| Greetings!
What a beautiful May day! (OK, if you are here in Michigan and other parts of the Midwest, you may sense a bit of sarcasm, but at least we won't need to water the lawn and flowers for a few days!) I have a couple new apps I've been checking out the last couple of months that I'd like to feature in this month's Timely Tips, so let's get to it!
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Two Cool Apps -- One for Outlook and the Other for Everything!:
Xobni & Rememberthemilk.com
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This is the place to ALWAYS look to find your monthly Timely Tip.
Hey, Outlook users: have you ever wanted to integrate the power of social media with your Outlook e-mail? Have you simply ever wanted to know what the person looks like that you are sending/receiving e-mails from/to? If so, I've got the app for you: Xobni.
I've been using Xobni as an add on for my Outlook for about 6 months now, and the results have been quite positive. It takes about 5 minutes to install, as it basically rebuilds and integrates Xobni with your entire address book (more on that in a minute). Then, when you launch Outlook, and open your e-mail, you'll see the Xobni tool bar on the right side of your screen. Click on the image above to see in full size. |
As you can see from the image above, this toolbar does a few cool things: 1) it allows you to SEE the person e-mailing you (if they have an image on one of the many popular social media sites and a coordinated e-mail address, it will actually pull up their image!); 2) it allows you to potentially "link up" with them on your favorite social media conduit (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter); and 3) it pulls up recent e-mail communications you've had with this person. It also provides statistics on how often you correspond with this person, and their relative ranking vs. others in your database. Pretty cool (and some might say a tad spooky!)
Critiques: 1) it does appear to slow my Outlook down a bit, but not dramatically. I really notice it if I haven't rebooted in a while. 2) It also "integrates" with your address book in Outlook, and this may change how your "auto-populate" for e-mail addresses works (when you start typing a name or e-mail address, Outlook gives you several options for the e-mail/person you are seeking). It actually provides LESS options for these e-mail addresses, and unless you upgrade to the PRO version, you may find this a bit annoying. I've been using the basic for about 6 months, and I've found this nuisance minor. 3) Your IT staff may have STRONG reservations for this add-on. It integrates with your Address book, bringing up a series of privacy issues. You'll have to work through this issue in a corporate setting.
You can get the free version at http://www.xobni.com.
The second app is one that was referred to me just a couple weeks ago: http://www.rememberthemilk.com. One of the biggest critiques I get in my Outlook training sessions is that the task list is just too complicated (it is actually a wonderful tool once you learn how to use it, but from a casual perspective, I completely agree!) And, more and more people are using SmartPhones like IPhones and the Droid, tools like the IPad, and cloud computing platforms like those provided by Google including Gmail and Google Calendar. The biggest critique I've had with these different tools/platforms is the lack of a decent task list to help manage your work/life projects and responsibilities. Well, this issue may have been solved!
Rememberthemilk.com provides downloadable, integrated task list options for just about every popular SmartPhone and cloud computing platform available. It makes time & life management using "the Cloud" completely possible, and seems like a GREAT choice for IPhone and Google users. Even if you aren't using these apps, you might want to simply check out the Rememberthemilk "Services" page, to see all of the different tools/apps that rememberthemilk can work with -- it is quite comprehensive. Once again, it has a basic "free" version and an upgraded "pro" version -- I'm testing the basic version in conjunction with my Gmail account, and may provide more updates in the future. But the availability of this program has allowed me to make this announcement:
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I've developed a NEW TM Program:
Time & Life Management in "The Cloud": Using Google Apps to Manage Your Work, Life, Projects, People and More
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I have been watching Google's ascension for a number of years, and have been seriously considering whether there would be a point where the new Google tools, including Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, would be a viable replacement for Outlook. I've even been doing a "combo" program for one of my university clients where I show my Outlook strategies followed by how I would do the same thing on Google (they are transitioning to "cloud apps" using Google.) The big sticking point for me has been the lack of a decent task list to better manage projects/responsibilities in Google (I always felt you had to "Rube Goldberg" something together for this critical aspect using the Google apps.) With the use of Rememberthemilk.com, this issue has been greatly mitigated.
Also, another issue with the use of "Google Apps" and "The Cloud" has simply been Internet access. But, of course, in the last 2-3 years, wireless service, including data access, has become nearly ubiquitous in much of the U.S. (and the world for that matter!) And there are a million ways to access your information too: laptop w/ wi-fi, smartphone, public terminals, etc. I think we are now at that point where one could seriously consider "breaking the chains" with Outlook and other commercial, server-hosted personal information management/e-mail/calendar programs and going to cloud apps on the web. (Of course, if you are a large corporate or organizational entity fully using Outlook, GroupWise, Entourage, or some similar program, you certainly don't have to make this shift anytime soon -- those programs are still likely more robust. But I would strongly recommend you consider these amazing changes, as moving to the Cloud might provide much greater organizational flexibility and cost-savings. We are living in an amazing time!)
