Matt Garrett » Life Online

Missing Facebook Email Messages

MattG — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:49:17 +0000

Missing Facebook Email Messages

Did you realize you're probably mising a whole bunch of your email/messages on Facebook..?

Yup, it's true!

Sometime last year Facebook added an extra section to your messages, called "Other", which you can find the link for on the left hand of the page, just under "Messages" once you've gone to your "See All Messages" page, or any individual message.

This looks like it's been put in place as a way of dealing with unwanted "spam" messages, especially as it's very easy for anyone to send you a message using your "VanityURLName@facebook.com" email address.

The only problem is that they seem to have forgotten to tell anyone about this "other" folder, unless I (and eveyone else I've asked) totally missed it, so most people have no idea to click on the "other" link to see what's in the folder.

AND, as with most automated "anti spam" systems, there are most likely some "false positive's" in there, in other words emails & messages that you DO want to know about and to read, there certainly was in my "other" folder.

Any messages that end up getting "pushed" in to the "other" folder automatically by Facebook will not trigger any kind of notification for you, so you really do need to check it now and then.

If there is a message in there that you want to move back to your main messages folder, then simply open that message, then click on the "Actions" menu button at the top and choose "Move To Messages", and from then on all messages from that person/group/address should remain in the main messages folder.

I hope you find some useful/intersting messages in your "other" facebook lost messages folder...

[this post: http://mattgarrett.com/missing-facebook-email-messages/]

10 Productivity Tips

MattG — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 09:36:22 +0000

My Top 10 Productivity Tips

~ 1. Have a Daily "To Do" List

I actually keep this on a paper "Post It" pad right by my keyboard, so I can't ignore it. I found that using a spreadsheet or file on my PC for this was just too easy for me to ignore...

I always try to write up the next days "To Do" list at the end of the day, so it's ready for the next day, this also helps me "review" what I've got done in the day.

I've also found that if I can put one task that I've been "putting off" at the top of the list and get that done first, the rest of the tasks on the list tend to seem easier to get done and I get more of them done.

~ 2. Only Check Your Email at Certain Times

I've got to admit I'm far from perfect on this one, but I have found when I keep my email program closed and only check it 2 or 3 times during the day I DO get a lot more work done.

~ 3. Set your Instant Messenger Status to Busy, or even offline

And your mobile phone as well, especially if it's an iPhone and you've got a whole bunch of apps on there...

I just got distracted by a text message as I was writing this!

As an internet marketer I use skype a lot, I've got over 200 contacts on my list, so if I'm not careful I can easily spend 2 or 3 hours a day just chatting with people on skype, it's amazing how easily one conversation can end up being 30 mins or more without you even realizing it...

~ 4. Have Regular Breaks, especially in the fresh air

Having a break to get away from your desk/pc/laptop on a regular basis can also big a biggy to keep your focus and productivity levels up.

It's one that I often tend to forget, as it's easy to get in to whatever I'm doing, so I now tend to use a timer called "Cool Timer" (which is free - www.harmonyhollow.net) to remind me to take a break every 45 mins.

~ 5. Keep Hydrated (I was tempted to put "Drink A Lot" here, but people who know my soft spot for wine/beer/Guinness might take it the wrong way.

Drinking a lot of water is supposed to be the way to go, but personally I like to drink white tea. I recently got in to the habit of drinking LOTS of black coffee, but I've found that going back to white tea works better for me.

~ 6. Make your working environment as comfortable as you can

Get a big desk, a big screen preferably two, a good chair etc. and make sure there's enough light, and it's not too warm or cold. Obvious stuff really, but it does make a difference.

~ 7. Don't have too many programs, files or browser windows open at any one time, keep it to what you're working on.

This is another one that I often forget and I find myself swapping from one thing to another and losing focus. It can be frustrating if you're waiting for a web page to load up, or some files to finish uploading etc., but I find if I pop off to another program I'll end up spending time on that and forgetting what I was originally working on.

~ 8. Set up time deadlines

In some ways this is a repeat of #4 (have regular breaks), but I've found that if I set a specific time limit to get a bit of work done in, it helps me focus on just that one thing as I know I'm working "against the clock"...

The free timer I use is called "Cool Timer" and you can download it here - www.harmonyhollow.net

~ 9. Don't be over ambitious with your daily goals

It can actually be frustrating and demotivating if you are setting goals for more than you can actually get done. I often find myself doing this and it can be really frustrating, so I now try to make sure I break things down in to small enough "jobs" to be able to set more realistic goals.

