Here’s a Fantastic Plugin To Organize Your Mac Mail

,

Check out Mail Act-on. It’s very handy for doing advanced and automated actions in Mac Mail. I love James Schramko’s Inbox Relief strategy but I just don’t find it convenient to have Gmail opened in a web browser all the time.I have multiple email accounts and I like being able to see all new incoming mail at a glance.

If you do use Gmail, you will already be familiar with the ‘Archive’ feature. It’s a great way to clear your inbox screen without actually deleting messages. Best of all… it’s a one click operation.

Now with Mail Act-On, I can create custom rules and assign them a shortcut key which is even quicker than a one click operation.

Here’s the process:

  • Connect to your email/Gmail account through IMAP
  • Create a new folder/label called “Done” or “Handled” (whatever you like)
  • Create a custom Act-on Rule to move messages to your new IMAP folder and assign that rule a shortcut key
  • That’s it! Now when you respond to an email, you can press Option +D (my chosen shortcut key) to move that email to your “Done” folder

This means you can effectively clear out emails that you have “handled” and only see the emails that you need to deal with in your inbox. It helps you stay organized and on top of everything (especially if you have lots of clients to respond to everyday).

The other benefit to this approach is that all your old emails are still searchable through Mac mail.

You can also use the built in Mail Act-On menu like the picture shows below… in case you forget your keyboard shortcut key 🙂


Image via Flickr – Mail Act-on

Mail Act-on for Mac

Reduce the effort required to manage your email

Perform multiple actions on messages in a fraction of a second and eliminate time consuming and error prone manual organization such as drag and drop message filing.

via MailActOn.

.

/by

Is Posterous Taking A Page Out Of Google’s Book By Launching ‘Spaces’

,
Looks like Posterous is taking a page out of Google’s book with their new launch of Spaces. This employs a similar concept to Google + circles where by you can designate certain updates to only show to particular groups of people, whether it be your friends, colleagues, family etc. I’ll be looking into this a bit further over the coming weeks and I’ll let you know how to take advantage of this update.

.

A Space to call your own.

So, what is your Space? It’s where you

share photos, video, thoughts or whatever.

It’s perfect for staying in-touch with friends,

family, and groups.

A public Space?

Public Space

When it’s worthy of the masses, broadcast to everyone.

Or private Space?

Private Space

To control who sees what, simply make it private.

via Welcome to Posterous Spaces.

.

Not a blog any more – it’s a space! RT @ojezap: From my tech blog: #Posterous revamps its group sharing, calls it Spaces: http://ow.ly/6suvs
Via Twitter
RT @nakeva: Posterous Swaps Blog Platform for Social Network http://t.co/iqNLdeg via @Mashable @meetusinghal
Via Twitter
Posterous gets a massive revamp. New Web app, new iPhone app and introduces ‘Spaces’.
Via Google Buzz
#RGP Posterous Reborn: Spaces Challenge Google Plus and Facebook: Posterous, the niftiest self-publishing platf… http://t.co/fCU1oI2
Via Google Buzz
/by

Nanacast Advanced Techniques

,

Nanacast has become quite a popular shopping cart service for many people selling products and services online but it can take quite a bit of getting used to as it is quite different from most other services especially when it comes to affiliate management.

If you are wondering how to email your nanacast affiliates their swipe emails then check out this walkthrough video on how it’s possible through the Nanacast Advanced Outgoing API:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2631gvVdLrw

If you are using nanacast and you would like me to set this up for you, just contact me through this site and I’ll get back to you.

/by

Stop obsessing over HTML5 and CSS3

,

Stop obsessing over HTML5 and CSS3 | Webdesigner Depot
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/06/stop-obsessing-over-html5-and-css3/

As web designers, we all seem obsessed by HTML5 and CSS3 at the moment. Endless posts, tutorials and discussion about them dominate the blogosphere. But how much are we learning that can be applied today?

Don’t get me wrong. We all need to understand HTML5 and CSS3. And a lot of it can be used today.