In this new program, I will basically show how you can do pretty much the same strategies I teach in my popular "Taming the E-mail Beast" and "Optimizing Your Outlook" courses, but now on the Google platform. And, of course, you can then use these tools/strategies/systems on just about ANY tool that can access a web browser (laptop/wi-fi, smartphone, netbook, etc.) I can see this move to Google/Cloud apps as an extremely viable option for small business owners, independent contractors, freelancers, and people working for smaller firms, as well as the associations and professional groups that service these audiences.
I am in the process of building talksheets on this program, and will likely have them in next month's e-newsletter, but if you have an interest in this program for your group or company, please let me know. I'll likely start delivering this program in addition to my other popular programs on Taming E-mail, Finding an Extra Hour Every Day, Ending the Office Clutter, Optimizing Your Outlook, and Managing & Leading Great Staff & Team Meetings later this summer (send me an e-mail if you'd like to get a PDF talksheet on any of the programs just mentioned). Of course, I will still be leading all of the above sessions, and do not plan on abandoning my MS Outlook anytime soon -- I'm just working to stay current in this RAPIDLY changing marketplace.
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Staying Busy!
Did you miss my radio guest spot on the Life Lessons radio show on BlogTalk radio two weeks ago? It was a very fun half-hour, with some unique questions -- stuff I don't normally get asked -- by host Rick Toquigny. Use the link above to access the replay. I also had a great time last week at the Iowa Telecommunication Association Front Office & Marketing Conference in Des Moines, and led a great session on Finding an Extra Hour Every Day at the University of Michigan on May 6. I'm doing local client work here in East Lansing this week, finishing the week doing "Taming E-mail & Office Clutter" AND "Finding an Extra Hour Every Day" for the GulfSouth Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants in Orange Beach, Alabama (oil, stay off shore please!!!! Yes, if you happen to be down that way, you can still get a seat in this full day program!) And I finish the month with the MWEA 3/4 day Taming E-mail/Outlook/Office Clutter event to the top right. In June, I'll be speaking at Affordable Meetings West in Long Beach CA, and a week after that, I'll be a featured breakout speaker at the Graduate Management Admissions Council Annual Meeting in San Diego (here comes the Frequent Flier Miles!) I'm really looking forward to seeing all of my old MBA Admissions friends at this one -- make sure to let me know if you'll be there. And I'm booking events like crazy in August to November, so if you are planning on having me back this fall, get on the phone! My schedule is booking very quickly, and some of the best dates are getting snapped up daily.
Until we talk again, Stay Timely!
Sincerely,
Randy Dean
Randall Dean Consulting & Training, LLC
or http://www.emailsanityexpert.com
PPS: Always feel free to use the "Forward E-mail" option below to share this info with your family, friends, & co-workers. |
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TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!
More than just Taming E-mail, This Session Hits the "Big Three"! | For the second time this year, due to popular demand, I'll be leading a 3/4 day intensive for the Michigan Water Environment Association here at the Eagle Eye Golf & Banquet Facility in East Lansing, Michigan.
This 3/4 day event covers three of my key areas of content all on the same day:
1. Taming the E-mail Beast
2. Ending the Office Clutter
3. Optimizing Your Outlook (Strategies for using the OTHER Outlook functions besides E-mail! [Calendar, Task List, Notes, Contacts])
And, we'll be getting done in time so you could make a 4:00 tee time at one of the beautiful Hawk Hollow courses, as we come into the longest days of the year!
This course if being sponsored by the Michigan Water Environment Association, but you do not have to be an MWEA member to attend. Here is the registration page, and you can see the promotional brochure with full course information by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.
This will likely be MY LAST public course in Michigan until an event in late August, so if you'd like to catch this info, here is your best chance for a few months.
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Three Interesting Articles and One Useful Link!
| Is E-mail Addiction draining your energy?
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Timely Tips reader Lea Kohler forwarded this great article to me of Nine "Energy Zappers" and how to confront them. #1 on the list was "E-mail Addiction". Here's the article link -- it is a quick article and worth a look! Don't believe E-mail can kill productivity if not properly managed? Check out this article.MSNBC & Entrepreneur.com wrote this excellent article about the distracting nature of modern e-mail, the "myth" of multitasking, and some possible responses to it. My only critique: I've been talking about this for YEARS! Glad to see modern media is finally catching up. Where are the Marketing Dollars going?My good friend and business colleague Todd Jungling of WSI Internet Consulting/Jungling Consulting & Education, wrote this fascinating blog post recently, showing just how important social media and online marketing are becoming as part of the total marketing mix. In this recent recessionary period, companies were still dramatically growing their online/social media marketing spending, even while moving away from more traditional marketing conduits. Even marketing is going to "the Cloud!" Traveling by Air? Bookmark this Useful Link!A few years ago, I took the effort to build a fairly comprehensive list of the phone numbers of the most popular domestic air carriers, and encouraged my readers to download this memo into their Outlook and/or SmartPhones for easy access when traveling (and when they unexpectedly cancel your flight while at the gate!) Well, this is no longer necessary, as there is a web site that has all of this information available for you, in a searchable format via airline name, country, and more. Here's the link: http://airlinetollfree.info/ |
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