~ 10. Don't play Warcraft, Angry Birds, Farmville, etc.

Warcraft is my online addiction and it's amazing just how much of a time sucking black whole it can be...

There's an addon for Warcraft that amongst other things shows you just how many "days" you've spent on Warcraft.

It turns out I've spent over 139 "days" playing, admittedly I've been playing for 4 or 5 years now, but those "days" are actually 24 hours periods, so in fact I've spent 3,336 hours playing!

If you break that down in to 8 hour "working days", that's the equivalent of 417 days, 83.4 working weeks (5 days a week, without holidays), or 1 year and 7 months, without any holidays!!!

Just imagine what else I could have done with that time if I'd spent it in my business instead...

So if you have a similar game you play, try and keep tabs on just how long you spend in there, it might surprise/shock you!

I mentioned my friend Mark Lyford's $5k report in my last blog post, I'm going to give you the link for it again here, as Mark has a whole bunch more focus and productivity tips in it.

The report is free and actually covers a whole bunch more, as it's about Mark's journey to rebuild his online business from scratch to $5,000 per month and beyond, in fact he hit $15,000+ in April this year, so his plan is obviously working!

You can grab the report here: - Mark Lyford's $5k Report

[this post: Top 10 Productivity Tips]

Managing Bad Habits

MattG — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:12:29 +0000

Managing Your Bad Habits

I've had a bit of a realization over the last few days, one that has helped me to increase my productivity big time!

I've become used to listening to music while working and about a week ago I read an article (I forget exactly where) on productivity that suggested listening to music can effect some peoples ability to focus while they're working.

This was news to me and something I'd never considered before, so I thought I'd check it out myself by switching off the music for a few days...

It turns out that for me they are right, I've been more focused and got more work done since I switched off the music than I usually would!

It just goes to show how we can pick up potentially bad habits without even realizing it, hence this blog post, to remind us all we should stand back and check what we're doing in our working environment, just in case a bad habit has somehow snuck in.

Now I'm not suggesting the music thing is going to be true for everyone, I suspect there are many people who actually find the right music helps them focus, but perhaps there's something else you're doing that's not helping, take a few minutes to think about it and see if there's anything you can test out.

There's also two questions I like to ask myself on a regular basis...

The first question I use when I'm writing up my "To Do" list for the next day, I look at each of the items on the list and ask myself "Will this make my business more profitable?", if not then why are you putting it on your "To Do" list..?

The second question is worth asking yourself regularly during the day - "Am I being productive, or just busy?"

Working online it's very easy to fall in to the second category, simply by being on your browser checking out different websites...

When you find yourself doing this it's a good time to ask that question!

I've actually got a free 100 page report that I'm going to recommend you grab and read, it's from a mate called Mark Lyford who's had an "interesting" time in his online business and life over the last 7 or 8 years, including some very serious "hiccups" along the way, and he's now getting seriously back on track.

The report has some excellent tips and info in it, including Mark's "15 Things I Do To Be More Focused", as well as another 8 great tips on staying productive.

The report is free and is about Mark's journey to rebuild his online business from scratch to $5,000 per month and beyond, in fact he hit $15,000+ in April this year, so you can see he does know what he's doing!

You can grab Mark's $5k report here - The $5k Report

and I'll do another post in a couple of days covering my top 10 productivity/focus tips.

[this post: Managing Bad Work Habits]

Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone

MattG — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:51:01 +0000

Hmm, going by this blog my "status" as a "professional" blogger may be under threat, as I've only made 7 posts here in the whole of 2009!

but to be fair that kinda sums up the year for me, as I didn't really get an awful lot of work done until the last few months of the year, when I finally managed to get my head straight and find the right frame of mind to move on after my divorce, mostly thanks to a couple of good friends, who know who they are, thanks guys!

so what's that got to do with getting out of my comfort zone?

easy, one of the things that I did do more of this year was go to internet marketing events, and as always, it proved to be a good thing. I've met many great new friends, people who I am already working together with on different projects.

as an example of that I've already got a great interview done with Jit Uppal (who I met at Lee McIntrye's workshop) as the giveaway in preparation for my next new product - http://adswaplistbuilding.com

but the even bigger "opportunity" also came from the same weekend workshop in Manchester, when "some guy" ambushed me with a question/proposal whilst I was still a little tired and hungover, just after Jit's presentation on AdSwaps as it happens.

