XGeni.us

If you haven’t heard the term inbox zero, it’s a pretty simple concept… You have no emails sitting in your inbox.

And if you haven’t experienced inbox zero, then you’re subjecting yourself to a form of psychological torture. Seriously, all those emails sitting in your inbox drain your mental energy and nag at you whether you know it or not.

Clearing out your inbox eliminates this pressure and frees you up to be more present, more productive and ultimately more successful. You might even be happier to boot!

A recent study conducted at UC Irvine found that removing email from your life completely reduces stress, but that’s not entirely realistic for most of us. So let’s talk about getting to inbox zero…

5 Tips to Get To Inbox Zero

1. Record things in the appropriate place.

   How often do you leave an email in your inbox because it’s related to something you need to do in the future? Maybe an invitation or event you plan to go to – or that you’re thinking about attending. Whatever the reason, if you don’t need the email right now, set a reminder in your calendar and delete the email. Or maybe it’s a piece of information you think you might need in the future.

   You should be using an organizational system to keep track of this stuff. If you don’t have one already, something like Evernote is a great place to store “maybe I’ll need this someday” types of information. Then delete the email. You can also use Gmail and “Archive” the message instead of deleting and search for it later – if you end up needing it.

   Or maybe it’s an article or video you intend to read or watch “sometime.” Bookmark it! Use Delicious or some other bookmarking service, tag it so you can find it late – if you ever want to. And then delete the email.

   Whatever the reason for keeping something you “might” need in the future in your inbox . . . it’s not a good reason! There is a better place to store it. Plus, if you’re like most people, you don’t usually get back to most of these things and they either sit in your inbox forever or you eventually just delete them. But in the mean time, you keep looking at them and thinking about them, which is a waste of mental energy.

   By recording the info somewhere else and deleting the email now you save yourself all the wasted time and energy of reviewing things you may or may not ever need again and again. And keeping info recorded in the appropriate place is a better practice, anyway.

2. Respond now.

   You might also be keeping email sitting in your inbox because you don’t know how (or don’t want) to reply. In this case, try one of the following:Create an FAQ – Maybe you’re sick of typing the same response over and over? Create some templates to answer common questions and just copy and paste. Or if you’re using Gmail, you can turn on the “Canned Responses” lab so your responses get added with 1 click.

   Ask a question – Maybe you don’t know how to respond because you don’t have enough information. Ask for more. Or just ask a simple question to see if they still need a response from you. Merlin Mann (the originator of the inbox zero concept) suggests “Do you still need this?” A lot of the time, you’ll find the answer is no and you’re done!

   Say, “I don’t know” – This is a perfectly reasonable and acceptable response. Don’t be afraid to use it.

   Just Delete it – Ask yourself if you’re really ever going to reply and if not, just delete it!

3. Create filters.

   Undoubtedly, you get a lot of email you don’t need to read – possibly ever! So create filters to move these emails into folders to be reviewed if and when needed or to simply be deleted. I use Google Apps for all my domains, so I use Gmail for my email.

   Creating Filters is super easy and you can add a Label and “Archive” email so it never even hits your inbox. All modern mail clients have functionality like this, so just do a Google search for creating automation rules in whatever client you’re using.

4. Schedule email blocks.

   Checking your email every 5 minutes or whenever you get a new message notification creates a huge problem for productivity. It also adds stress to your life and makes you terribly inefficient at what you’re working on. The other problem is that when you check email often, you’re usually in a rush to get back to what you’re really working on, so you don’t process the messages coming in properly . . . and they build up.

   Instead, schedule specific times when you focus on email so you can dedicate the attention needed to clear out your inbox. If you’ve been following along, you can use one or two Pomodoro’s to handle email each day. And don’t touch email at any other time. This means turning off your new message notifications and turning email push off, too.

   You’ll find that you get a lot more done during the rest of the day and you might just get your inbox cleared out!

5. Use email tools.

   OK, I’ve saved the best for last… I’ve recently found several email tools that I LOVE! These tools are for Gmail because that’s what I use, but I’m sure you can find similar tools for other mail clients.My absolutely favorite is Boomerang because it helps me get everything out of my inbox right now.

