Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Communicating through Email is one of your primary means of communication. It’s important to make sure that your credibility surrounds that communication and that your Email address is one that speaks “professionalism” not matter what. After all, it’s for business.
When people see your Email address, if you have a Yahoo or Gmail account, you may be giving the impression that you are not as serious about your business as you should be. It is all about the perception. Free Email addresses definitely serve a purpose but when it comes to your business, you should steer clear of anything that takes away from your credibility and potentially detracts from your professional reputation.
There are several common misperceptions that can possibly come from using the wrong Email address:
Your business Email address from a free service may seem unprofessional and thus may cause people to judge the legitimacy of your products and/or services based on that
When people see an Email account that is from a free service, they may consider that you are reluctant to spend money and therefore, the products and services that you offer may not be of the highest quality. How people perceive you and your business is critical to the success of your business. Having a free Email address may make other business people who are considering doing business with you think twice before they enter into a relationship with you. As easy way to remedy this is by registering your business’s domain name so that can have business Emails. You will see that this will open up a large amount of new business opportunities for you.
Not registering your domain name give other people the impression that you are a spendthrift and that you are not serious about doing business
Registering your domain name is very inexpensive and if you don’t register yours, people may believe that if you are unwilling to spend such a small amount of money on something that is so important, you most likely will not be willing to spend any money on other things that are important to them and their business. This of course, also spreads to the perception that your products and/or services are of inferior quality. Why would someone want to spend any money on inferior products and/or services that won’t last and won’t do what they need and want it to do?
Using a free Email service makes you appear as though you don’t have credibility and the question may come up in the minds of other people as to whether your business will actually be around in the long term
You can’t run a successful business without credibility. You can never have enough credibility. The people with whom you do business need to totally trust that you will always work with their best interest in mind. Trustworthiness and credibility are an essential part of a successful business. If other people are willing to invest their hard-earned money, they need to be able to trust the fact that your business will be around for a very long time. Having a legitimate business address will help them to feel comfortable with that.
Your business may be vulnerable to hackers if you have a free Email address
If you are a victim of online hackers, that will make your clients vulnerable as well. No matter what happens to you and your business, you must always protect the interests of your clients. It isn’t worth all of the hassle that can potentially come from using a free Email address for your business and saving a few dollars may very well cost you a lot in other ways.
Conclusion
As delicate as the situation is if you have a free Email address for your business and as many negative things that can transpire from that, it is very easy to fix all of the situations that may occur. It is worth spending a small amount of money so that you can register your domain and so that the perception that other people have of your business is one of credibility and trustworthiness. It is important to remember that nothing in life is really free. You may not always know when you sign up what the price is going to be; however, you may encounter issues anywhere from spam to deliverability problems to customer service issues. You always have to give something back to whomever is offering you something. The relationships that you share with your clients should not be short ones but should endure for a very long time.
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Love the article and I agree completely. Interestingly, I recently wrote a similar one on my blog.
I included some technical details about how to receive and send domain-based e-mail from Gmail and other web-based services. I think that many people hesitate to use a domain-based e-mail because they think they have to use a different program to send and receive it.
because they are not safe, I use Email.biz for business email address and I would like to recommend this to all as well.
I read your piece (“Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses…”) with great interest. As so happens, my last blog takes the counter-argument. Good luck.
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Social Media Advisors
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Dear Michael,
Nonsense. If I write from a Yahoo-, Live-, Libero- Hotmail-, gmx-, Gmail- etc. account, I’m the same person with the same services and/or products. You have no reason for being suspicious I’m of less value than when I use the adress at Alice (of my wife by the way) or one of the three addresses within our own domain few people know about. Addresses of Yahoo and others are mostly safe, trusted and above all well known. Many can do it, why not we? Please what is your answer to that?
