What Does Your Email Address Say About You?

If you think about it, perception is the only reality online. Those who “see” your online activities will form an opinion about you based on how you use technology. They can simply tell what is important to you and what isn’t by your efforts.

With many folks starting new businesses to make ends meet, it’s a good time to discuss the importance of having a professional email address for your business communications—a lesson you should use for all your email communications.

Something So Simple = Big Impact

Your email address will represent you personally and, if you have a business, your level of professionalism. Contacts will see it in your messages when they hit reply.

When emailing a website about an order, joining a hobby group, or participating in personally related forums, your address can affect what those who don’t know you will think. However, you do have total control over your email address.

What do you think it says about you, your job application, or your business when you reply to a website email with an address like “iluvthugs@(aol, gmail, msn, yahoo, isp.com)?” Or if you are following up on an order or inquiring about something, do you think the site owner will jump through the hoops for someone with an email address like istinklikeyou@?

I recently received an email with that last one. I guess this person thought the topic of email etiquette stinks. Or do they just stink, or are they implying that I stink? It’s not a good look.

Choose Wisely

Professional site owners will always reply. But when you are inundated with site emails, speaking from experience, you do have to prioritize your time. You will look at your inbox and decide which to address first, even if subconsciously. That’s just time management.

Here are a few others I have seen used recently in business communications:

crazyzombieguy@
mywifesslave@
preferblondes@
fat-arse@

Even for personal communications, I’m unsure how anyone thinks the above is complimentary. They say more about you, the fact you chose that address, than you may know.

Using email addresses like those above for business email communications is unacceptable. Doing so reflects a lack of tech-savvy and understanding of the basics of online marketing.

Every business should use their business dot-com with their first name before the @ sign as their email address. The cost is minimal to use your dot-com for email, around ten bucks annually. Just think about the marketing and professional perception doing so offers.

It’s Easy: Get a Dot Com Address

Especially for a business, when you use your dot-com (or .net, .biz, .org) email address, your communication will be seen as an expected or legitimate contact instead of a spammer. The same goes for gmail.com, yahoo.com, and msn.com type free accounts. Why would you use those for business and give those companies all your data to do with what they want (including selling you out to advertisers)?

Freebie accounts are also known as “throw-aways” and are always used by spammers. This increases your chance of being misidentified as spam and landing in the junk boxes of those you email.

“But I want to use my gmail.com email address!” When asked for a good business reason to do so? Silence…

“Everyone I know uses that address, I can’t change it now!” Yeah, you can. Get your new address and make an announcement letting contacts know of your new address.

Over time, you’ll see less activity in your old inbox. If anyone still uses that address, let them know of your new address. When you no longer have activity coming in, shut it down.

You can still use your freebie account if you must, I guess. These accounts have a place as a backup but not as the primary if you are serious about branding your business or looking like an individual who understands the technology they are participating in.

Take the Domain Leap

So, what are you waiting for if you don’t have your domain? Having your domain name is not very inexpensive and only requires a few setting changes in the email program of your choice.

If you are serious about online success, it is time to take off the training wheels, get an actual email program, and email like the big dogs. For more business-related email etiquette information, check out my other website, BusinessEmailEtiquette.com.