   Sometimes you leave emails in your inbox because you’re waiting for the other person to reply and want to remember you’re waiting on them. Well, Boomerang has a feature to bring an email back to your inbox if no one replies within a specific time frame. So, if I’ve sent a proposal out to a potential client and I’m waiting for them to reply, I can tell Boomerang to bring the message back if I haven’t heard from them within 2 days. Then it gets archived and my inbox is clean!

   Another cool feature is “Schedule for later” – so if you want to reply tomorrow or next week, you write the reply and tell Boomerang to send it later and again it’s cleared out of your inbox so you can move on with your life. It’s pretty sweet (and it’s free), so I encourage you to check it out.

   Another tool I’m playing around with is ActiveInbox – it does everything Boomerang does plus a bunch more. It’s really an all-in-one solution that includes GTD tools, as well. But since I use other tools for GTD I’m finding that I use Boomerang more than ActiveInbox. However, if you don’t have a GTD tool yet, you might want to check out ActiveInbox for that, as well.

In my last post I introduced The Pomodoro Technique, which helps you be more productive and effective by focusing on one task at a time in a very specific way. But this begs the question, “What tasks should you be focusing on in the first place?”

And that’s a much bigger question…

It’s also an extremely important one. One that will lead you to peril and despair if unanswered. (OK, that might be a little dramatic, but it really is important!)

Fortunately, there is a fantastic methodology for figuring this out. It’s called “Getting Things Done” and I am an absolute believer in it. (Obviously, there are other productivity / organizational methods, but I think GTD is the best.)

The Benefits of GTD

I’ll give you some resources at the botton, but I’d like to share why I think GTD is so great.

One of the main tenants of the GTD methodology is that the human brain was not designed to keep track of details. In fact, it’s very bad at organizing details and to do lists. BUT, the subconscious mind will not let go over anything that you have given it to work on. And anything that you think of but don’t dismiss as “never going to do that” gets stored as a “project” to work on.

Your subconscious mind then makes it its job to keep track of this project and remind you about it from time to time. There are two problems with this:

1. It means that your mind is now cluttered with the details of the project and keeping track of it consumes a portion of your mental resources.
2. Your subconscious knows it needs to remind you about the project until you complete it or dimiss it, but it will almost never remind you at the right time!

Here’s an example from “Getting Things Done” – You notice you need new batteries for your flashlight, so your subconscious marks this down as a project to be completed “Get new batteries”, stores it in member and reminds you from time to time until you actually get new batteries.

Now you mind is cluttered with the details AND you don’t get the reminder when you’re in line at the grocery store – when batteries are right there to be had. You get when you’re laying in bed trying to go to sleep!

GTD consists of a 5-step process and the first step is to “Collect” all the “Stuff” you have kicking around – both in your head and in your life (home, office, car, etc). This collection process gets everything out of your head and frees you mind up for more productive uses. This step alone is extremely powerful and liberating.

David Allen, the author explains exactly how to do this collection process in his book. And the rest of the system teaches you how to organize everything you’ve collect and prioritize it so you always know what you should be working it.

It’s a brilliant system and I can personally attest to the mirad benefits of using it. I’ve had greater piece of mind, been more relaxed, more focused and more productive since I started using it.

I strongly encourage you to check it out:

• David’s first book – “Getting Things Done“
• David’s second book – “Making it All Work” (you don’t need to read the first first, but I’d recommend it)

Whether you’re already using GTD or if you get started after reading this, please let me know your thoughts by posting you comments below…

How many times have you sat at your computer for hours on end and at the end of it wondered, “What did I just do? Did I do anything at all? Where did that time go?”

If you’re like me, this has happened more than once. And, honestly, I’m more organized and more efficient than most. I do a lot of very specific things to maximize my efficiency, but something has been missing and I finally discovered what it was…

It’s a simple method of staying focused and getting the most productivity out of your work time and you can start using it right now.

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that really works because it’s simple and it helps you to use your brain in the way it evolved to be used – focused on a single task for a relatively short period of time.

The basic concept is just  five simple steps:

1. Choose a task to be accomplished
2. Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
3. Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
4. Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
5. Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break

The benefits of working this way are increased efficiency and productivity because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time and because you can’t remain at optimal performance for extended periods.

The myth of “multi-tasking” can not be overstated. The bottom line is that no one can multi-task, and certainly not well. Even people who think they’re good at, simply are not. Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time, so when you’re “multi-taking” you’re really jumping back and forth between different tasks and this causes both tasks to suffer because neither one has your undivided attention.