Posted by Klaas V
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• Group: Jewish Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I agree. From November of last through this past June, I was job hunting. I would often receive email claiming to be from legitimate businesses but their email addresses were from either bogus sights or were masked. My response was to report them as fraudulent emails, if I could prove it, and no matter what I would delete these emails immediately.
Posted by Scott Turbiner
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• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Because it looks so unprofessional? I can’t stand that. I’ve seen Realtors that sell homes in the $750+ range use a @aol email. Wonder why business is slow.
I’ve seen attorneys do it too. It’s 2012 and absolutely no reason not to have a professional email. [steps off soap box]
Posted by Adam Dukes
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• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I use names which do not include my last name on both my Yahoo and Verizon email addresses, yet both are professional. Don’t see any problems with this.
Posted by Robert Faszczewski
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I agree 100% having started several successful business and been around the block a few times what you say is on the money. The first thing I do when looking for suppliers or services is check out the persons e mail address. Anything other than the business name or abbreviated letters of the biz NEVER gets a second chance.
Thxs
Posted by Harold Goakey
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I agree completely. Today for about the cost of two lattes you can buy a domain name and for maybe three more you can host it on a site like WordPress. I host via Mac Highway for $50 a year. A small price to pay when trying to build your business.
Posted by Danielle Pritchett
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AOL, sure, I can see that would imply virtually complete ignorance of how the internet works, but surely, Yahoo.com at least has some credibility. Doesn’t it? Please tell me it does.
Still, this whole thread has given me a few things to think about, including looking around for a new email account that would confer instant credibility on me, and if it happens to boost my coolness and aura of professionalism, that would be a bonus – but I still don’t think buying the account would provide me with any of those things; well, more than I already possess.
Posted by Adrian Bergeron
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Debra, I’ve never had an important email bounce because it was sent from gmail.
I wonder if the perception issue is generational. To me, it’s the little .com that smacks of desperation and self-promotion, while the gmail account is someone reasonably together writing from a personal account. Maybe it’s an academic who’s not using a .edu address for freelancing; maybe the person has some other job and it wouldn’t be appropriate to send email from that account.
Credibility’s in the content of the email, by and large. I’d raise an eyebrow at a yahoo or aol email address, but if the content was sharp, I’d figure this was someone older who got the address long ago and decided not to change it just for the hell of changing.
Posted by Amy Charles
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Some companies you freelance for will not accept gmail or hotmail addresses for security reasons. Best to have Yourname@your name.com.
Posted by Debra Nichols
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• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Agreed. A free email address says “non-pro”. It’s so easy to get domains & email addresses now & even to set up a website, there is no excuse. Using gmail is fine for certain communications and using their other tools but should only be used after you know someone. Intros should always use yourname@yourdomain.com.
Also, using things like “info@” or “insertgenericwordhere@yourdomain” for your own email address to conduct business is also unprofessional. You can use these for general inquiries from people you don’t know, but once you know someone or are making contact for the first time another way, you should use your name@…
Posted by Toli Cefail
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I agree. Once I was told that I immediately created my email on the domain name I own. It shows that you take what you do serious. Also your email on your business name keeps your business name on people’s mind.
Posted by Vernetta R Freeney
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Yahoo is marginally better than Hotmail but is still a major playground for spammers, which means some of your messages may well end up unread. Also, for the same reason, it is not all that secure: people do hack into the servers from time to time and sell the addresses to other spammers and scammers, or post the victims’ account details on Pastebin or someplace just for fun (“lulz”). See http://mashable.com/2012/07/12/yahoo-voices-hacked/ for how to check whether your freebie address was hacked lately.
Posted by Judyth Mermelstein
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I admit that hotmail accounts at least aren’t very professional. Hotmail was a service every teenager had at one point. Hotmail addresses probably go into spam folders. However I don’t see a problem with other free services. If you own your own business then a domain name would be better, but if you’re freelance then I don’t see a proble with yahoo for example.
