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 tell what is important to you and what isn’t by your efforts.

With many folks starting new businesses, it’s a good time to discuss the importance of having a professional email address for your business communications—a lesson you can 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, and that can create perceptions.

When emailing a website about an order, joining a hobby group, or participating in forums related to your personal life, your address can affect how others who don’t know you perceive you. You do have total control over this because you control 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)?” Yes, I’ve been contacted by someone with that email address.

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@? That’s an email address someone used to contact me through this website.

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 respond to inquiries. 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 the user by choosing that address than they may realize.

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

Every business should use its business dot-com domain with its first name before the @ sign as its 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 that 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 expected or legitimate contact rather than spam. 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, also known as “throw-aways,” are often used by spammers. This increases your chance of being misidentified as spam and landing in the junk folders of those you email.

“But I want to use my gmail.com email address!” When I ask 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 announce it to your contacts.

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 backups, but not as the primary, if you are serious about branding your business or want to look like an individual who understands the technology you are participating in.

Take the Domain Leap

So, what are you waiting for if you don’t have your domain? Having a domain name is not very inexpensive and only requires a few settings 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.