I recently converted to Gmail and it wasn’t exactly painless. It was a move based on principle. SBC Yahoo announced, in a somewhat Draconian manner, that it was going to be displaying ads on the Yahoo Mail interface. I was never keen on the Yahoo interface and used this news as a springboard to switch to Gmail. I had two Gmail accounts already and figured that since Gmail is free (with its text advertisements) and Yahoo’s DSL email, which I pay for, displays full graphic ads, it was time for change. Plus I needed to better separate business and personal email accounts.

Tips

1. Allow time to get used to the difference. Gmail, at first, is clumsy and intimidating mainly because it’s so different. I’m also used to working within Microsoft Outlook—the standard at work—and find it suitable for most purposes. Outlook’s interface is mostly user-friendly. Gmail, however, views email as something else entirely: conversations.  
2. Conversations appear like multiple emails all in one email. Office, on the other hand, keeps adding new incoming emails forcing you to track a history of emails, assuming you did not permanently delete them. Gmail, when you receive a reply to an email, adds it onto the previous email, to present a conversation, not exactly new emails.
3. Gmail’s accessibility is quick for mobile users. Microsoft Outlook’s online interface is slow and dreadful. I often do media relations on the road and at weird hours, either on my Moto Q or laptop. To surf on a three-inch screen means that Outlook shows up in a split screen, so my screen real estate is cut in half, and I have to make adjustments accordingly. Lame. Gmail, on the other hand, resides online so the mobile phone version is easier to navigate and appears primarily text-based. If in cell range, Gmail is easier and faster to navigate.
4. Think in terms of keywords, not folders. This is a primary benefit for public relations purposes. Office allows you to segregate emails into folders and archive as such. Gmail, though, let’s you add “labels,” which are keywords, or tags, to attribute to your emails effectively turning your email into a more powerful database. Say you have email related to a particular client but it comes from a non-client, like a reporter. Typically, you may file the email under in the client’s folder. With Gmail, you can tag your email with labels of your choosing, so an email could have a tag of “Client X” and “Media Outlet X.” You can archive the email with both labels and retrieve the email by clicking on either label. Simply click on the “Media Outlet X” label, or “Client X,” and the same email will appear, along with all of the emails tagged with those labels. Emails can be tagged with multiple labels and archived accordingly. 
5. Gmail contacts rock. I use Excel at work to manage my media contacts. It’s limited, especially for those of us who are not savvy Excel users, mainly because I have to list them under a certain category (e.g., rural Nevada, environmental reporters, etc.) and/or in multiple files. The problem: What if I want to send a news release to just reporters who write about environmental topics in
   Nevada? I have to search from memory in my geographically based list. EDIT (7/17/07): I decided Gmail’s Contacts were not up to my original assumptions. They are rather simplistic compared with Outlook’s. While it’s easy to import from other mail systems into Gmail (easier than Outlook in fact) I’m still not convinced using Gmail’s Contacts for your media contacts is the best approach. Please submit your thoughts.

Lastly, it’s easy to import other email accounts into Gmail and even mask that you’re using Gmail for your primary mail interface. Consolidating your other accounts toward Gmail puts you in one driver’s seat for multiple purposes: work, personal and so on.

These benefits are not necessarily the best for all applications, and it’s not to say that other software or online applications can’t do the same things. I’ve found that Gmail does a pretty good job for most PR purposes, above and beyond my Yahoo interface. For mobility, Gmail’s online interface far outweighs both Outlook’s and Yahoo’s.

Gmail’s advertising is annoying and it’s constant calls to refer contacts to Gmail are even more intrusive. Nevertheless, for managing contacts from remote areas, Gmail is at the top of my list.

Disclaimer: These are basic principles of Gmail geared toward public relations purposes, not expert user advice.