Posted by Katherine Fish
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I’m not sure what the reasoning is, but I’ve been told by some of my publishers (in academic publishing) that they won’t do not want their freelancers to use gmail/hotmail accounts. Therefore, I wanted to be in compliance and set up a domain name email. Plus, personally, I think it just looks more professional.
Posted by Debra Nichols
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If you have a registered domain name for your website, it is possible to get a free business email address (and other business tools) through Google Apps: http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/
I always used my Yahoo address for pretty much everything, business included, but when I was running a recent advert to promote a “summer sale” for editing and proofreading, I thought the free Yahoo address wouldn’t quite portray the professional image I wanted.
Posted by Steven Miscandlon
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• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
AOL, sure, I can see that would imply virtually complete ignorance of how the internet works, but surely, Yahoo.com at least has some credibility. Doesn’t it? Please tell me it does.
Still, this whole thread has given me a few things to think about, including looking around for a new email account that would confer instant credibility on me, and if it happens to boost my coolness and aura of professionalism, that would be a bonus – but I still don’t think buying the account would provide me with any of those things; well, more than I already possess.
Posted by Adrian Bergeron
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• Group: Freelance Editing Network
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Debra, I’ve never had an important email bounce because it was sent from gmail.
I wonder if the perception issue is generational. To me, it’s the little .com that smacks of desperation and self-promotion, while the gmail account is someone reasonably together writing from a personal account. Maybe it’s an academic who’s not using a .edu address for freelancing; maybe the person has some other job and it wouldn’t be appropriate to send email from that account.
Credibility’s in the content of the email, by and large. I’d raise an eyebrow at a yahoo or aol email address, but if the content was sharp, I’d figure this was someone older who got the address long ago and decided not to change it just for the hell of changing.
Posted by Amy Charles
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• Group: Freelance Editing Network
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Some companies you freelance for will not accept gmail or hotmail addresses for security reasons. Best to have Yourname@your name.com.
Posted by Debra Nichols
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• Group: Advertising Production Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Agreed. A free email address says “non-pro”. It’s so easy to get domains & email addresses now & even to set up a website, there is no excuse. Using gmail is fine for certain communications and using their other tools but should only be used after you know someone. Intros should always use yourname@yourdomain.com.
Also, using things like “info@” or “insertgenericwordhere@yourdomain” for your own email address to conduct business is also unprofessional. You can use these for general inquiries from people you don’t know, but once you know someone or are making contact for the first time another way, you should use your name@…
Posted by Toli Cefail
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• Group: WomenSuite
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I agree. Once I was told that I immediately created my email on the domain name I own. It shows that you take what you do serious. Also your email on your business name keeps your business name on people’s mind.
Posted by Vernetta R Freeney
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• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I agree.
But so many small business people use them. Here is what I have observed in a nutshell:
You use gmail? You’re cool, but you’re cheap.
You use Yahoo? You’re old, and you’re cheap.
You use Hotmail? You’re trying too hard, and you’re old and cheap.
You use AOL? You have kids, you’d better be cheap.
Posted by Doug Boswell
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For the freelance writing and editing that I do (mostly for the K-12 education market), my g-mail account seems fine. Perhaps if I were promoting myself as a full-service developer, I would need my own domain to look as if there is some heft to my company. I will say that I have received e-mails from colleagues that include advertising plugs from the ISP. Hotmail and AOL seem to be the worst offenders. Now that looks unprofessional.
Posted by Mary McClellan
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• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I use my own .com and .co.uk addresses when pitching for freelance work, which has worked well for over 10 years. Because some of my work is a techie, being able to do email forwarding would be expected of me.
If you do go down the @domainname.co.uk route, make sure you have at least a basic web page at domainname.co.uk. It WILL be looked at and you will look a bit silly if it just says site under construction or is full of the domain company’s adverts. Obviously, it’s also a good shop window, especially if you provide a number of services.
