I’m a huge fan of just about everything Google does, Gmail being probably my favorite of all. Gmail completely revolutionized my email experience. I was converted from Yahoo! after about 30 seconds of use. (I think I’ve probably got about 50 gmail email addresses at this point.)
You know what I don’t like? My info@hammondfundinggroup.com email. It’s a huge pain to use. I actually have it forwarded to my gmail.com email address and I use it that way. So why not just make a hammondfundinggroup@gmail.com email address? (Well, I just did as the thought occured to me, but that’s not the point.)
Even if you’re a Yahoo! or hotmail junkie, don’t assume that everyone else is – especially your prospective client. Especially in the found money business. While I would probably not bat an eye doing business with someone who used an @yahoo.com or @aol.com email address, for a lot of people, that might raise a red flag.
In short: you need a professional email address. Don’t think it’s that widespread a problem? Think again. Every day I see dozens of people using their personalized email addresses as a business email address.
Who would you rather buy a $1,000 online system from?
a) john.johnson@prodigysystems.com
b) iluv2ski@hotmail.com
Who would you rather hire as your web designer?
a) john.johnson@awesomedesigns.com
b) roknroll6969@aol.com
Who would you rather discuss legal issues with?
a) john.johnson@johnsonlawllc.com
b) johnjohnsonlovesemail@yahoo.com*
A bad email address says a lot about you that I’m guessing you don’t want to say. “I’m too lazy to just go and sign up for a real email address.” “I’m too new at what I’m doing to realize I need a real email address.” “I don’t want you to know my real name, so I’m using my AOL screenname.” “I’m not a professional – DON’T WORK WITH ME.” All because of a simple little (usually free) thing like an email address.
*I totally understand the urge to express yourself creatively through your email address. However, you’re going to lose a lot more customers by looking unprofessional than you’re going to gain by having a funny or clever email address.
How To Make Yourself a Nice, Professional Email Address
1. Preferably, your email address will be you@yourdomainname.com. Nothing says “I’m professional!” quite like having your own domain, at a .com (not a .info – spend the extra $8 and get the .com). If you’d rather have “contact” or “info” instead of you (meaning your first or last name), that’s fine too. Very nice, very professional. Your clients will highly approve.
2. If for whatever reason you can’t or don’t want to buy a domain and have email there, for Pete’s sake, just PLEASE don’t use your @aol, @yahoo, or especially @hotmail addresses. Even though there’s nothing wrong with those providers, they just don’t have any business credibility. Create an email address that is yourfirstname.yourlastname@yourinternetserviceprovider.com. Failing that, use yourfirstname.yourlastname@gmail.com.
All of these solutions are free or around $10/year. This is an absolute must-fix. It’s especially important if you are going to “freelance” or work under just your name (no business name). People will really want to see who you are then – so go ahead, give ‘em a full name, whydontcha.
