. Upload PDF to your WordPress media manager
Note: You can upload using the “Media/Add new” option in the main navigation of your WordPress dashboard or use the media upload dialogue above the post/page editor.
Copy and insert a link in your email
This link – as pointed out by the green arrow above is the ticket to giving recipients the option to download and view your document. Now that you have that copied to your clipboard compose a new email and insert the link. A few quick tips on this:
- avoid scaring or boring people with having to look at the “http://www. … …pdf”. Write a few meaningful words, select that text and use the insert link button in your editor. The text then becomes the active link.
- Give people a clear idea of what they get when they click. Spell it out for theme i.e. “Download this 3.3MB PDF document”
- A Few Tutorials for inserting links in email: Outlook, gMail, Apple Mail, Yahoo mail
Once mastered this is a very simple route for successful email and much happier recipients. Not only will more of your email make it past the spam filters more effectively, generally there will be less cringing and more clicking to get at your carefully prepared document.
Don’t have WordPress? Favor uploading documents elsewhere? Do tell what service you prefer to use when sending PDF or other documents!