Plus you’re less efficient because it takes time to change gears, you have to disconnect from one task and reconnect to the other every time you switch. So you do lower quality work AND it takes you longer than if you focused on one task at a time!

And there’s a secondary benefit, too: better health because you can take the 5 minutes breaks to get up, step away from your computer, stretch, get some water, get some fresh air, etc. It’s not good to sit at the computer for hours on end, but without a system that’s exactly what most of us do.

I recently started using the Pomodoro Technique and encourage you check it out because I’ve found that I’m even more efficient and productive now than ever before.

Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think…

As you may know, I’m currently building a new app to integration with MailChimp – it’s called ChimpChamp and it’s a new breed of web service that I invented called an “API Translator.” It’s going to kick arse, but this article is about how I’m building it and the tools I’m using (not the service itself).

I’ve found 3 amazing tools that have shaved weeks and thousands of dollars off my development costs and I want to share them with you so you can benefit from them, as well.

1. Twitter Bootstrap

Twitter Bootstrap is a comprehensive set of CSS styles for the User Interface (UI) of any web app. This saves you money and allows you to get a prototype of your app online immediately. And the styles are clean and well designed so you look professional without having to hire a designer.

One of the best features is that it’s built with “responsive design” and what Twitter calls “cross-everything.” What this means is that your app will look great no matter what browser, resolution, screen size or device your users are logging in from.

And it’s open-source and free for all to use. So if you’re building a web app I’d encourage you check out Twitter Bootstrap before spending any money on a UI.

2. Stripe

Stripe labels their service as “payments for developers” and it lives up to the name. They’ve got a killer API that allows you to completely integrate your application in a matter of hours. (Simple integrations can be done in just a few minutes.)

We’ve got ChimpChamp set up, so the admin can create new billing plans inside the app and our users to upgrade or downgrade with a single click and it all gets send over to Stripe. They handle everything on the back end and take care of the PCI compliance and security so it’s very very hands-free.

Their fees are as good as any other processor out there and you don’t need your own merchant account because they handle and store all the payment details. So you’re literally live and able to take payment instantly! Definitely consider using Stripe for your payment processing.

3. MailChimp

MailChimp is the best email marketing ESP on the market. They’ve got exceptional tools, unrivaled delivery rates and a beautiful API. You do everything (except create a new list) via the API that you can do from inside the app, so it’s a perfect solution for integration into your SaaS.

You can use them for both automated and broadcast marketing, as well as for transactional emails generated from inside your app.

I use and love MailChimp so much I’ve dedicated a portion of my business to building integrations with them. They’ve got great pricing and a “Forever Free” plan that allows you to use all of the features for free for up to 12,000 emails a month. Sign up for a free MailChimp account and check them.

Bonus – Frameworks

There a number of rapid development frameworks that you can use to save yourself a ton of development time. They exist for every language, but we’re building ChimpChamp in Rails so I’ll tell you a few cool things about Rails.

One of my favorite is Rails Admin, which is a Rails 3 engine that provides an easy-to-use interface for managing your data. It’s really cool because it looks at your database and displays your data tables automatically. It also lets you view, add, edit and destroy records inside your database, which saves you having to build an interface for your db. Here’s the Github page for it.

If you’re using Rails, then you already know about the other standards like Devise, HAML and Sass. You might also enjoy our ChimpActions Ruby Gem if you’re planning on integrating with MailChimp.

But no matter what language you build your app in, I can’t advise strongly enough to use a framework.

This is something I’ve been meaning to write about for a long time because it’s important to drink enough water each day and because most of us do not.

If you’re anything like me, you sit in front of your computer and sometimes get really into what you’re doing and forget to stop for long periods of time . . . which means you don’t drink enough water during the day because you forget to.

They say that by the time you notice the sensation of being thirsty it’s too late – you’re already dehydrated. So you can’t count on your body telling you when it’s time to drink more water…

Or can you…

I came up with a “pretty smart” solution to this. Here’s how it works:

1. First thing in the morning, drink at least a liter of water. I drink 1.5 liters as soon as I wake up. The key here is to make sure you don’t forget, so make it impossible to forget. I keep my water bottle on the bedstand and drink mine when I first sit up, before I even get out of bed.
2. Then every time you have to get up to go to the bathroom, drink another large glass of water. I drink around 16 ounces at each bathroom break.

