So you’ve finally done it, your sign business is growing and it is time to get new business cards. They arrive in the mail; you open the box and are rather proud of the professional design that is going to represent you. Then you see it… in the bottom left corner: “bobsignmaker@hotmail.com”. Now you might ask yourself what the big deal is: "Why can’t I use Hotmail or Gmail or any one of the more widely known email providers for my business email account?"
Stop to consider a few things that could change your mind. Every time you send an email, you have the possibility of free advertisement. Every email that sits in a potential client’s in box (or established client for that matter) is a way for them to become familiar with your name and increase the chance of thinking of you when they need your services.
Do you really want to share that advertising opportunity with Aol? What are your options? Well if you already have a domain name registered for your website, it’s just a matter of signing up for a free Google apps account and a little configuration. The configuration can be a little daunting if you have never done anything like that but Google has many very good guides to help you follow steps for your specific domain registrar. The best part is that it all works on Google’s own fantastic Gmail system which is considerably more powerful and customizable than any of the other major free email provider.
So now you have your very own email address that professionally represents your company with a sleek name like bob@signmaker.com. No more spam attached automatically to the end of your emails talking about the latest version of live messenger or whatever, up to 50 free accounts to allow an email address for each employee or department and all of it accessible from any computer (or mobile device) anywhere in the world! It’ll be enough to make you think about throwing out all those old business cards just to have your new email address on them.
Stop advertising for someone else every time you send an email and give the professional image you want to give to your clients and prospects. If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of messing with MX records and cnames, never fear, it isn’t terribly expensive to pay someone to configure it for you. If you need a recommendation, I’m sure my IT guy wouldn’t mind the introduction.
