Is Gmail Right For Your Small Business?

I started using Gmail regularly for business back in March. It happened right after a series of frequent, productivity-killing crashes of my Entourage mail client (what Microsoft calls Outlook on the Mac.)

I'll be honest; it took some getting used to. First off, no folders? Really? Google, you think your mail search is all that? (Actually, it is all that and a bag of chips.)

However, since I'm often checking email from my iPhone, I fell in love with the automatic sync that Gmail (as a Web mail app) provided. I'd check my email while waiting in line somewhere, reply, and the original message would be archived and my message in my sent folder, even when I returned to my work computer. Or my home computer. Or an Internet café computer, if I went there.

I also love the way Gmail threads messages, collapsing previously read messages automatically, and even telling me while I'm reading an email if a new, updated response has come in. Sometimes it gets a little too aggressive with threading messages, however, and I wish there was an easy way to unthread certain threads.

And for years I joked about writing a script that would check for attachments if the word "attachment" was in the email, so I wouldn't keep forgetting. And lo and behold, Gmail has that feature as well.

Of course, there are drawbacks, too. The lack of folders, recent downtime and the Web-based nature of the application makes it not for everyone.

I wrote up a pro and con list of making the switch to Gmail and entitled it Gmail: Is Free Email Right for Your Small Business. It's this month's issue of flyte log. Enjoy.

Rich Brooks
Web Tools for Small Business

Comments

[Josh Hurley]

What is annoying me is that I've been paying for the Enterprise Version (a replacement for an Exchange Server) of GMail and it has been very sluggish in the last few days. Today it took 5 minutes to send a 2 sentence paragraph!

[Rich Brooks]

Please note that Josh Hurley sold his soul to Microsoft years ago and may be an undercover agent for them still. ;)

[Suzie Cheel]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for writng this and your newsletter, just about to switch ans was looking at thunderbird and yesterday decided on Gmail- no no labels- that is interesting. Know leo Babautu is a no labels person too because of the search function. will watch for an update. Not to go and move a few email accounts

Suzie

[Mike from Drop Ship]

I myself use gmail and am a big fan of it. The features are amazing.

[Lisa Johnson]

Unfortunately for me, I've lost a few clients due to my reliance on GMAIL for my business. One reason is that the emails sometimes are not grouped...you end up with 30 emails from a client, and sometimes they are not in sequence or worse, not connected in a thread! Secondly, their servers crash, are extremely slow and unreliable at best. I'm not a fan any longer. :(

[find mail server]

Gmail is the best email server on the market for business it secure, trustworthy and cheap.

[VVS-Hedestoker]

I use gmail myself, and I'm a very satisfied user. Nice article, though.

[Social Media Marketing Agency]

According to me gmail is the best mail service thanks buddy for this newsletter