Assemble A No-Fuss Mailing List Using Zotero & Gmail.

Say goodbye to 'copy & paste'.  There are easier ways to organize information.  Zotero, a handy Firefox extension, picks up whereGoogle's ailing Notebook application leaves off.

Marketed as a research tool, it is actually a tiny miracle.  Not only can it be used to bookmark information, but it also permits its user to highlight or add sticky notes to pages.  Furthermore, it sports an impressive search capability, just as Google Notebook has done.

Fortunately, Zotero also allows users to drag and drop highlighted information directly into a note, eliminating the need to press a "clip" or "paste" button.  For this reason, Zotero is an excellent program to use if you desire to put together a mailing list.

Download Zotero

Zotero is a free & handy piece of software that is easy to install. Equipped with a portable bookmarking tool, the Zotero application provides space for you to deposit information you discover on the internet. Doing so is easy.  Once downloaded, Zotero's extension can be opened from the bottom corner of your screen (just like Google's soon defunct Notebook extension). Once opened, it will expand to fill a third of the screen.

To get started with a new notebook, you will only need to press an icon titled "New Standalone Note" and begin to type into a blank page in the 3rd column of the Zotero pane. Next, highlight any information from the internet that is of particular interest to you, just as you would do if you were preparing to copy & paste it into a document . However, instead of needing to worry about opening up a Word document, you can simply drag the info directly into the notebook. Here, it can be modified, and can later be exported by being dragged outside of the notebook to a desired spot.

In addition to this convenient drag & drop feature, Zotero also permits users to simply record a page's URL, as well as record a screenshot of the page.

Research Your Prospects

Plenty of information exists online to suit the needs of a wide range of aspiring entrepreneurs. When useful email addresses are collected in one place, they can be worth a pretty penny. Instead of worrying about needing to purchase this information from data gathering experts, why not just gather it yourself?

Since Zotero's extension does not require repeated users to enter user IDs and passwords, it is an easy place to store useful information about potential business prospects. In fact, getting in and out of Zotero is even easier than logging onto the internet.

Open & Title a New Standalone Note

While Zotero permits you to tag items with the URL code from which they originate, the easiest way to save email addresses is to simply drop them one by one into a standalone note. Should you later have questions about the email address you've saved, you can always Google the email address in question and you'll most likely get a list of results that includes the site from which you extracted the address.

Conveniently, Zotero automatically saves your work, just as Google's Notebook & Google Docs does. This can be a lifesaver if you're called away by an instant message, by a co-worker, or by a family member.

Send Your Mail Via Gmail

I recommend Gmail over Hotmail because, of the two, Zotero proved to be more compatible with Gmail when I performed a side-by-side comparison.  A chunk of email addresses can be pulled out of your Zotero notebook and dropped directly into the BCC line of an email.  Although Standard Edition Google accounts permit users to send 500 emails per day to external recipients, Google itself recommends to users to bypass this restriction by creating multiple email accounts.

And this is the least of what Zotero can do.  Although using Zotero takes a little work & ingenuity, it is a real lifesaver in the end. It frees up your energy to tackle complex projects without having to worry about getting overwhelmed.

Better Than Google Notebook?

Now it's time for the big question:  Do you feel like Zotero is a worthy replacement to Google Notebook?  Let us know if you've tried Zotero yet.  If you have, how do you like it?  Do you have any tips for others about how to make the most of Zotero?