What’s wrong with an ISP- based business e-mail address?

[gtgc]

Afternoon all

This is my first post to the Flying Solo forum, although I’ve been a lurker for a while. And a longtime subscriber to the Flying Solo newsletter.

I know I could have just said “G’day, pleased to meet you all.” And left it at that.

But since a forum is a place for the exchanging of ideas and opinions, even potentially unpopular ones ;-) I thought I might as well express mine.

Several people have recently commented that a business e-mail address that doesn’t embody the domain name of the business, immediately marks the user out as ‘dodgy’, and the organisation as suspect. Untrustworthy. Even, God forbid, unprofessional!

It’s a commonly held view, but it “ain’t necessarily so”.

I can explain why. And I will.

But first, to understand my perspective, one must accept two ‘inconvenient truths’.

1: It is still possible to run a successful business without a website.

2: e-mail and the web are not inextricably interwoven.

Of course the web has literally changed the visible face of business; the way business is done, and enabled the creation of businesses that could not exist or function had it not been invented. But as a communication tool, it remains discretionary for many businesses.

Trust me, it’s true. There are too many examples of wasteful websites that only exist because the business owner, or his ‘people’, have been convinced that it’s way more powerful than a business card, sexier than a Yellow Pages ad, and as fundamental as a phone connection. (Or an e-mail address, but I’ll come to that….)

Come on, you know they’re out there. How often have you dived onto a website in response to an ad or a brochure only to find virtually the same information and imagery, or worse a splash page, giving you back the same contact details as the initial piece? How frustrating was that for you?

Thinking business people who know they don’t need a webpage, also know they don’t need frustrated prospects either. What they need are the most efficient, convenient ways for potential customers to reach them.

Enter e-mail. We all know how much more versatile and effective an e-mail can be, compared to a phone call, especially at the introductory stage of a relationship, and I can’t accept that the use of this facility should be denied to businesses who don’t have their own domain to call home.

As an example, my business runs pretty well on word of mouth referrals, and if I want to prospect, I tend to target specific organisations and individuals. Via e-mail. I have an additional postbox with a name that integrates my business name with that of my ISP, and I use a provider whose name is sufficiently well known that it conveys my geographical location (at least by country). ie: writeronline@bigpond.com

Try as I might, I can’t see what’s dodgy or unprofessional about that.

[Dardee]

There's one thing you haven't mentioned. It is not necessary to have a website if you have a business name based email address. For instance I have darren@dardee.com.au but I do not have a website (yet).

Also, if you require more than one email address it is a little difficult. You have to come up with something similar but it will never be the same as having .......@mybusiness.com or .com.au.

I have to admit that I am one of those that believe in having a business name/product/event based email address.

[Leap Media]

I wouldn't necessarily say it's unprofessional not to have a unique domain. However, your isp is laughing as you are directly advertising their services every time you send an email.

If you skipped 1 coffee per day for 1 week, you'd have enough coin to purchase a 'nice' domain name and run all your emails from it. It costs nothing to have emails linked to your domain if you don't need web hosting (if you use Google Apps - it's free. You can of course pay for email hosting for about $5 to $10 a month).

So, for about $25 a year, you can have your own domain name to use how you wish. It's a pretty small investment for a business and it's a tax deduction anyway so I don't see why any business would not have their own.

Then, whenever you send an email, instead of it saying it comes from mycompany@myispdomain.com, it'll be jsmith@mycompany.com or jane.smith@mycompany.com - that is more professional in my opinion.

Joel

[NetOrigin]

I've always thought of it like this.

It's more professional in my opinion if a business has their own domain with an email address.

[competitions]

One rule doesn't fit all. If a website is just another business card then it's useless. It needs more interactivity and functionality.

With a name such as writeronline, I would think most ppl have an expectation that you would have an online presence. However if you are getting your business from word of mouth and are happy with the numbers, great.

Off topic, but placing real email addresses as straight text on a public website isn't recommended, you can expect an increase in emails, but probably not from prospective clients.

[Astrid]

Hi Garry

I can agree with that just having an *online business card* as website should just be an interim solution.
And I think it's also a question of what kind of business you run. I expect a small home business when I see an ISP based email address, think a desk, a chair and a laptop.

Re the ISP based websites - I have a few problems currently with eg hotmail, gmx because they see my (Optus) address as spam and block my emails, never had this problem with domain based addresses.

What I dont really like is when I see a domain related address and I can't find a website behind it. I somehow expect more information when I see *@domain.com.au*.

Cheers
Astrid

[LeelaCosgrove]

Welcome Gary.

My view on this subject is simple - If you don't have a domain name, I would think twice about using you as a supplier.

Why? Three reasons.

Reason #1: You can buy a domain name from about $15. You can get email only hosting of that email address for around $15 / year. If you don't have $30 to spend on looking professional, I'm not interested in doing business with you.

Reason #2: In most cases, it's NOT the money - it's that people don't understand how to set this up. If you're so technophobic that you either can't work it out yourself or if you refuse to hire (i.e. pay) someone who knows what they're doing, then I'm not interested in doing business with you.

Reason #3: The MOMENT I see an ISP based address I think one thing - you're not really serious about your business. You haven't made the decision to commit financial resources to it because you're not committed to it. Right or wrong, that's my instant judgment - my perception.

That's ME and of course is entirely a personal decision. Not everyone feels that way, I know. But I'm not interested in doing work with people who don't take their business seriously enough to spend $30 a year on at LEAST having an email address set up. So if I'm your target market, it's a big problem ... if I'm not and you've surveyed your target market and you know they don't care, then you're right ... it's not a problem.

[paul]

I think the point here is that it doesn't matter whether the business owner thinks that a ISP email domain comes across as less legitimate or not.

It only matters what potential customers think. It may that only a few potential customers may find a bigpond address dodgy, however, it may be many more, it isn't easy to know.

But *none* of them will think that an email address that has a domain that matches the business name as dodgy. Given a choice of some or none, it seems pretty straightforward which option makes the most sense.

[Jexley]

I can usually keep perspective on whether or not I should expect a domain name, website and email address (matching) depending on the business I'm looking at.

If it's someone doing roofing, not as important, but someone calling themselves "writeronline" then you betcher sweet bippies you better spend a bit and try to spruce up the online image because I'm not going to take you seriously otherwise.

Good luck with that, there's some great advice in this thread and a good discussuion!

[ray_223]

I agree with all the comments so far ... for the small cost why not?

BUT

If an ISP based email address is currently working, and you have heaps of work, then no one can tell you that your doing the wrong thing