My point is that we seem to be spending a disproportionate about of time reading up on the subject when so many other areas deserve our attention.

It’s true. As techies we are often more interested in bits and bytes rather than the things that actually generate business for us. 

/by

Magic Url Shortener

,

Link tracking is a fundamental part of online business. If you don’t know where your traffic is coming from then you don’t know how to optimize your website, your sales process, and your business.

Google provides a set of parameters you can add to any link which automatically get tracked through Google Analytics. This means you can now easily track exactly where your traffic and conversions are coming from. Problem is, these parameters aren’t easy to remember, and its rather tedious to navigate to the Google URL builder page everytime you want to create a trackable link.

Now you don’t have to. You can create Google Url Builder links very easily using the Magic Url Shortener extension for Google Chrome. You can even shorten those links using the popular bit.ly shortening service all through one interface.

Check Out Magic Url Shortener here…

Download the Magic Url Shortener Tutorial PDF

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXnmy_U6xeg

/by

Easy WordPress Links

,

Here is a super easy way to integrate: WordPress, affiliate links, and Google analytics…

The benefit of this method is that all you need to do is create a new page in WordPress and input your affiliate link. Everything else is done for you.

If you are tracking your blog through Google Analytics you will now see those links as content pages in your report.

You will need the WP Page Refresh Plugin to use this method. You also get the Affiliate Cookie Drop Plugin as a bonus. Scroll to the bottom of this post to purchase these plugins.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5wjnpGzFBY

Click Here To Download The PDF Walkthrough


To create a sample redirect page, click the “Add New” link under the Pages dropdown

media_1305680448405.png

You can also do this with Posts. You might like to create a category called “recommends” and then have each Post under that category redirect through your affiliate link.

Specify a title for your new page

media_1305680690188.png

Note: You may want to click the “Edit” option on the permalink setting and delete the dash so your permalink looks something like: http://mikeleembruggen.com/productname/

Note: Make sure you have the WP Page Refresh and Affiliate Cookie Drop Plugins checked under “Screen Options” at the top of the page

media_1305680984717.png

Scroll down to the WP Page Refresh section and enter your affiliate link into the “Destination URL” field

media_1305680889878.png

Enter a “Delay Time”

media_1305681156160.png

0 means that the page will redirect immediately after it has finished loading. This will be fine for most uses.

Click the “Publish” button

media_1305681311060.png

That’s It!

Now you should see a new link on your home page and when you click that, it will redirect through your affiliate link.

Affiliate Cookie Drop settings: If you want to redirect to a custom page other than the direct affiliate landing page… Select your affiliate link, right click, and select “Cut”

media_1305681529680.png

Example usage: You can use this Affiliate Cookie Drop plugin to direct link to an order form instead of the sales page if you have already pre-sold the customer.

Paste that link into the “Affiliate Link” field in the Affiliate Cookie Drop settings

media_1305681681802.png

Enter your custom landing page URL into the “Detination URL” field in the WP Page Refresh settings

media_1305681772166.png

Click the “Publish” button

media_1305681854623.png

That’s It!


Easy WordPress Links – Comes With WP Page Refresh Plugin, Affiliate Cookie Drop Plugin and How-To Guide

/by

Leveraging Your Greatest Assets: Time & Energy

,

Something that’s becoming more apparent to me every day is that I have a finite amount of highly productive energy available to me each day. It kinda sux, because naturally I want to get as much done as possible but when I think about the times that I am most productive and actually get things done, it’s really a small window.

This is the case for everyone no matter how smart you think you are. We, as humans are cyclical by nature, we are not computers and cannot function linearly, which means we cannot produce a high constant output for long periods of time. This became clear to me after watching Tony Schwartz presentation. (Thanks for sharing that video Kyle).

For me, I work best under pressure. This is more of a pressure I place on myself rather than other people placing it on me. That’s just stressful, but when I know that I only have an hour left in the day before I need to turn off the computer, my brain switches into productive mode and I start thinking about what can I do in this last hour that is really going to make a difference to my business.

