Personal vs Professional Life Email - Dont Squander Your First Internet Impression

My first email address was with compuserve.com back when you could only have numbers for an email address. They then allowed us to have letters as well on prodigy so I switched internet service providers or internet content providers as they are better known to us geeks. My next stop was with the number one provider AOL and my name became an extension of my love for jazz music and I have had that email address ever since. I also have a yahoo.com email address that I use strictly for its Spam filter and free virus protection software that is built into the website. Free email addresses are great and I suggest you take advantage of their many no cost features. But I only use them for personal reasons. The main reason I don't use them for business is because I refuse to give the free email services anymore free publicity and not get anything in return.

The use of email addresses that promote anything but your business is a waste of great branding potential. Every time you send and email to a potential client or customer you have a perfect opportunity to promote your business. Yahoo and MSN will gladly give you a free email address because you help market their business with every click of the send button.

Earthlink and AOL get you to pay them every month to promote their service. I ask you, what are the chances of wemakewidgets@aol.com winning a ten million dollar contract over yourname@wemakewidgets.com Who do you think will be taken more seriously? Don't get me wrong I am sure there are many multi million dollar deals done using these services. But how many of them keep using it to create a more corporate and professional image.

Why not go to a website like Proemailaddress.com and register your own little piece of electronic marketing. This can be done for as little as $9.95` for a years worth of keeping your businesses name moving back and forth through cyber space. And get this; yourname@yourcompanyname.com makes a much bigger impression on those you look to do business with in the future.

I can't tell you how many business cards I have received with yahoo, msn, hotmail and especially aol.com email addresses on them and thought do I really want to do business with this person. Are they just a fly by night business? Can I trust a person who can't take the time and effort most legitimate businesses use to make sure they are recognized and respected industry leaders?

At one time just having an email address on a business card was impressive because not everyone had an email address let alone knew how to use it as a marketing tool. Gone are those days and in their place one has to step up their game and make more of a first impression. Using a professional email address does just that and more. Not only does a professional email address bring more promise and prestige to your company but it is one of the most inexpensive forms of mass marketing there is today. You are able to market your business to many potential clients while at the same time keeping customers informed and up to date through correspondence.

So in reading this article if you only get one thing that you can use please see to getting a professional email address and give your business the optimum chance to show its true worth.

Jeffrey Alexander Brathwaite, aka "JB" is a Internet Technology Coach, Speaker and Trainer. JB prides himself on helping small to medium size businesses who are frustrated with dealing with the Internet. If you are having problems trying to deal with Email marketing, Search Engine marketing or just getting your own website off the ground. Please go to our website http://www.2thenextlevel.com

In The News:

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In this Oct. 15, 2008 file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, right, listens to Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, before speaking at the Economic Club of New York. President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary in a time of intense economic turmoil as he rounds out the upper echelon of his Cabinet, a senior Democratic official familiar with the deliberations said Friday. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)AP - President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary to confront the nation's intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials said Friday.



President-elect Barack Obama, with money in hand, looks to pay for his order during a visit to Manny's Deli in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - While President-elect Barack Obama publicly sidelined himself during congressional debate over an auto industry bailout this week, he and his top aides quietly prodded congressional leaders to find a solution to rescue struggling automakers.



Nebraska lawmakers Tom Carlson, left, of Holdrege, Lowen Kruse of Omaha, John Wightman of Lexington, and Norm Wallman of Cortland visit briefly Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, on the floor of the legislature just before the final vote of LB1, which puts a 30-day age limit on children who can be dropped off at Nebraska hospitals under the safe haven law. The bill easily passed 43-5. (AP Photo/Bill Wolf)AP - Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals. The law, approved hours earlier by the Legislature in a 45-3 vote, goes into effect Saturday, and makes Nebraska the 14th state with a 30-day age cap. It had been the only state with a safe-haven law without an age limit.



Joerg Schoenbohm, Brandeburg state Interior Minister and current chairman of the German Interior Ministers Conference, center, opens the final day of the ministers meeting in Potsdam, Germany, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. At left is German Federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. German security officials said Friday they will drop their attempt to pursue a ban of the Church of Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of unconstitutional activity.  (AP Photo/Bernd Settnik Pool)AP - Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said Friday.



Lori Drew walks to federal court Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008, in Los Angeles. Drew has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. She is accused of helping create a false-identity account on the the MySpace social networking site then posing as a teenage boy and befriending a 13-year old girl who later committed suicide.  (AP Photo/Ric Francis)AP - A friend of the Missouri woman accused of sending cruel Internet messages to teenage neighbor Megan Meier, who later committed suicide, testified Friday that the defendant told her she had concocted a false online identity "to mess with Megan."