the "guy" in question was Daniel Wagner, who, along with his business partner James Watson, runs a site called YourInternetBuddies.com, as well as a Platinum mastermind group.

because I was feeling a bit worse for the wear from the previous nights beers and an earlier start than I'm used to, it took a minute or two for me to realise that Dan had not only asked if I would do a presentation on AdSwaps for his group, but that I'd actually agreed!

as I'm not one to back down once I've made a commitment, I suddenly got that weird buzz of mixed excitement and fear that comes from doing something that is outside your comfort zone.

whilst I do know the topic (AdSwaps) inside and out, I'd never done a live presentation to a room full of people before, so whilst I knew it would be a great opportunity, it also "gave me the willies" as they say!

anyway, to keep to the point, I took the risk of getting out of my comfort zone and ended up really enjoying it! In fact it went so well I've even agreed to do it again for an even bigger group (2-300 people) in March in Colorado at Marc Horne and Hollis Carter's weekend workshop.

Looking back it easily counts as my personal "high point" for 2009, as I faced the "fear" of stepping outside my comfort zone, enjoyed it, and may well be adding a new "string" to my marketing "bow"!

so the next time you're presented with the chance to step outside your comfort zone, don't be too quick to dismiss it...

oh, and the presentation was recorded, so I'll be offering the full 70+ mins as a product soon, but in the meantime you can see the "Q&A" session I did at the end of the presentation on YouTube here: -

and as a last word, I'd like to thank Daniel & James for giving me the opportunity.

How To Get More Done Each Day

MattG — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:57:41 +0000

One of the biggest differences to my working day over the last year or so was starting to keep a daily "To Do" task list.

Now I do have piles and piles (I can count 23 right now) of post it note pads with list after list of things that I need to do, which I've tried several times to feed in to a spread sheet for the sake of improved efficiency, but that's not what I'm actually talking about.

I have a little A5 size notebook that at the end of each day I write down the list of tomorrow's tasks that I want to get done. Admitedly most days I don't get them all done, but having the list sat in front of me helps me keep on target and remember what I most need to accomplish each day.

It also happens to be a great kick up the bum if I get totally off target (e.g. lost in warcraft for a few hours), as it's sat there staring up at me...

I've also found that it can be a great "pick me up" at the end of the week if I feel I haven't got much done, as usually (providing I've managed to stay out of wacraft) looking back over the weeks pages to see what I've actually managed to get done reminds me that it's not been as bad a week as I thought, and maybe I can just skip working Friday... lol!

Now I'm not goping to give yo a list of all the things you can/need to do or change in your life to get more done, for one simple reason, my mate John Tan's done it for me!

John's recently been interviewing a bunch of successful internet marketer's, although I think he uses the phrase "guru's", and I'm not sure I'm ready for a promotion to those "lofty heights" myself... lol!

seriously though there are some interviews with people I consider to be pretty damned smart and very good at this whole internet marketing/online business thing, including a few friends of mine who I know from first hand experience know what they're talking about.

so now you're asking what the heck's that got to do with tips on how to get more done each day..?

bear with me...

John's giving away the interviews for free, you can get them here: -

Marketing Lunch Break

but what's he's done to keep the interviews easy to absorb is keep them short and to the point and set up a daily newsletter to deliver them, so you can listen to them in just 5-10 mins during your lunch break. Told you he's a smart cookie didn't I! ;]

now here's the extra bit, the important how to get more done each day bit.

when you sign up, for free, John gives you a copy of his new Action Unleashed report, also for free, and this report covers 23 "tips, tricks and tactics" for getting more out of your working week!

see, I told you I'd get there, eventually... lol!

some of my favorites are: -

#4 - once I "got" this one it made a pretty big difference to how many tasks I actually got FINISHED each day!

#6 - this helps me keep on track, as well as see what I've accomplished at the end of each day/week, which can be a bit of a "pick me up" if you're feeling like you've not got enough done [actually this is the one I mentioned at the start of this blog post]

#7 - I still don't do often enough, but am slowly getting better at, as it can make one heck of a difference, especially to my desktop workspace, both virtual and real!

then there's 12 and 13, which have made a massive difference to my working methods and how much I get done.

in fact, all the points in this report are things you need to get your head around and put in to action!

my way of dealing with number 18 is to watch the classic Oz (Australian) soap Neighbors after lunch, it's a real "brain not required" kinda soap, so I find it perfect as an after lunch head clear before getting back to work, although to be fair sometimes that's actually breakfast time for me, rather than lunch... lol!

ok, from that you may also spot that I'm not quite on board with number 21, but I am a "knight owl", honest!
[that's one I'm still working on]

so basically John's free report is full of quick, simple to follow pointers on how to get yourself on the right track so you can get more done, so go get it and start doing, now!

