Own Your Email Address – Google Apps for Business

As someone who has been self employed for the better part of a decade, I frequently find myself spending time thinking about my own productivity and the betterment of my business and personal organization – practices, services, efficiency, etc. You have probably found yourself in a similar thought pattern. As such, I’ve decided to launch a series of recommendations: TOOLS YOUR BUSINESS SHOULDN’T DO WITHOUT.The thought process here is that – at one time, having an email address, having a website, or using a smartphone, seemed daunting. But looking back on my last 8 years in business, how did I – or how did any of you – ever consider living or breathing, let alone being in business, without these tools?! So, now – what else is there that is a “must have” that you’re not already doing?I want to present to you a series of ideas – one per month, until I can’t think of anything further – that are aimed at improving your business and personal organization and processes. Everything I’ll be recommending will be from my own personal experience with a product or service, so that you’ll have both my endorsement and my ability to support you if you decide to explore this option!

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.