Pimp Your Gmail

I’m wondering why I didn’t convert all of my email to Gmail a long time ago. I’ve now discovered that I can create multiple signature files as long as you set up Gmail to check multiple email addresses. You can associate a file with each address, as well as set Gmail to respond from that address.

And, I’ve discovered (thanks to Carol McClelland and Tracey Lawton) can you can create email templates with Google Lab’s Canned Responses feature.

Another downside I’ve discovered is that I don’t get emails quite as fast as I did before using Gmail, but I think the accessibility of my email on any computer will outweigh that issue.

Here are some other cool add-ons I’ve discovered:

1. Boomerangmail: Gmail doesn’t offer the option to schedule an email to send later. However, this add-on does let you schedule emails to go out in the future (Jean, this is for you!). You can also use if for follow-up reminders. Just click the Boomerang button when you have an email open, and choose when you need it again. Boomerang will archive the message. At the time you chose, they’ll bring it back to your inbox, marked unread, starred, or even at the top of your message list.

And, there are times you need to make sure you follow up within a specific time frame after sending a message. You can select to only be reminded if nobody replies, or regardless if you receive a reply. This way you won’t let messages slip through the crack and will never forget to follow up with people.

They offer a free basic plan that includes scheduling up to 10 emails per month, or you can upgrade to a paid personal or professional plan.

2. Mingly is part contact manager and part relationship manager. Mingly makes it easy to sort through the noise of social networks and connect with the people you care about. Living right in your Gmail, Mingly:

• Aggregates your contacts from Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter into a searchable merged address book

• Pulls key updates from your networks, like birthdays and job changes, into a single feed

• Makes it easy to send social-network messages without leaving your inbox

• Helps you keep track of conversations with contacts across your different networks.

Mingly’s browser extension is currently available for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

3. WiseStamp is a free application that lets you add your social profiles – Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Linkedin, Skype, as well as promote your latest eBay item, blog post, Twitter tweets or Facebook update. You can also add your company logo and use multiple (personal and business) signatures. You can also upgrade to a fee-based plan at the Plus, Pro, or Enterprise levels, all of which offer more features.

4. SaneBox can be used regardless of your email service. I discovered it by accident while looking for add-ons for Gmail. It automatically filters your email of spam and unimportant messages to only see the emails that are important.

SaneBox intelligently analyzes your emails and prioritizes them for you, saving you hours every day. It creates various email folders for you (Top, Tomorrow, Next Week, News, Later) and “learns” what goes into which folder, i.e. which emails you need to see right away, which can be delayed until later, which are newsletters, etc.

It doesn’t get everything perfect out of the box, but it comes darn close. I LOVE how it organizes emails exactly as I like to read them, and it definitely helps me tame my inbox. They offer a 30-day free trial, and then you can upgrade to a monthly or yearly paid plan.

There are many other Gmail add-ons, but these are the ones I’m using at the moment.