Marketing Lunch Break

Gmail Security Tweak

MattG — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:13:26 +0000

I was going through some notes I'd made a little while back last night and came across a little golden nugget that was given to me by fellow marketer Simon Hodgkinson..

Simon's a pretty smart marketer with a fairly impressive array of products, which you can check out on his Hodgkinson Publishing site, as well as his own book

Simon was checking his Gmail account while we were sat at the bar and mentioned another marketer (who's name I can't remember) who had his gmail account broken in to after accessing it on an unsecured network at a hotel, and subsequantly had many of his websites, servers and other business assets attacked!

The problem is that gmail is accessed via http instead of https (secure encrypted) as a default, so if you use Gmail I recommend you take a moment and go in to your "Settings" (from the top right hands side of the page when you're logged in) and then scroll down the page to the bottom to find the option to change to logon via https as a default.

gmail https login option

It only takes a minute or so to do and could save you a lot of agro down the line sometime...

Too Many Emails

MattG — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:25:53 +0000

"Too many emails!"

that's the most common comment I recieve from people who unsubscibe and it's not surprising.

one of my subscribers mentioned recently that he'd had more than a dozen emails about Mike Filsaime's Traffic Fusion on the launch day, which actually put him off.

I had to admit that I'd had around 3 times that many, but then I'm on just about every marketers list, including all my JV partners and adswaps partners, it helps to be able to spot the best stuff out there and find new JV/adswap partners, but it can get a bit much, even as a full time marketer who doesn't have a full time job on top.

For anyone still juggling a "job" and their new internet marketing business it can be a killer...

In fact, receiving too many emails is also the best reason for unsubscribing from peoples lists, as With so many offers for the best new thing" flying around it's very easy to get distracted and lose focus.

In order to be successful online you will do better by just finding one or two things that your comfortable with and focus on them until they start to bring in some cash (e.g. blogging and article marketing).

so what's the solution?

well, I recommend keeping a separate folder in your email program for all the emails you get from marketers and when you read one that you like mark it as a good one, and vice versa.

If you're on several marketers lists then you'll find it easy to spot those who are just using the deafult "promo email" provided for the product...

Then every 4-6 weeks you can have a look through the folder and unsubscribe from all the marketers/lists that haven't sent at least 1 or 2 good emails in that period...

this should help you to keep your emails down to just those that are usefull and worth spending a few minutes reading.

As per Tim Ferris's "The 4 Hour Work Week" (a must read book), you should also limit your "email time" each day/week and not have your email software open so that you get distracted everytime a new email drops in to your inbox. I find doing so has made a big difference to how much work I get done in a day, although I admit I'm not perfect at following this discipline, let's call it a" work in progress"...

~##~

just a quick reminder I'll be at the Focus Marketing Seminar in London on Oct 17th to 19th if you fancy a beer and a chat.

if you sign up through my affiliate link I may even buy you the beer - have a beer with MattG

you can read more about it on David Congreave's TheLucidBlog.com Blog - Focus Marketing Seminar

Matt Garrett

Tim Brocklehurst’s Freedom Class Workshop

MattG — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:13:52 +0000

Wow! What a weekend!

I don't make it to many internet marketing "events", but this weekend I had the chance to help out Tim Brocklehurst with one of his TheFreedomClass workshops.

The workshops are designed to get people totally up and running with their own MyViralSpiral3.com site, including a blog, their own info product and affiliate program and show them how to start getting traffic in to build their list virally.

So by the end of the weekend they've got everything in place to start building a REAL online business that will last.

I've had MVS3 for a while now as I recognised how powerful it is when I saw Tim present it at Robert Puddy's BritPack seminar last year, but hadn't had time to get to grips with it properly, so the weekend was also the ideal opportunity for me to do the same as the students, get it all up and running and building me a list virally.

I found it so easy to set up and use it was no problem for me to do mine and have time to help the students.

Tim was smart enough to realise that having a couple of other internet marketing tech heads along to help everyone keep up to speed and it seemed to work very well, although Rob O'Callaghan and I did a lot of running around, everyone did end up with a fully set up and running MVS list building business.

Tim also had some great guest speakers lined up: -

First up was Ange Wayne who was so energized and passionate in her presentation it was contagious and she had the whole class, including us "experts", swept up with her, which is pretty impressive for us "reserved" Brits.