The beauty of this system is that your body actually won’t let you forget. You can ignore the bathroom break signal for a while, but eventually you will have to get up. So you just use this unavoidable activity to remind you to drink the next glass of water, which magically restarts the cycle. It’s completely foolproof as long as you:

• Remember to drink the morning water
• Don’t skip the refills

A couple notes:

• It’s a good idea to not drink a bunch of water right before and right after eating, so give yourself a buffer around meals.
• You might want to start winding down around 6pm and stop drinking water a couple hours before bed so you’re not waking up all night long. This combined with lunch breaks ends up being plenty of water each day without being too much.
• I empty the entire water bottle in the morning and whole large glass with each bathroom break all at once. I found that if I bring a glass back into the office and set it on my desk I end up forgetting to drink it.
• I should probably tell you I’m not a medical anything, so consult your doctor if you have any special conditions, etc.

Good luck and happy hydration!!

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think…

First, thank you to everyone who has express warm wishes, fond farewells and even regrets to see me go. I appreciate your sentiments!

What I *really* quit: There’s been some confusion about what I meant for me and for you. I think my definition of “Internet Marketing” will help clarify…

Internet Marketing (as an industry) is basically a giant pyramid. The only people making any money are the ones selling products and services to the people who want to learn how to “do Internet Marketing.”

But think about this: If any of these techniques or tools worked, why would anyone be selling them? Why wouldn’t they just use them themselves and/or hire outsourcers to use them for them. Answer: Because they don’t work. So they only way to make money in this industry is by climbing up the pyramid and becoming one of the sellers.

Ask yourself a question: Have you ever made any money (at all) in “Internet Marketing.” If you answered yes . . . A) you’re in the tiniest minority and B) I’ll bet you’re selling info, services or tools to people *trying* to make thier first money in Internet Marketing.

THAT is what I quit!

I’m really really stubborn, and it took me a LONG time to figure out what I just told you out. I tried for (many) years to create services and tools for people to help them. I spent over $100,000 on software and development in the process and built some of the best systems in the IM world.

But in the end, the only thing I was really able to do was help turn other people into sellers in the pyramid. So, yes, my tools work and, yes, you can make money with them. But I simply didn’t want to be involved in the industry, so I sold my IM businesses to someone who does.

My advice to you: Look for people teaching you have to build and run a business vs. “how to make money.” People like Eric Ries, for example, who’ve built real businesses and made money doing something other than selling “how to make money” products.

There’s a whole world of potential products and services out there. And these days you can build just about anything you can dream of. Start paying attention to your own day and find places where a product or service that doesn’t exist would make your life better.

And when you come up with a great idea, follow a proven methodology like “The Lean Startup” to help stack the odds in your favor.

A simple tip: I’ll close this email by giving you a simple tip that’s helped me become exponentially more efficient: Track your time!

Even if you’re the only person in your business, use a time tracker to keep track what you’re doing. I always have a widget open that I click start and stop on every time I move to a new activity. I’ve spent 40 minutes and 23 seconds on this email so far…

That’s actually kind of a long time, so I’m going to wind it up now. But I spent this time to make sure you understand where I’m coming from and where I’m going…

I’ll still be here doing business and engaging in marketing activities online, but I’ll be doing them in businesses outside the IM industry. And I’ll be happy to help people along the way, but it’s going to be by sharing insights I learn in my own business – like tracking your time to be more efficient.

Believe me, you’ll spend a lot less time on YouTube when the timer is running! And it’s extremely helpful to be able to run reports on where you’re spending your time because you simply don’t know how much time you’re wasting every day until you start tracking it.

Anyway, I hope you’ll join me in building a business outside the Internet Marketing *industry*. Until next time…

Brief Intro: Before I get into the reasons for quitting, let’s do a quick recap.

When I got started doing “Internet Marketing” (over 10 years ago), it was a new industry and there was a lot to learn and discover. It was an exciting field learning how to earn a living with my computer and the internet. And I figured a lot of cool stuff out that could help other people who wanted to do the same thing. I wrote eBooks on doing business online and built a shopping cart to help fasciliate e-business.

And, honestly, it was a lot of fun because I could really help people. But everything has changed now…

Back then, people wanted to start businesses in all sorts of “niches” and the information and tools I was building could help them do that. Today, however, no one wants to start a real business. Everyone wants to do nothing and magically make money at the same time! This “free lunch” attitude has been exploited and hyped up to the point where you actually believe it’s possible!