I find near the start and end of the day are times that are highly productive for me. At the start of the day, I have new energy, and I can get a task done that needs to get done. At the end of the day, I have that pressure situation where I know I need to get something done before the day ends.

Then there’s days where you are down, which is natural. Like I said, we are cyclical. Happens to be today for me. I didn’t get enough sleep last night and I don’t believe I really have the mental enthusiasm to get done a high energy task I wanted to do today. If I do it just because it needs to get done, then there’s a high chance that I won’t produce my desired outcome. I will get frustrated with the whole process, and I may abandon something that is a good idea simply because I attempted it when I wasn’t at a mental high point.

It’s a hard pill to swallow. What do you do? Try work yourself into a high mental state, pump yourself full of guarana energy drinks, or simply leave it until another day?

I’m interested to know your opinion on this and what works best for you.

I think it’s important to identify when you are at high mental capacity and when you are just having a bad day. I think sometimes when you are low, it’s better to completely switch off, give yourself a break, and realise that it’s ok. You need a break.

The danger of thinking about anything business related when you are in a low mental state is that your decisions still stick moving forward. If you make a decision about something when you are down, that decision will carry forward even when you are back up to high mental capacity. It will cause you to abandon things, believe something doesn’t work or is too hard, and make judgemens that affect the rest of your life simply because you were having a bad day and weren’t thinking clearly.

/by

Mind Map Software – Bubbl.us Review

,

If you are looking for a very simple and easy-to-use mind map software, then bubbl.us might just be the answer for you.

I have got to hand it to the developers of this software. They have made it extremely easy to get started. When you fist load up the website, you see a button in the middle of the page that says “Start Brainstorming”. You click that button and you’re immediately in editing mode for your new mind map. Brilliant. No sign up necessary, but of course once you start creating a mind map, you decide you want to save it and you sign up.

 

Here is a quick video walkthrough of the software showing various different aspects of it. There are a few little quirks I found such as the Pin/Unpin aspect that made it quite difficult to work with large maps, but overall I think it is an excellent platform if you are looking for something simple and easy to use, and best of all… FREE.

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pld4pKlllOY

 
Here is an example of the HTML embed option:
 

Some of the other mind map software available is FreeMind, MindMeister, MindNode, iMindMap, Mind42, MindManager, & SimpleMind.

If you like this post and would like me to review other mind mapping software, then please leave me a comment below.

/by

A Measure Of Success: Your Rejection Rate

,

How do you handle rejection? It’s definitely something that is not easy to accept for most people but something that is key to success in business. It’s what separates the top earners from everyone else who jumps from one idea to the next in the hope that their new idea is going to work. Here’s how to measure your rejection rate: How many rejections or failures does it take for you to quit a proven method or strategy?

Most people’s honest answer is 1.

Here’s a story told to me once by a wise man to illustrate the point. If you were to put in two dollars (for argument sake) into a vending machine and click the button for a coke, what would you expect to happen? You would expect the coke can to pop out the bottom right? Say you passed this vending machine everyday and you bought a coke everyday for a year and each time it popped out the bottom just like you expected. Then one day you came to the vending machine just like normal and put in your two dollars expecting a coke can to pop out the bottom, and nothing happened. You shake the machine, give it a kick and a prod, but still nothing. What would you think? You just spent your hard earned two dollars and got no return. You now have doubts about this vending machine. Maybe it’s broken, maybe it doesn’t work anymore. The question is, are you likely to return to this vending machine the next day? Probably not, even though this machine has worked perfectly for the last year, your faith in this machine is now shaken. That’s the point. All it takes for most people to give up and look to something else to be the answer is one rejection or failure.

Smart business people know that rejection is part of the game, and persistence is key. They have built up a high rejection tolerance. It takes more than one ‘NO’ for them to quit.

That’s an important lesson. You got to stick to the plan when things get tough and it seems like they’re not working.

Think about that story again, and ask yourself the question… What’s my rejection rate?

