When I first got a Gmail account, I did so on the recommendation of a friend from the United Arab Emirates. As one of my more tech-savvy friends, I just trusted him. I don’t remember why exactly, but I believe I needed an email dedicated to the business I was starting: Target Audience Magazine. I mentioned in “Branding Mistakes” post how I later lamented my decision to brand my business in my email name, but the fact is I am beginning to love Gmail.
Label everything
One of the first things I loved about Gmail was the ability to organize my email through the use of labels. From as early as my first year publishing Target Audience Magazine, 2007, I labeled my emails with respect to the month or genre of content. I kept literal tabs on contributors, public relations people and story ideas. The use of labels remains one of my biggest reasons for insisting people contact me through my email rather than on any social media platform or via text.
Search for it
The next big thing I noticed, in my evolving love affair with Gmail and Google itself, was my ability to search my email. Gmail’s search function works so well that I can type in keywords like the name of a band, and my search results will quite often yield the name of a publicist. This is wonderful when a publicist includes the bands or artists represented in the signature of an email because, then, even if I haven’t worked on anything for that particular artist, but I have worked with the publicist, I immediately know whom to reach out to and that I have an established relationship with that press person.
Multi-tasking my personalities via email integration
The ring on the finger for my marriage to Gmail is how I can now incorporate ALL of my email addresses from one main location. I forward my domain email addresses to my Gmail and have my default address as my name (as I recommended in that previous blog). My Gmail default setting allows me to automatically reply as the email address from which I was contacted (so if you email Ellen [@] EllenEldridge.com my Gmail knows to respond to you that way even though I am still using the email I wish I hadn’t created).
I’m not out to work for Google and I’m certainly not being paid to sing its praises, but every time I see someone with an email address that is NOT Gmail, I can’t help but wonder why they don’t fall in love like I have.