I even tried for about 3 years to actually build completely automated systems for you because that’s what you wanted, but despite years of effort and over $100,000 in development I couldn’t do it . . . because it can’t be done! So onto the reasons I quit…

1. The Lies: Internet Marketing these days is about selling a false promise: “Buy this product / course / software and never work again!” The problem with this kind of a lie is that you really want to believe it, so it sells really well. But it never delivers on the promise, so the successful Internet Marketers are the ones who can convince you to buy and then keep you from getting a refund which leads me to the second reason…

2. The Endless Cycle: The best to keep you from getting a refund is to make you forget you even purchased in the first place. And how do we do that? By constantly presenting you with new offers. I’ve seen lots of member’s areas that have offers for different Internet Marketing products before you even get to the product you just purchased. It’s extremely sneaky, but it works. Think about this: If your product doesn’t work, do you really want anyone to check it out? Or would you be better off sending your customers to someone else while they’re still hot to buy (i.e. right after they’ve purchased from you).

3. The Dissapointment: As you can clearly see, this cycle of lies and broken promises leads to constant dissapointment – and not just for you. There are marketers out there who sincerely want to help you – I was one of them! And it’s extremely dissapointing to spend time and money (a lot of time and money) building systems that no one uses! The system I built actually work, but the problem is that no one did anything with them because everyone else is saying you make money without doing anything. So even though I was building useful tools, no one was having success because they wouldn’t use them. That’s just too much dissapointment for me.

So, I’ve moved on…

I don’t want this message to be all downer. I’m so much happier now! I’m working on exciting projects and learning about building a different kind of business. I currently have two Startup projects that I’m super excited about. And even more exciting than the projects themselves is what I’m learning about “Lean Startups” and other related topics.

If you have any interest in building a real business, you need to educate yourself on what it takes to be successful. And I don’t mean the cheap tactics you learn from “Internet Marketing” gurus. I mean solid methodologies you learn from people like Eric Ries. I devoured his book “The Lean Startup” and encourage you to check out what he’s doing.

I’m inspired to put these principals into action in both my new Startup ventures and I’ll be sharing my results and learning as I go.

The other thing that leaving IM has allowed me to do is give information away free. I think products and services that actually do something should be paid and everything should be free. In that vien, you’ll notice sponsors on my emails. This helps me pay for the cost of sending these out so we can continue to grow together, and I’ll only allow sponsorships that I believe in – like Eric’s Lean Startup Course.

Until next time…

After years of wanting to make a change in my life, I’m finally out of “Internet Marketing” – I just sold my last to IM businesses and now the world is my oyster…

With so many people trying to get into IM, why was I so anxious to get out?

Making money online is hard and no one wants to believe that. So no matter what I did to try to help people, in the end most of them did not succeed. And, although, I know it’s not my responsibility to make someone else successful, it always chewed my up.

The world is full of a lack of discipline, which is what this boils down to. People sign up for gym memberships and then never go – or go once if they’re real go-getters. Every self-help and how-to industry has the same problem. So, I can know intellectually that it’s not my fault, but I also knew that I wanted out.

So, what’s next?

Well, luckily, during the last 10 years of my life I’ve learned a lot about a lot of things. I’ve learned how to develop software, manage people and projects, write ad copy, design sales funnels, create products, set up websites, do SEO and run every aspect of an online business. And I’m going to be doing several things with these skills.

First, I’m going to continue to share what I’ve learned – but less from a purely marketing “how to make money online” perspective and more from a “how to run a web business” perspective. And most importantly, I’m not going to sell how-to products or services.

I’ve been thinking for a while and transitioning to be able to embody the idea that information should be free. I think services, software and things that actually do something should cost money, but things that simple tell you how to do something should be free.

So the second thing I’ll be focused on is creating great web services - ChimpChamp.com will be the first of many new web services to come…

And finally, I’ll be offering professional services in my areas of expertise. My goal will be to help people accomplish specific things that they know they need and are willing to pay a premium for vs. trying to teach anyone who’s interested everything they need to know!

Please feel free to get in touch and let me know what you think…

PS Obviously, I’ll still be marketing online – I just won’t be doing “Internet Marketing” or marketing how to do Internet Marketing.