This is one big mistake that I see a lot of small business owners make. They use their old hotmail addresses as their business email. I see this painted on sides of trucks and vans and also used on business cards. Yes, it was easy to get a free email address but how much credibility does that give you? It makes your business look a bit temporary and fly by night.
If you already have a website or at the very least your own domain name, you can easily create a whole host of email addresses specifically for use within your business. You can have admin@yourbusiness.com or quotes@yourbusiness.com or even customerservice@yourbusiness.com . Doing this will help you reinforce your brand too.
Every webhost allows you at least up to 5 different emails addresses per account and most now allow you an unlimited number of email accounts. To set it up to use on your Outlook , alternative email client or even your smartphone will be in the standard FAQ section of your host’s website.
Make managing email easy
Use the appropriate email address for each part of your business and it will help you streamline how to deal with your emails. If you use an email software like Google Apps, you can use these email addresses within Google’s fabulous email tool and use your own email address with it.
Within gmail, you can then use their auto reply function if an email is sent to a particular email. This can automate follow up emails and saves you hours a month typing the same emails over and over again.
If you would like to learn more about how Google Apps can work to help you with managing emails within your business, leave a comment below and I will write up a tutorial for that.
So if you are still using hotmail as your email provider, make the switch now. You might be surprised if your business increases.
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