If it’s one, then it’s not enough. Think about how you could increase it to two, and then three, and then when you achieve success, solidify this idea in your mind so that when you move onto bigger projects, you know and understand that rejection is just part of the game.

/by

A Glimpse of Australian Internet Usage and How It Can Affect Your Business

,

The Internet only become more and more important to business owners in the last 5 years. Although 5 years doesn’t seem like a long time. It’s surprising to see just how far technology has come in that short space of time.

The internet has made communication easier. Dissemination of information and other data has became almost instantaneous. People from all around the globe can now be connected. It has become a solid platform where people can transact and conduct business twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. There’s no restrictions on opening and closing hours and it has opened up the doors to essentially millions of people who can visit your business page.

In this article, I am going to show you a glimpse of the current trend of internet usage specifically for Australia.

 

Australia
Internet Usage Stats and Telecommunications Market Report

Internet Usage Statistics:

17,033,826 Internet users as of Aug/2009, 80.1% of the population, according to Nielsen.

Facebook Users in Australia:
9,520,960 as of August 31, 2010, according to Facebook.

Internet Broadband Subscribers:
4,700,200 Broadband subscribers (connections) as of Sept./07, 22.8% of the population, according to OECD.

 

Internet Growth and Population Statistics:

YEAR Users Population % Pop. G.N.I. p.c. Usage Source
2000 6,600,000 19,521,900 33.8 % $19,992 (’00) ITU
2007 14,729,191 20,434,176 70.2 % $21,650 (’06) Nielsen
2009 16,926,015 21,262,641 79.6 % $32,220 (’06) Nielsen
2010 17,033,826 21,262,641 80.1 % $32,220 (’06) Nielsen

G.N.I.p.c. = Per Capita Gross National Income in US dollars, historic series.

Australia Internet Demographic Information:

Population:

20,507,264 (2005 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 19.8% (male 2,116,875/female 1,943,563)

15-64 years: 67.2% (male 7,085,692/female 6,695,189)

65 years and over: 12.9% (male 1,193,435/female 1,452,002) (2005 est.)

 

Median age:

Total: 36.56 years (2005 est.)
Female: 37.4 years
male: 35.74 years

According to this data, Australian internet users are mostly in the 15 to 64 years old age bracket. This only means that most of them already have the capacity to purchase.

People in Australia alone spend 11 billion dollars in online purchases. The question now is: “Do you want your business to get a portion of those 11 billion dollars that our fellow Australians are paying for online products and services?”

The statistics I have gathered clearly shows that Australians are not shy when it comes to purchasing both goods and services online. Australia is now the third highest country in the world when it comes to utilizing e-commerce.

The internet isn’t a story of how beneficial it is for home usage anymore. The internet now presents an opportunity for your business to step up and reach out to more potential clients. Internet marketing is not easy as it seems but through the proper marketing techniques, and strategy – you’ll reap the harvest of your investment.

The key to internet marketing is to go where the people go. Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Yahoo groups are only some of the social media sites that we can use to reach out to the potential clients and eventually drive traffic to our site.

 

Australia’s Fastest Growing Social Media Activities
Activity 2009 2008 YOY Change
Read messages on Twitter 23% 7% 16%
Interacted with a brand via social network 38% 23% 15%
Read a wiki 72% 61% 11%
Posted on Twitter 13% 4% 9%
Browsed/followed brands on Twitter 14% 5% 9%
Interacted with people on a social network 63% 55% 8%
Watched online video for product/service 63% 57% 6%
Updated a social networking profile 57% 51% 6%
Looked at a social networking profile 73% 67% 6%
Posted pictures online 68% 63% 5%
Source: The Nielsen Company

 

The opportunity to take your business online and reach thousands more customers is already in your hands.  It’s either stay in the traditional OFF-line market where people sell and advertise through newspapers with less and less readers each week, or we reach out to the entire country through a website, or social media platform which is open to thousands or even millions of visitors. It’s time to think outside of the box.

/by