I’ve found having a domain name address can help with credibility; for example, I edit an archaeology and history journal, and being able to use the organisation’s domain in emails shows that I’m serious, not just trying to scrounge free stuff. I use Thunderbird for email, which allows you to use several email addresses.
The other advantage of having your own domain is that if you have to or want to change your ISP/free email provider, you don’t need to tell everyone you have a new address.
Posted by Christy Lawrance
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I have had only 1 client’s e-mail system reject my gmail.com address, and it was simple for them to fix (and that was years ago). Many of my clients have free addresses as well — if not Gmail then accounts set up by their respective universities.
The only friends of mine whose e-mail accounts have been hacked to send spam have used Hotmail.
Posted by Kristine Hunt
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I seriously considered blocking all GMail because Google don’t seem to have any proper mechanism for dealing with abuse. Much of the spam I receive is from Gmail accounts. I regularly advise authors to avoid them (and they usually ignore my advice).
I entirely agree with Keith Davis. Get your own domain name. Even if your ISP goes belly-up (unlikely unless you’re going for the very cheapest), your domain name will be registered to you.
Posted by Peter Danckwerts
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At the price of domain names (average $10 per year) and good hosting (average $7 per month) there is no reason to not have your own domain name and consequently an email associated with it.
Posted by Keith Davis
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I don’t think it’s even a matter of perception. If people/companies receive a lot of spam from a particular domain then, even if they make no decision to block mail from that domain, it is quite likely to be blocked by their own spam filters. Most people/companies check regularly to make sure that good mail has been marked as spam but not all. Third-party spam filtering is often over-zealous (and incompetent). I’m not suggesting that they would block all GMail but they might be more likely to mark it as suspicious. If, as I have done in the past, you use your own mail server with a dynamic IP, you will certainly find some of your emails being filtered out.
Posted by Peter Danckwerts
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Pete Considine raises a relevant point here. There’s no stigma attached to a job applicant who doesn’t own a domain. The perception is rather different when a message is sent by a company, especially one trying to sell substantial goods or services to another business. XYZ Ltd. can seem like a fly-by-night if its sales pitch comes from “xyz@yahoo.com” or whatever. Note that I’m *not* saying it’s a true reflection of the quality of what one is selling–just that some people will wonder that you haven’t made the minimal investment for your domain name.( Another BTW here: if you don’t buy your company domain, there’s a chance somebody else will–either to try to sell it to you at an inflated price or to use it to siphon off some of your clients’ money by pretending to be you. It’s not something I’d want to risk myself.)
Posted by Judyth Mermelstein
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Interesting that this is still a subject of debate. Before the wide adoption of Gmail, there certainly were issues with Yahoo and hotmail accounts, to say nothing of AOL and MSN accounts. However, I’m more on the employer side than the employee side these days, and I’d hardly be able to hire anyone if I was choosing based on domain names. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of people who’ve had their own domains, and their work is neither appreciably better nor worse than any of the people with generic accounts.
From my point of view, a referral from someone we’ve worked with (and liked) is worth a whole lot more than a personalized domain name.
Posted by Pete Considine
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• Group: Publishing and Editing Professionals
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Whether you like it or not, if you use these services, some of your emails will probably not reach their intended recipients. Does it make more sense to avoid the use of these accounts or to complain that you are being treated unfairly when your messages are caught in spam filters?
Posted by Peter Danckwerts
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Well said Todd. It think that to judge someone on their email address before reading the e-mail or to assume it’s spam, is surely akin to judging someone on what they dress. I recieve tons of spam emails from very big companies, so I think that free accounts and bought accounts are just as bad as each other. I don’t see much evidence that a bought domain is any more protected. It seems like just a superficial way of trying to show you’re better than those who have free accounts. Money doesn’t show that you’re a more reliable person/business…like someone who turns up to an interview in an armani suit isn’t better than someone who turns up in a suit bought at Tesco.
