Google Gmail Tips to Boost Your Business
by Clint Boulton
Gmail Settings
Gmail business users can make the most of the following changes through their Gmail Settings tab at the top right of their Gmail account. When users opt to change a setting, they simply click the enable box and click save changes at the bottom of the page.
Customize Your Signature
Users have for years customized their outgoing e-mail signature in Microsoft Outlook. Gmail users can do it, too. Click on settings, check the signature box and write your outgoing messages.
Custom Addresses
Send messages from Gmail with another e-mail address listed as the sender, allowing users to manage multiple accounts from the Gmail interface. Users will set this up under the Account and Import tab under Settings and choose the address they want to reply from while composing messages in the “From:” address drop down.
More Management
Some SMB owners may wish to manage multiple e-mail accounts from one palette to keep better track of all e-mail. Users may either forward their other e-mail addresses to their main Gmail account or route them there using Gmail’s Mail Fetcher, which downloads messages via POP from up to five other accounts. Users may set up the Mail Fetcher under the Account and Import tab within the Settings section here.
Tasks
This is a favorite of ours and something business owners may use to remember the grocery list or file those TPS reports. Use Tasks to create lists, add notes to each task, assign them due dates. Click the Tasks link under Contacts on the left side of the Gmail screen. Click in the Tasks window and start typing just like you would in a word processor. Once you’ve typed in a task, press Enter to create another one, or use the + button at the bottom of your list.
Labels
Gmail has eschewed Folders for labels, which allow users to organize e-mails for projects, vendors, customers, weekly reports. Users can also add custom colors to labels, order them based on priority and search the contents of specific labels. Gmail’s HTML5 capabilities allow users to drag and drop messages into labels, too.
E-Mail the Right Person
Sometimes we send the wrong e-mails to the wrong people, an embarrassing mistake. To mitigate this mistake, Google offers a “Got the wrong Bob? section from the Labs tab under Settings. This tool flags users when they’ve included the wrong person by accident. These prompts are based on the groups of people you e-mail most often.
Gmail Chat and Video Chat
Most Gmail users know this feature is available. For those who don’t, users can communicate in real-time as though they were in the same room with video chat or just chat via voice or text. Reply by chat at the bottom of each message. Click here to download the plug-in that adds video chat capabilities to Gmail.
Canned Reponses
Gmail lets users offer canned responses to common and frequent questions. Like the Bob tool, users will turn on this feature in Gmail Labs. They can then compose their response once and use it over and over again.
Send SMS from Gmail
That’s right, you can text from Gmail. Once enabled under Gmail Labs under Settings, users can type a phone number in the chat box search window. Numbers will be saved in your contacts, allowing users to just type names into the chat box and select Send SMS. This can be super handy for business users, but note that those whom you text will be charged for messages you send.
Complete Tips
The Gmail team has listed additional tips here.