How to add new domains to your FREE Google Apps account

If you have a legacy (free edition) google apps account, you may have noticed that you can no longer add new domains to your freebie account. You can add domain aliases, but not a new domain with separate email boxes.

Well as always, there are ways around these kind of problems.
Update 6/15/2016: This loophole no longer works. sorry.

#DontHateMeGoogle

First of all, let me say that I am not trying to dissuade people from signing up for paid versions of google apps — I recommend it! But for some struggling (read: poor) entrepreneurs that are getting started, and maybe have had other small startups, adding another small billable expense just doesn’t help. I like to bootstrap as much as possible, so getting anything else for free just helps.

So if you have a free google apps account that you want to recycle or extend for more than one project, this will work as long as you have less than 10 user accounts. If you have more than that, then don’t be cheap, and pony up for the paid version of google apps!

Here are the steps:

1. Log into google apps for the free account you want to use
2. Go to the admin control panel
3. Select billing
4. Sign up for the FREE 30 day trial of Google Apps for Work
   (note: there is clear documentation showing that if you cancel before 30 days, your account will revert back to the free service tier!)
5. After you are signed up for GA for Work trial, go to your Domains control panel, and you can now add a new domain (not an alias!!!).
6. Add your domain
7. After it is all setup, go back to Billing, and cancel your trial.
8. The new domain will still be there.

Celebrate how you squeezed a few more savings from your previous account!

Again, I must emphasize that I only recommend this if you REALLY need to not spend $5 per month for a new account. #startuplife

And please, don’t hate me Google! Nobody reads my blog anyway, right ? (-: