What are the benefits of a professional email domain?
Email gets used every day. Social media creates a lot of buzz, but email gets the work done daily.
Owning and running a small business makes this tool very useful. If you send an email, pay attention to how it comes across.
Working with small business owners and solo professionals, I find they make two big mistakes often.
1. An unclear or generic “from” line.
We all pay attention to email subject lines. The headline that entices people to open emails in the first place.
The “from” line is of the utmost importance. The reason is? The recipient knows who sent the email. It doesn’t matter what the subject line says. I open emails sent by friends, relatives, or businesses. When the sender is unknown to me, I will likely delete it, thinking it is spam.
There is another common faux pas here when the “from” line is simply an email address. If your email address contains your full name, that’s fine. If your email address is blueeyes12@gmail.com, that’s not so great.
So what is the solution? You could try this.
First and Last Name|Company Name.
Adding this information may help the recipient realize who sent the email.
2. Not using a custom email domain.
You may not know, but if you own a domain (e.g. www.mycompany.com), you can create an email address that uses your domain name (name@yourcompany.com), and no additional fees apply.
I often see emails from small businesses and solo professionals who use Gmail, Yahoo and other service providers as their domain. Example: companyname@gmail.com.
It may portray you as a hobbyist rather than a business person. You also miss the opportunity to make your website easy to find. Custom domains are a great way to advertise your business online and tell people where they can locate you.
As with any tool, email is only as good as how you use it.
Polish your approach to take advantage of this crucial aspect of your business.
