2/1/2025
5 Simple Tech Fixes for 2025
Katie Elzer-Peters
1. Set Up a Domain-Based Email Address
It’s time! Time to have email using your website domain. This means an address like “katie@thegardenofwords.com” and not katiegardenofwords@gmail.com.
Short tangent: Something I’ll talk a lot about in 2025 is re-branding the way you talk about your business from a “small business” to a “local and independent business.” To give credit where due, Ben Futa, CEO of Botany, coined this phrase. Because there’s NOTHING small about what you’re doing, running businesses and putting your entire livelihood into them.
Back to your domain-based email ... using this says to anyone you interact with: “I take this seriously and you should, too.” Plus, there are certain services and certain marketing activities that you simply can’t use or do without a domain-based email. If you do any sort of email marketing, you must have your own email address with DMARC, SPF and DKIM records set up in order for your newsletters, availabilities, etc. to get delivered.
Email clients (that’s what you call gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) are cracking down on bulk email sent from non-verified, non-domain email addresses, which means if you’re BCCing 400 people to send something out, your recipients probably aren’t receiving it.
Here’s how to set up your domain-based email: Find your domain registrar. This is where you pay for your domain (website address). If you don’t know where it is, type “where is this domain registered” into your search engine. It should bring up the icann website. Type your website address in, scroll down the page and you’ll find the registrar.
Once you find your registrar, log in and see what they might offer in terms of professional email. If you’re used to Outlook, use Microsoft 365. If you like using gmail, head over to workspace.google.com and follow the prompts.
2. Verify Your Logins & Get a Password Manager
Do you know WHERE to log in to your domain registrar? What about your Instagram password? If there’s two-factor authentication on your Quickbooks account, whose phone number does it go to? How do you log in to your website to update hours? Who has your Google Business listing login info? (Don’t have one? See number 3.)
Start with a piece of paper or a Google Doc and list all the services you use. (Download the checklist via the QR code to get started.) DO NOT WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORDS IN AN ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT OTHER THAN A PASSWORD MANAGER. If you MUST you can write them on a piece of paper that you keep in a locked drawer until you set up your password manager.
Next to each service name, note the login (username) and associated email address. Also note whether there’s two-factor authentication and how/what/who can accomplish that. With that information, if you lose your password or need to change it, you can. You can always hit “forgot password.” That’s why it isn’t terribly important to try to remember the passwords. It’s MUCH more important to note who can CHANGE the password and how.
Then get a password manager and, ideally, set up your staff as users with their work email addresses (on your domain!) in the password manager so you can securely share passwords. By doing this, you can revoke access if someone leaves and you don’t have to change every single password.
3. Set Up and Update your Google Business and Apple Maps Listings
These listings are how people find you in desktop search, mobile search and voice search. If customers have an iPhone and ask Siri to find them a place, Siri will return the Apple Maps listing, and if it’s incorrect, you might have lost some business.
Go to business.google.com to set up your Google Business page. To update Apple, businessconnect.apple.com. You need to have a business Apple account. If you don’t, set one up. It’s free.
Finally, designate someone on staff to keep an eye on the Google Business hours. If these aren’t accurate to the season, you’ll receive lots of phone calls asking, “Are you open?” (I mean, you will anyway, but this will help ... some.)
4. Organize File Storage
Use February to fall in love with organization. This is another Microsoft/Google split. If you use Microsoft products, organize Sharepoint with files by topic and subfolders. If you use Google Workspace, create a main drive and a folder structure. With Google Drive, it’s important to share the main drive with everyone and ask them to PLEASE ADD DOCUMENTS TO THE CORRECT FOLDER. Then, once they’re added, the creator should hit the “share” button to make the MAIN Google account (the main drive owner) the owner so that the company can access the docs after the person is gone.
5. Head to the Cloud
Solve your picture problem. If you’re the owner of the business, create an album on your phone for your “work photos” and set that album to automatically upload to shared cloud storage. Whether it’s an iCloud account, a Google Drive or something else, you HAVE to get your pictures off your phone and into a place your staff can access them. Create a separate cloud folder for staff to upload pictures. This is part of your file storage program, but it’s important enough to get its own call out.
If you’re confused, shoot me an email. I probably have more specific instructions floating around that I’d be happy to send to you. GP
Here’s a downloadable checklist to help you with your tech fixes.
Katie Elzer-Peters is the owner of The Garden of Words, LLC, a green-industry digital marketing agency. Contact her at Katie@thegardenofwords.com.