Who doesn’t have a Gmail account? Google’s popular email service is no longer only for personal email. The folks at Google offer Google Apps, which gives you all the features of Gmail, but with your own domain name.
Huh? So imagine I have a pet sitting service called See Spot Sit, and I use a Gmail account to handle all communications for this pet sitting service business. Perhaps the email is something like SeeSpotSit@gmail.com. My business picks up and I now have a super awesome website, SeeSpotSit.com. I want to look really legit, and I hear that using email from my domain name can help me gain that legitimacy. Adding email through my web site hosting service can be, frankly, ghetto. Email services are typically an afterthought for many web hosting companies. So I sign up for Google Apps for Business. Now I can have email accounts like YoDawg@SeeSpotSit.com or LeashLover@SeeSpotSit.com, and they all run with the same gears and cogs that power Gmail.
Entrepreneur magazine calls Google Apps “an all-in-one office software product businesses would actually pay for.” You can take all those tools you use from Google – email, calendar, documents and such – and slap your brand on it. Inc.com touts Google Apps’ ability to make workflow more fluid without the cost of purchasing and installing software.
Google Apps comes in two sizes: Google Apps and Google Apps for Business. Plain old Google Apps is free, but you are limited to 10 users and 7 GB of email storage per person. Google Apps for Business comes with a fee, but you get unlimited users, 25 GB of storage per account and tech support from Google. Entrepreneur recommends the business plan for those requiring a lot of tech support, anyone migrating from server-based solutions or businesses who need to keep a tight leash on record keeping and compliance.
So I’ve convinced you that Google Apps is the way to go? Sweet. Now comes the fun part: using it.
PopSugar shares some “life changing” Gmail tips and tricks that you can use in Google Apps. Here are a few you can use when you log into your email using a browser (it is a little different if you use email programs like Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook):
- Mass Unsubscribe
Banish those pesky emails once and for all with services like Unroll.me, or check out the handy “unsubscribe” button next to the sender’s address. - Undo Send
Mayday! I sent something I shouldn’t have, or I meant to BCC my bowling league and instead I CC’d them. Click the gear icon on the top right to open your settings. Under the “labs” tab, enable “undo send.” Gaffe be gone!
- Add Emails to Tasks
Sorting through your email takes a lot of time and energy. If you adhere to the “one-touch rule” you should only process an email one time, not read it then return to it when you’re ready to take action. In the upper left, click the Mail dropdown and open your Tasks. This will create a small window with a checklist. Add emails to your task list, open the More dropdown menu and add that email to your tasks. Now you can navigate through your Aunt Irma’s email forwards and keep track of your to-do list. - Set up filters
Make your email do work for you. You can set up email filters to automatically sort mail into folders. Open an email you’d like to automatically filter in the future. In the More dropdown, select “filter messages like these.” Then you can create the filter (either a keyword, or messages with attachments, you name it – literally).
Google is constantly improving Gmail and Google Apps features. Once you start, it will be hard to imagine your business communications life before Google. Cube Creative Design can help you get started. Contact us to learn more.
