Media training 101 for small businesses

-
Image
Great news: you just scored a big press interview to promote your business. The story will expose your brand to the perfect new audience and drive meaningful traffic to your website. So…don't blow it. Yes, just as quickly as the excitement for the opportunity arrived, the realization that you now have to do an interview sets in. I get it—press interviews can absolutely be intimidating. The resulting coverage represents a significant opportunity to acquire new customers, drive sales, or raise awareness, and you want to be sure to represent your brand well and really compel the audience to check out your company. On top of that, you have to contend with adrenaline and nerves in the moment. You may be thinking, "So many other business owners are so polished and articulate in their interviews. How am I going to pull that off?" Deep breath. A successful interview is usually the result of good media training: preparation and practice in advance of an interview. I've tr...
1 comment

What even is Google Contacts?

-

Most Gmail users don't think about their contacts. You type a name, the email address shows up, and you hit enter. It's basically magic.

Typing an email address in Gmail

Every once in a while, though, this isn't enough. That's where Google Contacts comes in. You can use Google Contacts to keep track of email addresses, phone numbers, or physical addresses (if you're the sort of person who occasionally goes places and/or sends letters). It's probably not something you open often, or even know exists, but it's worth checking out if you're a Google user.

In Google Contacts, you can:

  • Clean up or update contact information, which is useful when someone changes their email address or phone number.
  • Create groups, which is useful if you regularly email the same collection of people.
  • Look up contact information for anyone inside your company (assuming your company uses G Suite).
  • Import and export your contacts.

Let's go over how to do all of this, together.

Want to make G Suite more powerful? Check out Zapier's Google apps automations, which will let you do things like create new Google Contacts whenever you have a new lead, subscriber, or form submission.

Where are my Google Contacts?

There's no prominent link to Google Contacts in Gmail, though you can find it by clicking the app drawer icon in the top-right corner.

Google Contacts in Gmail

You can also open Google Contacts directly in your browser by heading to contacts.google.com. Or, if you're an Android user, simply open the Contacts app on your phone—that's Google Contacts. Every number you add to your phone becomes a contact in Google Contacts, which means any phone numbers you save on your phone will also show up on your computer.

There's no Google Contacts app for iPhone or iPad, but you can sync your Google Contacts with Apple's Contacts app if you want. That means your phone numbers and email addresses are available on all of your devices.

Finding all of your contacts and keeping things clean

Open Google Contacts in a web browser, and you'll see all of the contacts you've intentionally saved to the service. These contacts live in the Contacts section.

Google Contacts' main interface

There might not be many people in this section, because it only shows people that you've intentionally added to your contacts, either by opening Google Contacts and adding people or by saving someone's number on your phone. Where is everyone else? In the other sections in the sidebar. Here's a quick breakdown:

  • Frequently contacted lists the people you email most often.
  • The Directory shows contact information for everyone in your organization. Note that section only shows up for G Suite users.
  • The Labels section allows you to create groups, which is perfect if you tend to email the same list of people regularly. The next section of this article outlines how to do this.
  • Other contacts, at the bottom, includes everyone you've ever conversed with on Gmail, regardless of whether you've added them as a contact.

There may also be a Merge & fix section. Google can scan your contacts and point out things like duplicates, new email addresses, and more.

Cleaning duplicates in Google Contacts

Contacts tend to get cluttered over time, and this is a very simple way to clean things up. You can also delete Google Contacts manually, which is useful if you don't want certain people popping up in Gmail anymore. Select the contact you want to delete by clicking their profile photo, then click the three vertical dots in the toolbar above your contacts, then click Delete.

Delete a Google Contact

How to create a group in Google Contacts

Is there a group of people that you email regularly? You can type out all of their addresses every time, or you can make a label for that group in Google Contacts. To get started, click Create label.

Create a group in Gmail

This will add a label to your sidebar. You can add contacts by dragging them to this list.

Dragging a contact to a label

You can now type the name of any label in the "To," "Cc," or "Bcc" fields of Gmail.

Using a group in Gmail

Hit Enter and everyone in the group will be added.

Hey look all of the email addresses showed up

You can go back to Google Contacts and add more people to the list whenever you want.

How to export and import Google Contacts

Are you switching to Google's apps from something else? You can bring your contacts with you. I wrote about how to back up your contacts to Google, and I outline the process in that article. Basically you need to click the Import option in the sidebar.

Import button in Google Contacts

Do that and you can import a CSV or vCard file exported from other software.

Importing from CSV or vCard in Google Contacts

Or, if you're switching from Google to something else, you can export your Google Contacts by clicking the Export button. You can ask for a CSV or vCard file, depending on what the application you're switching to requires.

Google Contacts isn't an application you need to open regularly, or normally even think about. But it's worth knowing it's there, because diving in allows you to tweak things just the way you want them.



from The Zapier Blog https://ift.tt/2VkdSc4

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If Time-Tracking Apps Don't Work for You, Try a Productivity Journal

-
Image
Monitoring how you spend your time leads to a wealth of useful information: It can tell you what time of day you're most productive , help you create better estimates for how long tasks will take, and show you what activities you'd have to cut to focus your energy on a new idea or project. The most precise way to monitor how you spend your time is to use a time-tracking app . But these apps require a lot of overhead. You have to diligently log your hours (or make sure your app is logging them correctly) and sort your tracked time into categories. You have to pause after every task—no matter how brief—to capture time spent accurately. If tracking your time at such a granular level sounds like a punishment, but you still want insight into how and where you spend your time, consider the less menacing sibling of time-tracking apps: a productivity journal. What Is a Productivity Journal? I kept a journal as a preteen, though in those days I called it a diary. Snoopy and Woods...
Read more

The 25 Best Productivity Apps for iPhone in 2018

-
Image
The best productivity apps for iPhone make possible something that would otherwise be impossible, or they make something you need to do simpler and faster. Imagine being asked, unexpectedly, for a copy of a tax form from last year as proof of address during an important appointment that you traveled many miles to attend. In fact, it happened to me, and thankfully I had a copy of the document I needed saved to a file syncing application, which meant I could pull it up on my phone and show it to the gracious Customs and Border Protection officer who demanded to see it. If that's not productivity by way of efficiency, I don't know what is. Perhaps a more routine example is keeping track of time spent in an off-site meeting so that you can claim it as an expense later. If you have the right time-tracking mobile app, you can record the time on the spot rather than having to estimate it and remember to record it later. The use cases for productivity apps are infinite, and sometimes...
Read more

What's the difference between the Wiki and OneNote tabs in Microsoft Teams?

-
Image
It's easy, in a team chat app, for key points to get lost in the ongoing flow of conversation. That's why every channel in Microsoft Teams has a Wiki page, where you can store things like meeting notes or outline the current state of a project. You can also add a OneNote tab to every channel for similar purposes. The Wiki and OneNote tab are pretty overlapping features, so you might be wondering which one you should use. My answer, unhelpfully, is "it depends." Here's a quick overview: The Wiki is fast and simple but only works inside Teams. OneNote offers more features and can be used outside Teams. My advice: if the Wiki works for you, that's great. Use it. If you want more out of your note-taking, and the ability to reference notes outside of Teams, use OneNote. Let's go over both features with more detail, so you can choose the tool that works for you. The Wiki is fast and functional—but only exists in Teams You can probably find the Wiki in ...
Read more