Are You Using a Business Email?

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Do you use a business email? A business email address is one that uses your business' domain name, such as name@yourbusiness.com and not a generic email address such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and others. Let’s use Joanna Cervantes as an example.

Joanna just took a beginner tax course; she has everything she needs to start her tax and bookkeeping firm thanks to the marketplace. She is going to start emailing her friends and family to let them know about her new venture.

Joanna just took a beginner tax course; she has everything she needs to start her tax and bookkeeping firm thanks to the marketplace. She is going to start emailing her friends and family to let them know about her new venture.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Which email do you think received more responses, which do you think had a better open rate, which do you think made it past the spam filters, which email looked more professional overall? The one from joanna.cervantes@jctaxesandbooks.com did.

There is no reason for anyone who has a business or wants to start a business to not have a business email. Your email is more than a way to simply communicate your message.Your email in a sense is you and your business in this digital world. Remember you only get 1 first impression, make it a good one. Below are a few reasons as to why have a business email.

It appears more professional and credible: This reduces the chances of your emails ending up in the spam box How the above example showed, an email coming from a business address seems more professional and credible overall. Don’t get labeled as another riffraff spammy email sender, get your message heard, get your message to the recipients’ inbox

Cheap & easy: If you already have a website, you are half ways done with the process of getting a business email. Depending on your domain provider, you should be able to work with them to set you up with a business email. However, one of the critical steps to getting a business email is to own a domain.

Scalability & growth: This ties into the first point a bit, by getting a business email your emails wont get marked as spam as often, this lets you grow with less barriers.What happens when you need to hire staff? They’re each going to need their own email, unless you want everyone using yours. With a business email you are in control of emails that are sent using your email address. If someone ever needs to go or they leave the company, you forward their emails to someone else and delete their email, easy!

Branding: You want to get your company out there, the more eyeballs that see it, the better. If you start a business or are in business, emails are going to get sent out no matter what. Why not use that opportunity for some branding. Instead of recipients seeing yourname@gmail.com they will see yourname@yourbusiness.com

So how do you get a business email?

If you are in business or thinking of starting a business, you need a website asap! Go to godaddy.com, google domain manger, or whatever website builder you want to use. Buy a domain that matches your business name as close as possible. At the checkout page or before they usually try to up-sell you a business email package, go ahead and add it, it’s usually like 5 bucks a month or a little cheaper if you buy the annual plans.

If you currently have a website, you need to contact your domain provider and add the email package or tell whoever manages your website that you would like to have a business email with your domain. If your webmaster or I.T person says it not possible, get rid of them and find someone else. If you or someone owns the domain, then a business email can be connected to it.

If you are in business or thinking about starting a business, there is no reason to not have a business email. It makes you stand out from the crowd, helps you scale, helps your marketing, and the best part is that it is cheap and easy. Remember, you only get one first impression, make it a good one. 

Author Bio: Alberto Contreras, a California State Monterey Bay alumni with an undergraduate degree in Business Administration  has worked for Latino Tax Pro (LTP) for a few years, gaining experience in digital marketing, strategic partnerships, and tax law. As a seasoned business analyst, he is passionate about helping out the struggling family in underserved communities by offering them a path to financial success. In addition to LTP, he is also involved in his local community by serving on the school board.