If you ever get the chance to see her speak I highly advise you make it happen, she will open your eyes to your true "greatness". I know that sounds a little "corney", but if you do see her speak, you will understand totally.

Then we had Martin Avis, who I've know for a few years now and whilst he's a fairly quiet, un-assuming guy, he really does know his stuff and makes it easy for people to understand how to do stuff like writing articles and building a relationship with you subscribers the RIGHT way.

On the second day we had Alan Forest Smith, a top copywriter who I'd never met or seen before. There were some students at the class that had seen him before and they were impressed that he wasn't just giving the same presentation that they had seen before, it was all new stuff and real cutting edge copywriting stuff, but he also put it across so well that it was easy for even a "newbie" to understand and get the most important foundation for writing truly effective copy.

I'm not exactly a newbie at copywriting, although I tend to get experts (thanks Randy) to do most of my stuff for me, but Alan taught me quite a few VERY useful things and when I get the chance to see him speak again, I'll jump at the opportunity.

Last up was Diane Corriette who covered podcasting and managed to keep something that could have been scary for "newbies" simple enough to be understandable and useful to everyone there.

Unfortauntly Rob didn't get the chance to do a presentation, which is a shame as he's got such a depth of knowledge on the latest web 2 and social site stuff.

The most important question is how did the workshop go for the students, but I guess that's something that only they can answer, so I'm going to invite as many as I can to post comments to this post and see what they have to say...

For me the weekend was great on a lot of different levels: -

Getting my own MVS3 site up and running was probably the least important part of the weekend for me, although I know it's going to add to my online profits this year.

Catching up with Tim, Martin and Rob is always fun, but also meeting Diane again, as well as Ange and Alan for the first time was very cool.

Having the opportunity to help Tim's students to get to grips with everthing and make the most of the weekend and their new online list building business was also great feeling. It's cool to have the opportunity to share my knowledge with people who are going to use it to make money online.

but the best part of the weekend was simply meeting some cool new friends who had such a positive outlook on life and were keen to get their internet businesses off to a good start!

so as well as thanking Tim, I need to thank Nicola, Suzanne, Lorna, Alison, Sue, Trisha, Lucy, Chris and everyone else who made me feel so welcome.

thanks!

Internet Marketing Blog

Focus for Online Success

MattG — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:25:34 +0000

John Thornhill Offers Some Sound Advice...</p>

I read an excellent post from John Thornhill last week called Is This Why You're Failing Online

There's some cracking tips in the post to help people actually "take action" and get things done..

but the reason I'm mentioning it is because he quotes a classic "plea for help" email he received from one of his subscribers, and whilst his reply to the subscriber and the reply he got back is sadly typical, it's one of the lines in the original email that caught my attention..

"I've tried everything and I'm at a loss".

I've also tried everything and I can say from my own experience that it's not the right way of doing things if you want to be successful and build a profitable business online.

The more things you try, the less you actually get finished.

My business is far healthier since I decided to concentrate on just one or two areas of internet marketing, specifically writing information products of my own and building email/subscribers lists, although I admit I do still sometimes get sidetracked myself.

Now it doesn't necessarily have to be these two things that you focus on, it can be anything, providing it works, but the really important bit is to focus on one thing long enough to make it work..

Once you have a process that works, you can take steps to automate it or outsource it, which then frees up your time to concentrate on something else.

We all get bombarded by so many new emails every day for the latest, greatest new ebook, course, service, tool or super widget, that it becomes easier to jump on this "perfect" new solution to all our problems, rather than actually use the last one we paid for to make it work and pay for itself.

I recommend taking the time to have a read of John's excellent blog post, but even more importantly, I recommend you take the time to sit down and work out what the one (or perhaps two) thing(s) that you can concrete on and complete in the next few days is that will make the biggest difference to your online business, and by that I mean what is going to bring in some/more money for you.

Once you've worked out what it is, write down the steps you need to take to fully complete it, close the door, switch off your email and get on with it.

Don't let anything else distract you until you've either got it completed, or at least completed the first steps you listed, then take a break and come back to it again once you're fresh.

DO NOT buy anything new or start anything new until it's done.

I know it can be difficult to do this, I still struggle with it myself and often have too many part finished "projects" on the go at the same time, but the more you practice this, the easier it becomes, and the bigger difference you will see to the money in your bank account at the end of each month..

oh, and please let me know how it goes!

Matt Garrett » Life Online

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