AP - A college student committed suicide by taking a drug overdose in front of a live webcam as some computer users egged him on, others tried to talk him out of it, and another messaged OMG in horror when it became clear it was no joke. Some watchers contacted the Web site to notify police, but by the time officers entered Abraham Biggs' home — a scene also captured on the Internet — it was too late.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, left, and Vice President Dick Cheney are shown in this 2006 file photo at the White House. Cheney and Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, file)AP - A county prosecutor who brought indictments this week against Vice President Dick Cheney and others pounded his fist and shouted at the judge Friday during a routine hearing. Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra asked Presiding Judge Manuel Banales to recuse himself from the case, which alleges abuse at federally run prisons.



Bulgarian archaeologists work near a Thracian bronze chariot discovered near the village of Karanovo. A bronze chariot dating back to the second century AD has been unearthed in a Thracian burial mound in southeastern Bulgaria, archaeologists said Friday.(AFP/BGNES)AP - Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.



AP - Police have arrested a man suspected of leaving greasy, graphic imprints on the windows of stores, churches and schools in a small Nebraska town. A 35-year-old man was caught in the act by police early Wednesday morning, Cherry County Attorney Eric Scott said Friday. The man hasn't been charged yet, but authorities believe he is the vandal some townsfolk have dubbed the "Butt Bandit."

In this Nov. 12, 2008, file photo, Memphis Grizzlies' Quinton Ross defends New York Knicks Jamal Crawford (11) as he shoots a three point shot in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Memphis, Tenn. The Golden State Warriors traded disgruntled forward Al Harrington to the New York Knicks for guard Jamal Crawford on Friday. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman, File)AP - The New York Knicks traded Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford in separate deals Friday, parting with their two top scorers to free up coveted salary-cap space for the summer of 2010. Crawford was sent to Golden State for forward Al Harrington. Hours later, Randolph was shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers along with reserve guard Mardy Collins for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas.



(From left) Senator Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and Timothy F. Geithner, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, are seen in a combination file photo. (From left Craig Mitchelldyer, Andrea Comas, Keith Bedford/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama on Friday moved toward nominating Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary and charging the respected head of the New York Federal Reserve with helping pull the United States out of an economic nosedive.



Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers (L) and Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in a composite image. (Files/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama may consider Lawrence Summers as a successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose term expires in January 2010, a Democratic source told Reuters on Friday.



Leaders of the U.S. automotive industry testify at a hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington November 19, 2008. From left are General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)Reuters - Detroit automakers began work on turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for $25 billion in aid as General Motors Corp said it would cut production more and give up two of its controversial corporate jets.



Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit in a file photo. (Peter Morgan/Reuters)Reuters - Citigroup Inc shares tumbled for a fifth straight day on doubts about its survival prospects after its chief executive downplayed speculation the bank might sell major businesses or merge with a rival.



Traders work in close quarters on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange early in the trading session in New York City, November 21, 2008. (Mike Segar/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. stocks stormed higher in a late rally on Friday to cap another volatile week as investors welcomed reports that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his point person to combat the U.S. economic crisis, instilling confidence about the administration's ability to take action.



A British military vehicle drives past an Afghan man in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province October 20, 2008. (Abdul Qodus/Reuters)Reuters - The Pentagon is considering a plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to help safeguard elections and quell rising Taliban violence, officials said on Friday.



President Bush walks across the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House, November 21, 2008. (Jim Young/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush held talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program with Chinese leader Hu Jintao on Friday, the first in a series of meetings U.S. officials hope will lead to a renewal of six-party talks by early December.



A cleric walks past the national flag and a nuclear logo while visiting the International Koran exhibition at the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in Tehran September 3, 2008. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters)Reuters - Iran rejected Friday U.S. reports it had enriched enough uranium to make an atom bomb, saying this would require steps it had ruled out like ejecting U.N. inspectors and leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).



Peruvian President Alan Garcia delivers a speech during the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Lima. Leaders of the 21-member APEC group are to seek ways of turning back the world economic crisis as they gather in Lima amid unrelenting bad news from the Asia-Pacific region.(AFP/Presidencia)AFP - US President George W. Bush began Friday his last scheduled foreign trip, meeting the leader of increasingly important China ahead of a summit aimed at containing a spiraling financial crisis.



Children are being forcibly recruited into the ongoing conflict in Congo. Profile of a former child soldier. Duration: 02:06(AFPTV)AFP - Congo demanded a stronger mandate for UN troops in the conflict-torn east Friday, while residents of a squalid refugee camp said government soldiers killed a woman during a looting spree.




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