How to use this Page

Did you know that you can automate your blog to post something when you’re not even there?  Neither did I until this weekend.  As every one of us at MJM Books is somewhere in the wilderness right now, far outside of cell range, we agonized over the thought that we might leave our beloved readers without a blog post for 3 whole days.

It seems you can write a post and set a timer as to when it should be published.  I’ve heard of the same trick being used by business people who will write all their e-mails before they go home, but have them automatically sent at 7 or 8 pm so that it looks as if they’re still at the office working overtime.

Other cool things you can have your web applications automatically do for you:

Create Filters to sort your incoming e-mail:  For instance, you can set it so that every time you get an email from Grandma, it will automatically be marked Urgent.  Or every time you get an email that contains the words “Killer Bees” it will automatically forwarded to your Killer Bees Awareness Activist subfolder.

Date Reminder:  Your calendar can be automatically set to alert you to important birthdays.  Or better yet, a few days before so that you can get a card signed and sent.

Auto Responder: This lets people (hopefully not burglars) know you’re not home and tells them when you’ll be back by automatically responding to every email that comes into your inbox.

Canned Responses:  Tired of typing the same thing over and over to the same type of email?  You can create stock answer templates such as, “No, I am not interested in ‘Enl@rging my m3mb3r’” so that all you have to do is attach the right email address and off it goes.

Gather Your News: Ever hear of an RSS feed? How about Google Alerts? You can eliminate virtually all your surfing and have the content you want delivered straight to you.  By subscribing to an RSS feed, you can be notified every time something new is posted on CuteKittensRus.com. If you check multiple sites daily, this could save you some serious time. Food for thought, MJM offers the opportunity to SUBSCRIBE in the upper right hand corner of the blog.

Google Alerts are easy to set up and don’t require you to use Gmail.  You simple create a free account and tell Google which key words you want it to search for and you will receive daily emails with links to new relevant news.  “If I Were Big” artist, Erin Drewitz, has a Google Alert that emails her every time the words “MJM Books” comes up anywhere online.   

The processes for enabling these features vary from service to service, but virtually all self-respecting programs have them.  I suggest you make your life a little easier and discover how many things you can put on autopilot.  Right now, I’m probably sitting on a rock eating freeze dried spaghetti.

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This is so cool, finding Ellie McDoodle in unexpected places.
Do you subscribe to Google Alerts in your name, and your book's name?
If so, you get surprised with occasional references to your work, like I was with this Detroit News article about kids' lit, mentioning both Ellie books.
If you're not yet a fan of Google Alerts, you will be.
(more hearts here)