GMAIL and amalgamating domain email addresses

[brazmus]

Just finished the book and pumped to start moving. I also just finished reading David Walsh's 'Source Control' which complemented it perfectly.

I'm almost ready to post on Elance but want to setup Gmail to run my 3 domains websites through so my VA will have access to all my emails. I've searched the web and the posts I found were old and didn't match the options on the latest gmail settings section.

How do I / Can I?:

- set up 5 email addresses of different domains via gmail in IMAP format? This way if I delete the email via my blackberry, through outlook 2007 or my VA does in GMAIL, they will all sync up. Is this possible? I personally don't really want to use gmail for my email as I'm happy with outlook, but this is the best way to centralise emails for a VA to access to use correct?

- Do I have to be a member of google Apps for this all to happen? Is this the only way I can access google documents to share files?

Thanks guys. Appreciate your time!

Brad

[kamakiri]

Looking for inefficient solutions wastes both of our time. You obviously looked into google apps. That is a clear winner in terms of functionality and usability.

Host one of your domains there and run everything through it. It takes almost no time (easily less than doing it some other way), and you will have much more functionality and control.

[Sven]

Well Kam, you can not find a solution if you try leaving out the inefficient ones immediately. To Find a solution first you search for it and at a later stage discard the ones that do not fit.

By declaring a solution unfit immediately you underminde the process of uncovering other and possibly better solutions.
Delay the jugement!

Then on Gmail, I am looking in to this from a similar standpoint. Ah, wait there is a trial I can do, let me get back to you!

[kamakiri]

Sven - Go back and take a look at the OP.

Do I have to be a member of google Apps for this all to happen? Is this the only way I can access google documents to share files?

Two things are obvious here. One: You can probably punch a round peg into a square hole and get something to work with a normal gmail account. There are work arounds and grease monkey scripts for everything these days.

#2 The OP looked for and found at the easiest and most straight forward solution. Google apps is not only free, it is convenient, simple to set up for multiple domains, and offers literally thousands of perks over normal gmail.

It is pretty much incontestable that google apps trumps gmail for business functionality. That you somehow missed the boat on that fact is beyond the scope of this post buddy.

[Sven]

Okay, trial so far:

I want to have my email in duplicate, on my laptop to work with and a duplicate on gmail to access from anywhere and as a backup.

I use Thunderbird 3 on the laptop which is awsome! It lets you sync gmail for offline reading and writing.

I can forward all my mail to my gmail account and then see it show up in thunderbird. But I now have to figure out how to leave it on gmail when I work with it...

I allready know I can upload all my old mail to gmail but reluctant to get going, it is a big job...

Edit, reply to Kam,
Not everything is obvious to everyone. Gmail in particular (or actually most google stuff) can be a quite overwhelming.

The clarity with which you see stuff is probably quite rare and similar to mine but it could be that you miss that most people do not see things as clearly as you do.

If people miss things that are obvious to you, be gentle on them and teach or stay away and let them sort stuff out for them selves.

[REOBULK]

Not everything is obvious to everyone. Gmail in particular (or actually most google stuff) can be a quite overwhelming.

The clarity with which you see stuff is probably quite rare and similar to mine but it could be that you miss that most people do not see things as clearly as you do.

If people miss things that are obvious to you, be gentle on them and teach or stay away and let them sort stuff out for them selves.

How true, one of the daunting parts for me of the 4HWW method is the automation part which requires some baseline understanding of how the techie world works. It is an education which forces me to overcome the amygdala (speaking of Seth Godin) and deal. It's not easy for me BUT it also pushes me to outsource "the rest" (Gerber).....I've got a really good techie guy working with me now....

[networkmemetics]

I see no reason to download the emails into a 3rd party application - everything that I need to do is accessible online. GMail can use Google Gears so that it is accessible offline as well.

If you have a smart phone, there is probably a google app for it.

I think your issue is attempting to integrate 'old' ways of doing things (Mail clients, downloading messages') with the new way 'Software as a Service / Cloud Computing).

Conclusion: Just move forward and embrace the new techmology. There are many tools / ways to access GMAIL. Just use it.

My outsourcers are sent passcards (user names and passwords) for the sites I want them to use....If they don't know what to do once they get there, they need to be trained better or replaced.

NM

[David-Andrew]

Send evertyhing to Gmail and use Gmail to view it. Doind this 2 years already ad it really works well. Just do it.