Posted by Katherine Fish
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• Group: The NJ Networking Forum
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
this is one of my top 10 business pet peeves! When I receive a business card from someone who has a business website URL but is using Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc for their email address!
Posted by Kendra Von Achen
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• Group: MCCC – Morris County Chamber of Commerce
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I have to agree 100%. When I see a professional with a GMail account I think they are not professional enough to spend $10 at Go-Daddy through Costco to get their own (real) email address.
Posted by Arne Salkin
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It’s like using “VistaPrint” for free business cards! It just shows that you are “frugal”, not “original” and moving with the herd. If you want to increase your “brand visibility”, promote yourself, not “VistaPrint, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.”
ps
I am in the printing/graphics biz.
To really stand out in the internet world,
you must favor “High-Touch” over “High-Tech”
Target! Print! Connect!
Posted by Steven Isaacson
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• Group: MCCC – Morris County Chamber of Commerce
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Yes, it is very difficult to think these are serious businesses, especially when some of the free email services put an advertisement at the bottom of each email.
Posted by David Kolakowski
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• Group: WomenSuite
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I agree. I think maintaining a professional email address gives you as a business mogul a chance to constantly connect with people
Posted by Mikeah Thomas
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I think you’ll find a couple of other reasons that mostly impact branding, marketing, and positioning of a company.
Anyone can get a Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail account. Your added value gets lost in the mix with everyone else. Then, one can assume if you don’t have your own domain name, you won’t have a website either, or at least a professional one that you can really call your own. This will also impact you social media strategy; you can’t just direct people to your LI profile or FB page.
Just a thought.
Posted by Tony Lamb
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On the other hand, free services like Gmail are much easier to use on smartphones, which has become the primary way in which people check emails. I had an experience myself where setting up the company email was a drag, while I had Gmail preintstalled in my Android device and all I had to do was feed my email address. Now everytime I get a mail to Gmail my phone notifies me and I don’t overlook them. The company email took me like 5 days to set up, and I have to physically check the account to see if I have any new mails. Just an example.
Posted by Maurice Cusnir
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• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Hi Steve…Think you are being unfair to VistaPrint. From your profile and past connections to printing and graphics business it seems you have a vested interest in guiding people away from VistaPrint. However, for those not in this business and not seeking opportunities in this industry and many on a tight budget VistaPrint has done well by us. They have numerous pages of designs to choose from and use good quality paper. I belong to several networking groups in greater New Jersey area and many have used VistaPrint to their satisfaction and without detriment to their search. To stand out in the world upon meeting new people its what and how you deliver your brand that will people remember – the business card is a secondary tool for contact purposes.
Posted by Stuart Rosenberg
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Forgive me for this if I’m wrong, Todd, but I think your post reflects a misunderstanding of the technology. If you buy something at “hatsRus.com” your purchase will not be filtered out of their e-commerce setup: they don’t care what your address is as long as your payment goes through. And nobody (least of all me) suggested that employers should screen out prospective employees based on e-mail address–just that some people do use spam filters that do it automatically and they may not look through the spam folder for useful things before deleting the contents. Anyway, my posts weren’t about ordinary job-hunters (though the spam filter problem can affect them) but about business people offering their products or services who *do* look cheeseparing or unsuccessful if they run their businesses from an all-comers free e-mail account. From an employer’s perspective, it’s the content of the CV and cover letter that matter but, given the volume of spam and the large influx of CVs in a tough economy, it’s not necessarily an advantage to use Hotmail or Gmail or Yahoo.
BTW, I learned yesterday that Microsoft is planning to move its Hotmail users to a new interface at the Outlook.com site. People can still use Hotmail but will be invited to make the switch. How much of the decision relates to Hotmail’s reputation, how much to promoting the Outlook brand, and how much to integrating social media is anyone’s guess at this point. All I know for sure is that I won’t be using it, though others might welcome the change. Apparently, Outlook.com will not be showing ads when you read personal messages and will only show text next to list mail unless you hover a mouse over the ad, which seems like a very good idea to me.
