GMAIL CHEAT SHEET – Increase your productivity – part 2

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If you’ve just decided to move from Zimbra or  outlook to Gmail, there are few things you will need to do in order to avoid frustration.

Standard Gmail comes without any bells or whistles, making it ideal for personal business, but extremely unfit for a corporate environment.

But with just a few clicks, you can change all that. Follow these few instructions to optimize your Gmail experience.

Create Labels, Archive Messages

Perhaps the first thing that you’ll notice is that Gmail does not have folders – it has labels. So you need to start thinking of folders as labels.

When you add a “label” to a message, the message does not disappear from your inbox until you archive it. (Archive is a very important function to move emails from inbox to their “labels.”) I’d recommend that you enable the display of the archive button on the Gmail menu bar, so that you can archive messages in one click. Here’s how to activate the archive button:

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Resize Side Panel

One Gmail limitation is that the left side banner is fixed, meaning that long labels will get cut off. If you’re the type of person who uses long labels, you might want to install the “Gmail label column resizer” chrome extension. After installing the extension you will be able to resize your sidebar, allowing you to see your complete labels. Warning: You might need to install then de-install several times before it works.

Creating a Full Width Composition Box

When you try to compose an email via native Gmail you will be offered a small space in the lower right corner of your browser. To overcome this limitation install the “Full Width Gmail preview pane” chrome extension. This will allow you to create new emails in a popup window that extends the full width of your browser window.

To install a chrome extension, follow these steps:

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Enabling Undo Send

We’ve all sent messages before and then realized that we forgot some important information, sent it to the wrong person, or made some mistakes. Thankfully, Gmail allows you to “unsend” your email. Go into Gmail Setting/General Tab and then choose Enable Undo Send. Now you can recall a message that you sent by mistake within 30 seconds.

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Customize Your Email View:

Want to see unread messages first? Or does seeing your important messages first work best for you? Choose your preferred display setting by visiting Setting/inbox tab/ Inbox type in your Gmail account. Whatever you choose, your email will be sorted into two categories: “Unread message” followed by “everything else” or “important” followed by “everything else”.

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Adding a Reading Pane

To add a preview pane, allowing you to read your emails while also scrolling down your email list, select Setting/Labs/Enable Preview Pane.

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 Adding A Photo For Your Contact

Like to see the faces of the people you’re emailing? To add a preview image of the person emailing you, see the picture above – go to Setting/Labs/Enable Picture in Chat. Now you’ll always see their smiling face as you exchange messages!

Hyperlinking a image in your email signature

This was a challenge but my colleague Vlado showed me the trick.

Grab the image and wiggle it for few seconds, then the image will be highlighted . At this point click the link button in the menu bar, this will give you a sub-menu “Go to link: with two selections: change or remove. Just click the change then add your hot URL.

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 Viewing Your Google Calendar In Gmail

In order to preview your calendar while in Gmail, just go to Setting/Labs, then enable “Google Calendar Gadget”. You will find the previewer of the calendar at the bottom of the left side label panel.

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Increase Your Productivity With These 8 GMAIL Tricks

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Why work harder, when you can work smarter?

We heard it first in a 2009 Apple commercial and it still holds true today – if you need your device to do anything, there’s an app for that.

Apps and extensions are always in development, and constantly evolving in functionality and usability, to enhance our productivity. In the world of email we see this same drive to improvement, with endless additions and alterations, all promising to make our lives easier.

But how do we know which ones to choose?

As someone who is always on Gmail for both business and personal communication, I’ve found that these eight extensions and set-up options have really helped me to maximize my efficiency and minimize hassle.

ADD A PROFESSIONAL EMAIL SIGNATURE

OK, so I’ll admit that this may seem like “Professional Email 101,” but honestly, a good, clean, professional email signature takes you from looking like a newbie to an established businessperson. Beginners can do well with simply filling in the signature information within the “settings” tab, and turning the signature on to ensure that it is attached to every email. But those who want to up their game and add social media links, icons, and other accoutrements, Wisestamp is a great cost-effective choice that adds a professional touch without breaking the bank at only $4/month.

DOWNLOAD GMAIL OFFLINE

It’s summer, and for many of us that means going off to the cottage or some other off-the-beaten-path area that is enriching and calm…and without Internet *gasp!*. But now, not having a connection doesn’t mean that you can’t get your work done. With Gmail Offline, you can access your email and complete your work anywhere, any time, regardless of whether or not you have a live connection. Take that, Mother Nature (and subway tunnels)!

WRITE EMAIL WITHOUT CHANGING TABS

Some days I feel like I’m lost in a sea of tabs, desperately staring at my screen to find Gmail because I just want to send one. little. email! Thankfully, I’ve been thrown a lifejacket by the name of Open Compose Window for Gmail – an extension that allows you to send an email faster than you can say “Open Compose Window for Gmail” thanks to its addition of a small Gmail icon to your navigation bar. Opening a new message window with one click? Yes please!

USE SHORTCUTS

One of the easiest ways to navigate your Gmail account is by using tried and true shortcuts. As someone who is always looking to improve my efficiency, I’m forever learning new shortcuts for my programs and applications. KeyRocket, a Gmail extension, offers users a crash course in shortcuts, teaching you how to use them quickly and effectively. Or, if you’re looking to improve your Gmail performance without having to download anything, just turn on the shortcuts in Gmail itself, which will allow you to use a variety of keys to perform various functionalities, like using “has: attachment” to find emails with attachments, or even using “!” to report spam.

