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<\/p>\nWhen I\u2019m working with clients, I\u2019m surprised many don\u2019t have a Google account.\u00a0 Google gives a lot of free tools away.\u00a0 Matter of fact, if you’re running a small business, you tremendously benefit from using Google\u2019s Tools.\u00a0 To use these tools, you need a Google account.<\/p>\n
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If you have Gmail account, you have a Google account and can use any Google Application and service.\u00a0 If you have a Google Apps for business account, you also have a Google account and can use any Google Application and service.<\/p>\n
The difference is a Google Apps for business<\/a> account is a paid account.\u00a0 (About $5 a month per email which is usually a person.) It is also your own domain. For example, my Google Apps for business account uses my domain Terryculkin.com. And I have an email on here:\u00a0info@wordpress-123860-679395.cloudwaysapps.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you have a team or a large amount of employees, you really benefit from Google\u2019s management tools.\u00a0 You can have a shared calendar, shared cloud storage and more. \u00a0This could lower your business costs of internal IT and consulting costs.<\/p>\n Using a Gmail account is free and gives a ton of space.\u00a0 You can use your Gmail account to access your own calendar and drive.\u00a0 You get to use all the same tools that Google Apps for business, but not on your own domain.<\/p>\n Whether you have Gmail or Google Apps for business owners will benefit from these Apps.\u00a0 I will highlight the added feature for Google Business Apps. \u00a0A business account is recommended for all businesses but needed to use Google’s tools.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Google Account For Business Owners<\/b><\/h2>\n
\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/googlemail-128.png\")
<\/span> Gmail<\/span> <\/a>\u2013 Of course.\u00a0 You have Gmail for all your email and are able to tag emails and do so much more then most email programs.\u00a0 Most people only use the Google Account for Gmail. \u00a0Gmail is great for Google Apps for Business since you send it from your own domain. \u00a0Plus some advanced features like alias, lists and internal chat can enhance the messaging system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/calendar-128.png\")
<\/span> Google Calendar<\/span> <\/a>\u2013 You can use a personal calendar that can sync between all your devices.\u00a0You can also create public calendars and embed them on websites. Sharing a calendar is very easy and more then one person can edit a calendar. \u00a0<\/span>Google Business Apps have shared calendars that you can schedule meetings with your team. \u00a0There are also some great third-party Cloud Apps that can plugin to Google Calendar<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/drive-128.png\")
<\/span> Google Drive<\/span> <\/a>\u2013 This is one of the most powerful Google Application. You not only can upload and store files here, you can create and edit files in your browser.\u00a0 Even more than that, multiple people can edit a file at once.\u00a0 There is so many things you’re Google account can do with drive.\u00a0 In your account you can create forms, spreadsheets, embed movies and pictures. \u00a0For Google Apps for Business, you can have your entire file server on the Cloud and can easily share documents and work on them in real time across the globe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/webmaster_tools-128.png\")
<\/span> Google Webmaster Tools<\/span> \u2013<\/a> Any business owner who has a website should be using this tool.\u00a0 This tool shows you how Google sees your website. \u00a0Showing what keywords are coming up in searches and if people are clicking on them to enter your website. \u00a0It also tells you if there are any errors that will harm your search ranking.\u00a0 If your website does get malware and you have an account on Webmaster tools, you will be informed by Google.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/google-analytics-150x150.jpg\")
Google Analytics<\/span> <\/a>\u2013 This will show you how people come to your website.\u00a0 Where they go on your website and much more.\u00a0 Every website will benefit from using this tool.\u00a0 You will need to add a small piece of code to every page.\u00a0 Content management systems like WordPress and Drupal are very easy to add this code to.\u00a0 This also links very well with Webmaster Tools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/search-150x150.jpg\")
YouTube<\/span> <\/a>\u2013 The largest video sharing website in the world.\u00a0 YouTube is a great promotional and social media website.\u00a0 If your business wants to highlight service or products making short videos and uploading them to YouTube, this might be a great exposure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/search-1.jpg\")
Google + –<\/span><\/a> Google’s Social media experience.\u00a0 Google has linked Google + to many other features.\u00a0 Your business will benefit\u00a0 having a Profile page.\u00a0 This will link to many other parts of Google. Google Places uses the profile here for your business. Also Google + has Google Hangouts <\/a>which allows you to do video conferencing with multiple people for free.<\/p>\n\n![\"google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/google-places-logo-150x150.jpeg\"){kind=logo}
Google Places<\/span> <\/a>\u2013 For local businesses this will put you on Google Maps.\u00a0 This means you can edit what people see about your company. You can add very important information like your hours.\u00a0 You can also add video and images. \u00a0This is a free yellow page listing. \u00a0Your buisness may already be in Google on Places. \u00a0Search Places and claim your business.<\/p>\n\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/imgres-150x150.jpg\")
Google Maps<\/span> <\/a>\u2013 Great map tool.\u00a0 Also great for looking up competitors. Google maps is the next generation yellow pages but much cheaper.\u00a0 Use Google Places, linked above, to add your business.\u00a0 Also you can create custom maps<\/a> and embed Google maps into your website. \u00a0The mobile app for your phone is also a great GPS.<\/p>\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.terryculkin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Googleadwords-150x48.png\")
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\u00a0Google Signal Sign-on<\/em><\/strong> – This is something that is getting more popular right now. \u00a0This means you can use your Google Account to sign into other services which aren’t google. \u00a0You will see some websites say ‘Sign on with Google’ or Use your Google Account to sign on. \u00a0You will also see this is very popular with Twitter & Facebook. \u00a0This makes it easier to get onto Cloud Applications without having a ton of username and passwords. \u00a0Be careful with this, anyone who you use this with may have access to your Google account. Google warns you that you are about to give permission to this company to access your account to login.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n