Posted by Judyth Mermelstein
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I think you said that well Todd. But hey, there are businesses out there who do judge people by what they are wearing when hiring. In fact, everyone does; if you turn up to an interview wearing casual jeans a tshirt you would very likely not get the job even though you might have been outstanding professionally.
Posted by Katherine Fish
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• Group: The NJ Networking Forum
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Steven – you can use inexpensive (and sometimes free) email and still not get spam. You will NEVER be 100% spam free or even unsolicited email free! That’s just the world we live in today. What this discussion is stating is that you don’t have to provide free advertising to Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, etc. by using their email address as your business address.
With almost every web hosting company I know, you get several free email accounts with it. So if you have a website, you should also have an email that matches that domain (www.mycompany.com should correlate with myname@mycompany.com).
In the long run, your prospects are not going to take you seriously if you use one of those free email services without linking it to your website domain name, because it looks cheap and unprofessional.
For one domain, I believe I spend $10 a year on the domain and another $3 or $5 a month on the service of having the domain, website, email, etc. It’s not expensive, and if someone can’t afford to spend less than $100 on their website and email management for a year, then they probably are not ready to be in business. Not trying to be mean, just very factual.
Posted by Kendra Von Achen
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• Group: MCCC – Morris County Chamber of Commerce
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I agree. I have written articles on this topic…Email is one of a business owners or professional’s top communication tools. Even if you don’t tell someone that you have a website, your email can. When someone sees your domain they can find your website if they want to learn more about you. With gmail you miss that opportunity. So, even when dealing with other folks, other than business contacts, a business email can be helpful to you.
Posted by Donna Price
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• Group: Music Journalism
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I second it and know I have an issue with that also (registering my domain) and as soon as I can get a bit more support, I will. Thanks for the reminder, Jonathan!
Posted by Jimi Bruce
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• Group: The NJ Networking Forum
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
The bottom line is that using a free email account just shows you don’t have a real website (which every business should have) or don’t have the resources to setup the email with the domain properly. To me it’s a red flag. Maybe good for freelancers and part time business but not the for real full time businesses.
Posted by Michael Ramalho
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Group: WomenSuite
Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
So for a moment on a different point of view. When you have a new business and you need to get up and running i think a free email address is fine. Sometimes it’s more important to get out there and start then wait to get cosmetic things in order. Many new business owners start part time and need to minimize expenses. their first clients are friends, family and colleagues. I think you should get a great accountant, put together your playbook and start selling is what’s most important. If you get the sales you’ll get the domain. Just another way to think about moving forward.
Posted by Denise Cooper
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Group: WomenSuite
Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Denise transferring will be challenging if you don’t already have that in place. I agree about having your books in order but email is just as important.
Posted by Vernetta R Freeney
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Publishing and Editing Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I’ve always felt that Hotmail was was questionable for use in a professional setting. Microsoft is in the process of replacing Hotmail and updating its email services with Outlook.com.
Posted by Bill DiBenedetto
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Freelance Editing Network
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I’ve never thought less of a business if it used a free account. I use gmail for my freelance editing business, and I have an unusually high income. Not that there is a definite correlation between the two, but free email apparently hasn’t hurt. I agree with Amy Charles all around.
Posted by Amy Spencer
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Publishing and Editing Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Todd, that’s precisely why I raised the security issue. Small and medium-sized businesses don’t necessarily have IT departments to look after their security, and their staff’s degree of technical savvy varies considerably. Some “better safe than sorry” people do screen freebie account mail into the Junk folder, and some don’t check that folder for non-junk items before deleting the lot. It’s my assumption that if you’re selling something, you don’t want your message to end up that way. And, as Bill DiBenedetto points out, Microsoft is replacing Hotmail–at least in part because they know what a bad rep it has with many people.
You’re entitled to believe otherwise, of course, and I won’t annoy you any further.