SPAM, SPAM, and SPAM

Now that’s got me thinking – I can’t be the only person who remembers that amazing Spam skit by Monty Python (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE). As much as Monty Python’s spam is great, inbox spam is the worst! All of that clutter from websites and organizations really cuts into my productivity as I wade through all of the useless emails to get to what I need. So, I’ve enabled Block Sender for Gmail – a free extension that allows you to block all emails from a specific address or website. Want even more than these basic features? Check out one of their paid plans.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHO IS EMAILING YOU

Sometimes messages show up in my inbox and I’m not convinced they’re spam, but I don’t really know who they’re from. Thankfully, Rapportive knows. This app discretely offers you all of the information that can be found about the sender’s email, allowing you to decide whether it’s worth opening their message, or moving on.

GET INSTANT NOTIFICATION WHEN YOU RECEIVE AN EMAIL

So I don’t know about you, but when waiting for an important email I used to end up stuck in front of Gmail, frantically refreshing the page until it arrived (at which point I breathed a sigh of relief and carried on with my day). It was a HUGE drain on my productivity, wasting not only my time but my mental energy. But then I discovered the email desktop notification tab under my Gmail settings, and now I get an instant alert on my desktop whenever an email comes in. Productivity win!

ENGAGE A TRACKING SYSTEM

Now the flip side of this situation is one where you send of an important email and spend the rest of your day checking your inbox, waiting for a reply, and thinking “Did they get it? Did they get it? DID THEY GET IT???” If you need something to help ease your mind, enable MailTrack.io – an email checking app that not only confirms that your email was sent, but whether and when it was opened by the recipient (AND what device they used to open it!). You can’t put a price on this kind of peace of mind – so, naturally, it’s free!

Do you have any of your own tried-and-true Gmail solutions that you find really work? Tell me in the comments below!

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How Should I Control My Privacy on Facebook

How / Why should you setup your privacy on Facebook?

Facebook has always fought against giving you control over your privacy. So, the first thing to do after opening your profile is change your privacy setting.

You should decide:

  1. who can see your photos
  2. who Can upload photos to your profile
  3. who can tag your photos or
  4. who can check you into places. .

Make sure that you don’t allow any one check yo u into places.

This is the way to protect yourself and your business on Facebook. Even do not use messages that are very private on social media.  I would abstain from sending any business email on Facebook or Facebook messaging system, especially if I am a financial advisor. As a financial advisor  would make sure that messages related to business would go through the company’s email, not Facebook’s email.

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How Many Facebook Timeline Updates?

How many times should you update your Facebook Timeline on your profile or your Page ? How much should I be active?

You should always post updates that are of quality and of interest to your fans
You should not update your profile or wall, more than 4 to 5 times a day. Many and repetitive updates can result in  account ( profile or page) suspension.

A good example of a Facebook timeline update is:

  1. a positive quote, or
  2. a link to a good article with a snippet about the article or
  3. how to or why should you ?

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How To use LinkedIn to succeed in Business?

When you are a business, LinkedIn is the best Social Media platform to succeed. If you are offering business to business services or products, Linked in is the place to be.
One of the major myths is that LinkedIn is for finding a job and finding employees. LinkedIn is a place where all the professionals meet, discuss, talk and find the right solution or provider for their problems.

When you want to succeed in business, you should join LinkedIn as your Social Media Network.

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Be Interested Not Interesting – Social Media Success

Are you interested, or are you interesting? The major mistake that I see over and over in social media is people talking, talking – and nobody’s listening.

In order to succeed in financial social media, you need to be interested, not just interesting. You need to listen to people, to what they are saying; you need to familiarize with their needs and Values, you need to show them that you have a common ground with them, in order for them to start liking you and following you and listening to your solutions.

That is the final and 10th step of succeess in social Media

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Overcoming Embarrassment in Social Media – Step 9

How many of you have been embarrassed? How many of you are afraid of embarrassment and haven’t done anything because of [that] it? That’s the ninth point of how to succeed in social media.

The only way to overcome embarrassment is to change your mind set about it. Embarrassment can be an opportunity for you because not only youare afraid of embarrassment, but also your competition. So, if you take the steps to do things, and don’t care about the mistakes that you think that you are doing, you will overcome embarrassment, and that’s what will transform this [it] into an opportunity for you.

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Success in Social Media – Following Through – Step 8

The eighth point of  success in social media is called following through – especially when you are online and make a promise to somebody.
How many of us have bought an online course, or Start reading a book, and never finished it?
When online, if you promise anyone anything, make sure that you take the proper steps to finish it, because if you don’t, they will let you know and let everyone else know.

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Success in Social Media is based on Transparency – Step 7

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Step 7 for success in social media is about transparency. Be transparent when you are in social media and when you are offering a product or selling a service. Do not hide anything because all of those things hidden will come back to haunt you. Be honest in what you say and what you sell because in social media, everybody is going to listen to you, and anybody can search what you have said and done.

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How Can You Succeed in Social Media: Authenticity- Step 6


The sixth point of how can you succeed in social media, is called authenticity. Be real, be you. Don’t try to mimic someone else or present somebody who is not you because people who are following you will love you for who you are. Show your weaknesses, show your strengths, let people know that the real person is you. That will guarantee your success in social media.

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