Business Email Address - Why It Is A Must Have

If you're in business, having a branded business email address is a MUST-HAVE! You are a professional - show it! 

Ugh -- it really irks us receiving emails from businesses using hotmail, gmail, live, outlook email addresses. Really? We don't understand why any person in business would conduct business using a generic email address. That is like showing up for a meeting in your baseball gear, instead of your business attire. Yes, we get more and more businesses dress business casual, but hotmail -- come on!

Where the heck is your sense of pride in your business?

Where is your professionalism? 

Most businesses have a website (and if you don't, you should); if you have a website, you more than likely have a domain name - unless you did this on the cheap too and are running your business from your facebook page or a domain that has been assigned to you with something funky because you're using a free platform for your website. Oops, sorry, we digress, that's another topic that we wrote about here... So back to your email address -- if you have a domain, you can probably have a matching branded email address for a few dollars / month and sometimes even free when you purchase a domain, or with Zoho Mail Forever Free Plan, .  Is a few dollars per month too much to ask, to look like the professional you are? 

Sorry, if we sound like your Mama nagging here, but this is one topic that gets us riled. 

Honestly, when we see generic free email accounts from someone contacting me regarding a business manner - my first thought is - it is a scam, a phishing email. My next thought - it is spam! Then when we do actually read the email, and it turns out to be a business promoting their services, or a non-profit requesting a donation - my first inclination is to not respond because the sender couldn't be bothered to get a proper email address. Then the professional in us responds anyway, the whole time biting our tongues not to say -- you really need a business email address. For startups -- its okay, you're still researching everyone requires an email address to start with. 

The Top 5 Reasons You Need A Business Email Address

1. It means you are a professional, and you mean business! 
2. Recognition of your business name
3. Credibility 
4. Trust 
5. Security

We already mentioned the professional aspect. A business email address or branded email address is easily identifiable as the content arriving from your business. You will look credible in your correspondence and the email content and even the sender will be trusted easier by the recipient. And finally, typically your email address will be more secure as you will have greater control over the settings and how your address interacts with your domains. 

The biggest reason we hear for not having a business email address matching the domain is -- 

We use google for everything, so it is just easier to have a gmail address.

While it is true, you will require a gmail address for almost anything you want to do with google, it doesn't mean your email address should be yourbusinessname@gmail.com or your name followed by your birth year, or some other number as someone else with the same name registered the gmail address already.

Did you know - as your business grows, there will be many things you cannot do with a generic email address. Some systems prove your identity by matching your email address to your domain name. Other systems require code to be added to your website that will not work based on a generic email address. You are setting yourself up for headaches down the road. 

Takeaway:

Register a domain name, so you can have a business email address. You definitely need one! 

Check our our page on what to look for and where to buy a business email address. Always do your homework when it comes to choosing the best email hosting package.