Posted by Judyth Mermelstein
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Jewish Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
You can also use a gmail address for forwarding, so your “real” email address at godaddy sitll gets the mail but you can see it on your phone with forwarding to the gmail address.
I have a college email which is not too reliable, and it automatically forwards to a gmail address. This way, if things are difficult with the college email, I can just go to the gmail and see it.
Michael is absolutely right – people will not take your business seriously with a free email address.
Posted by Ellen Jaffe
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: William Paterson University of New Jersey
Discussion:Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
I agree, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc email addresses have not place in the business world. If you’re going to run a credible business, the least you can do is establish an email account with your business’s website URL. Ex. Jon@mycompanyname.com.
But, on a personal and individual level, I think it’s completely acceptable, if not expected to have a Gmail, Yahoo or any other free email service.
Posted by Michael Santos
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Publishing and Editing Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
It’s all about ‘branding’, isn’t it? If you are operating under a business or company name, especially if your website has that name, it makes sense to have an email address that includes the company name too, to make your identity consistent. I have a domain name-based email address that I ‘park’ for $10 a year or something, with all emails automatically transferring to my Googlemail account, so I never have to log into the domain account to see emails.
As for spam, Googlemail seems pretty good, though my Hotmail account is swamped with spam on a daily basis – I’d agree that if you’re going to use a free account don’t use Hotmail – it’s far too associated in people’s minds with junk to make you appear professional when using it for work.
Posted by Sue Fenton
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Publishing and Editing Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Sue Fenton’s advice about branding is sound, I think. More to the point, Microsoft has *finally* caught on to the serious problems with Hotmail and has created a new, theoretically more secure webmail to which Hotmail subscribers will be moved. I doubt it’s purely accidental that this new service is called Outlook.com to mirror the name of the client software used by most large corporate customers. (I also doubt it will be more secure than Gmail or less targeted by spammers, but that’s another story.)
By the way, I’ve used Gmail myself since the service opened and with no untoward consequences but, after reading Mat Hoban’s sad tale of being hacked, I’ve added the new two-step authentication to that account. That account is “branded” before the “@gmail.com” part rather than in the domain name, which seems to work well enough. I do own a domain but haven’t got around to setting it up with e-mail forwarding yet–not urgent since people can easily find my other addresses.
Posted by Judyth Mermelstein
Todd:
We post these articles to many discussion groups and consolidate all of the comments back to the original article in order for our wider audience (not just this specific group–Publishing and Editing) to see the entire discussion.
If you read the article carefully, you will notice that the article was about branding (either personal or business branding). The article was not about ISPs, Email service providers, cost of Email services or specifically about Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.
Given that the article started with a question, many readers did not read the entire article and they concentrated only on the title of the article, completely missing the point of the article and the fact that the article is about branding. That resulted in a great deal of ranting about free Email services, such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc, and the cost of Email and hosting services instead of constructive discussion about branding.
Usually, if we see constructive comments or questions that are addressed to us, we will respond to them on our blog article in order for our entire audience to benefit from the discussion.
Thank you.
Carolyn Cohn
Via LinkedIn Groups
• Group: Publishing and Editing Professionals
• Discussion: Why You Shouldn’t Use Free Email Addresses as Your Business Address
Todd: I don’t think we’ve all agreed that! Granted, as others have noted, it might not make a huge amount of difference to people in the writing world, but there are businesses that really should brand themselves as being ‘professional’. Taking your hypothetical business, if I saw a cake shop with a free e address I’d wonder how committed they were to investing in the right equipment to make great cakes if it appeared that they couldn’t afford a proper email address. ‘Here today, gone tomorrow’ is the subliminal message I’d get from seeing tastycakes@hotmail.com or whatever!
Posted by Sue Fenton
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful article.
Thank you for providing these details.
If people see your email address ends in yahoo, hotmail or gmail or any of the other free email address providers it could be instantly putting you on the back foot and may even lose you business.