I promise not to waste your time. I just want to encourage you to take a leap into the personal and business betterment that you have likely had on your mind. I’m aiming to remove the decision paralysis by providing you with one brilliant change you can make every month. And I won’t recommend just anything for the sake of filling an email – everything is worth doing. So please read, and take action if you see something that strikes a chord!
To get down to business, my first recommendation is OWN YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. Not to be confused with having your own email address. What I mean is – not relying on your internet provider or brokerage (@telus, @shaw, @remax, @sutton) or a free service (@gmail, @hotmail) – for your email. Having you@yourname.com is a lot easier a task than you’d think, and the benefits are ongoing. My reasoning in making this suggestion is 3-fold:
1) Continuity. If you own your own email address, it won’t matter who your internet provider or brokerage is over the years. Make a change now, before you’re forced to, to give yourself the time to ease your contacts into using your new info.
2) Professionalism. I think that an @yourdomain.com looks much more slick than @telus.net or @shaw.ca or @gmail.com. If you were dealing with a company, and received email from an @gmail.com email address, wouldn’t you notice that?
3) Portability. Use your email on a variety of devices, no matter where you are in the world. Not all applications allow for this. Travel the world, and have the same email control and access as you have at home.
You may have guessed that I already have a solution in mind as I write out those reasons. I have been a Google Apps for Business user since 2006, and I can honestly say it’s been the best tool I’ve ever invested in. The storage alone is amazing: I can find every email and attachment I’ve ever sent and received, whether on my computer, phone or iPad. I don’t have to be at my own computer to do my work. I also use the other tools – especially the calendar and documents. The cost? $5 per month per user to Google.
The best part is that if you are making the switch, we can actually set things up so that you still use email the same way as before, it’s just a different system running it in the background.
Interested? I can help.
Just ask. I’ll need to know what email address(es) you currently use, check how they’re set up, see what domains you own and what websites they are connected to, and ask what devices (how many, what types) you check your email on.
Work. I’ll set up the Google Apps account for you, then we will sit down together and hook it up to all your devices. We’ll also look at who you need to notify and where you need to change your email address.
Questions? Let me know what is most important to you in this transition and we’ll make sure it goes smoothly.
Cost? Setup time usually runs 2-3 hours @ $80/hr. I can come to your location(s) in the process.
Take the leap, and take your email on a move you won’t regret.
Next month: Dropbox. Keep everything you need at your fingertips. So useful and easy to use, you’ll wonder why you didn’t use it sooner.
Cheers,
Dara, Mae & Shane
Total Marketing and Consulting Inc.
Professional Marketing Services