Is Your Email Address Killing Your Credibility… and Sales?

What’s your e-mail address saying about you?

Are you inadvertently killing potential sales and interest in your business — along with your hard-earned credibility — with an inappropriate or unprofessional e-mail address?

A while back, I attended a networking event and struck up a conversation with someone who was offering a rather unique service. I was very interested in what she was offering because it was something I could use and I could certainly see great potential for this business concept.

We exchanged business cards with promises to stay in touch, so it wasn’t until I went to enter her e-mail address into my contact system that I was just stopped dead in my tracks and was totally turned off by the e-mail address she was using for people to contact her. I found it extremely offensive to be using such an address for her business.

She presented a perfectly professional image in all other ways. Her business card was four-color and on a nice quality stock. She had obviously put some time into the development of her image. She even presented herself as the consummate professional and I bet she really is.

But she entirely blew away any goodwill she had garnered with me when I encountered her e-mail address: hotsugarmama@blahblah.com.

Now on a personal level, I would not have been offended by that and may have even been mildly amused. But to use that professionally just reeks of total unprofessionalism.

And so of course, my next thought was “just how unprofessional might she be in conducting her business?” Because the service she’s selling involves contact with very sensitive personal information of her clients, based soley on her email address, I would not trust her one bit.

Some other e-mail addresses I’ve seen at various times — all being used on a business card — were along those same lines:

    * thedeadrule@blahblah.com (the guy was selling insurance but was a big fan of the Grateful Dead)
    * liquidlover@blahblah.com (from an owner of an upscale private clothing seller) I didn’t ask the meaning of that one
    * chewchewhuhhuh@blahblah.com. What?

Do you get the idea of how inappropriate these e-mail addresses are for business?

Another pet peeve of mine is business people using Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, AOL or any other e-mail accounts for their business email address. (Sure your internet provider gives you an email address, use it for personal stuff, not business.)

Now, I have nothing against those providers per se, but they do not project a professional image for your business. Plus they often severely limit what you can do with your e-mail accounts. Like receive attachments.

The best thing you can do right now is to register your own domain name and start using that as your e-mail address. Like mine: marty@soulproprietorcoach.com or yours would be yourname@yourbusinessURL.com.

If your budget just simply does not allow for you to purchase a unique domain name at about 10 bucks per year, and you must use a free e-mail account, at least use something tamer in the name portion of the address, preferably your own name or the name of your business.

These days, you can register a URL very inexpensively — about $10 per year — and get e-mail service at the same time even without a Website. I personally like GoDaddy.com but there are many other domain registration companies out there.