Clean up, fix up, paint up” used to be the springtime motto. After a long winter of laziness and neglect (or was that just me?) the air is warm, the sun is shining, and everyone feels energized to spiff things up.

For the past day or so, I put a scaffolding around this old blog and started making some long-needed repairs and and improvements. Have you noticed? Let’s see…

• I finally got around to putting rounded corners on the top image. Now it matches the graphic below it.
• A drop cap (i.e., an oversized first character) has been added to the first word in each post, thanks to a nifty plugin by Rodney Campbell (Remorhaz). Elegant, no? Like a magazine… (Update: Hey, it didn’t show up in this post!) (Update #2: Got it!)
• I changed the body font to Calibri and bumped up the size one click. I liked the font that came with the theme, but this one is much easier to read. And hey, this blog is all about your comfort!
• I finally got the Photo Dropper plug-in working. This is a terrific blogging tool that lets you to search for Creative Commons-licensed photos on Flickr by keyword, right from your Wordpress post page. Highly recommended!
• Technorati tags now grace the footer of this and all future posts, via Will Garcia’s plugin. (I installed and auditioned about five others before finding this one. Nice work, Will!)
• Finally, I added a Share this button so you can email my posts, or send them to any of the big social networking sites. Ahem. Of course, that’s assuming I ever write something worth sharing.

And that’s coming, too. Buckle your seat belt. I’ve got big plans for this old blog home!

Photo by… me!

Getting your company on an e-mail blacklist is easy. Getting off is a lot tougher. As yesterday’s New York Times illustrates, it’s easy to get labeled a sp^mmer.

“… Even people who follow the rules and do not send unwanted e-mail can find themselves in a jam. (One) company shared its server with some clients, and one of them sent out e-mail that was flagged as sp^m. (The innocent) company was guilty by association, as are many companies that use outside e-mail service providers that offer shared servers.”

Certain precautions can reduce your chances of landing on some blacklist. First, make sure your e-mail service provider is a reputable one, committed to eliminating sp^m.

“The company should use outbound sp^m filters, have stringent antisp^m policies in place and be willing to enforce them. The company should also have some sort of deliverability reporting in place so it can tell you how many of your messages get through and are opened by end users. Finally, if you can afford it, try to send e-mail from your own server. Using a shared e-mail server… can be risky.”

See article here.

Meetings can be a major bummer.

Maybe you’ve noticed. Whether it’s a cell phone ringing, co-workers whispering, or the guy across the table snoozing, meetings can be a big productivity drag.

In fact, after I first went out on my own, I noticed I was immediately getting twice as much accomplished in half the time. A big factor was my lack of meetings — especially the ones that seem pointless and disorganized.

What makes so many meetings so distasteful? According to a new study, 27 percent of workers are most irked by disorganized, rambling meetings. 17 percent are most annoyed by peers who interrupt and try to dominate meetings. Other top peeves are furtive Blackberry usage, lack of bathroom breaks and snacks (or the lack of them).

“If you (call) the meeting, organize it, control everyone during the meeting, and make sure the people there aren’t wasting their time,” said Jeff Resnick, president of Opinion Research USA, which conducted the survey. “If you’re asking somebody to participate in a meeting, it has to be, from their perception, worth it to invest the time.

I have a few other suggestions to offer:

• Make sure there’s a real reason for the meeting. A lot of routine stuff can be better handled in a memo.
• Post an agenda along with the invitation, so people know what will be covered.
• Let participants know what’s expected of them (ideas, etc.) in advance.
• Invite only participants who really need to be there. Remember that a one-hour meeting attended by 12 people drains 12 hours of productivity from your team — not just one hour.
• If the purpose of the meeting is to share information, procedure changes, etc., prepare summaries in advance.
• Keep it short! (I’ve heard of meetings conducted where no one is allowed to sit down. THAT would speed things along!) Short meetings also reduce the need for meals, snacks, bathroom breaks, etc. They also let your team get back to work sooner.

What’s your take on meetings? Bane or boon?

The biggest challenge for e-mail newsletters isn’t getting people to sign up. It’s getting them to open the darn thing when you send it. What can you put in the “Subject” line to get subscribers’ attention and motivate them to open and read it?

Dilemma: If it’s too “salesy” it’s a turn-off. If it’s boring, who’s going to open it?

Better to bore than to hype, at least according to a new study by e-mail service provider MailChimp, which recently listed the subject lines of the best and worst open rates for clients using their service.

But Rich Brooks of Web design firm flyte new media has some important caveats. He correctly points out there are a bunch of variables NOT mentioned that might make all the difference in the world, among them:

• Size of the mailing list (Big list = lower open rate)
• How recipients got on the list in the first place
• Sp@mminess of the content
• What’s in the “From” line (If it’s from your boss, chances are you’ll open it.)
• The companies sending the emails.

And don’t forget other variables like the time and even day the emails are delivered, how often they’re sent, and most of all, whether they deliver on their promise when people first subscribed to them? As Rich points out, they may not be getting opened because the senders “have already proven that their email newsletters provide no value to their readers.”

Interested? Review Mailchimp’s subject lines of the best and worst open rates here and read Rich’s reaction here.

So… what makes YOU open — or delete — an e-mail newsletter? Have you got a secret formula for getting your e-mail newsletters opened? Please pass along your thoughts in the comments.

E-mail is a great, even essential, way to attract customers and communicate with employees, vendors and partners. But as I said in yesterday’s post e-mail can be dangerous when you’re angry, upset or even just trying to be funny. Why? E-mail is simply not very good at conveying the emotions behind your message — so it can be easily misunderstood.

A study detailed in the Christian Science Monitor found three major problems with e-mail as a communications medium:

• It lacks cues like facial expression and tone of voice. That makes it difficult for recipients to decode meaning.
• Because it’s virtually instantaneous, it can create an urgency that pressures you to respond quickly, even before you think things through. That can lead to carelessness and conflict.
• Relationships developed via e-mail are more fragile than face-to-face relationships, especially when conflict arises.

The study found that not only do e-mail senders overestimate their ability to communicate their feelings accurately, recipients often overestimate their ability to correctly decode your feelings and meaning. A classic failure to communicate.

Bottom line: Sometimes it’s better to pick up the phone or drop in.

What’s your take? When is e-mail inappropriate? Have you ever had a relationship (business or personal) blow up because of a misunderstood e-mail? Ever been involved in flame wars? Answer in the comments.

Or just… uh… e-mail them to me.

Don’t write e-mails when you’re angry, suggests AOL Consumer Adviser Regina Lewis (link). Count to ten and clear your head before firing off an angry response. This is especially true when dealing with customers, but it can be just as risky with coworkers and bosses.

That’s a great policy, but it doesn’t really help you manage your emotions. Where do you direct all that internal fury? Here’s a suggestion.

Instead of possibly alienating a customer or jeopardizing your career, open a blank Word document and start venting. Write out exactly what’s irritating you — but don’t send it. “Stream of consciousness” is fine. Busted grammar, misspellings and typos are par for the course. It’s not about “writing” — it’s about releasing your feelings. Just get it down on the page. It’s great therapy, and can be very revealing. You may discover stuff you didn’t know you were suppressing.

If you’re interested in exploring your feelings through writing, you should try doing “morning pages,” suggested by Julia Cameron in her excellent book, The Artist’s Way. Morning pages are three pages of writing, performed daily, about anything at all. Whatever is on (or in) your mind. It’s supposed to overcome your internal censor and make writing natural and habitual. It works!