“Tidbits of Rockford” Internet Helper Article #6
In my last “Internet Helper,” I discussed various features and benefits of some of the most popular email companies. In my opinion, Gmail (Google’s mail system) is superior because of the many other features that Google allows you to have in addition to a free email account. Some of these additional features include Google Documents, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google Alerts, a customized Google homepage, Google Webmaster Tools if you have a website, and much more!
Have you ever seen those emails that appear as though they are connected to a website? For example, my business is the Internet Marketing Helpline. I could potentially setup an email account for myself, such as john@internetmarketing.com (not an active email address), using the hosting account that I use for my website. If you are hosting a website, then you most likely are able to create a customized email such as the above example.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of an email such as the above example? The most important benefit for a business is that it is much more professional in appearance than having a free account such as with AOL or Yahoo. Are there any other benefits? Honestly, I personally do not believe that there are many more advantages.
My business email for the Internet Marketing Helpline is a Gmail account. You may ask why I am not using a domain email like my previous example? There are two main reasons for my methodology.
The first reason is that my email is much shorter if I simply use an abbreviation and use @gmail.com. Typing in a lengthy email address is annoying. Additionally, it is important for an email to be easy to remember and quickly recognized by either your friends or business peers.
The second reason is that a free email account such as Gmail has many refined and built- in features, such as SPAM protection. Custom business domain emails (such as john@internetmarketing.com) tend to have less protection unless the company invests in a separate program for added protection.
No matter what type of email you choose for your personal life/business, my best advice for you is to choose the email company that you find the easiest to use and that has the most functionality. Email is becoming as common as checking your mailbox at your street. You are going to use it daily, so you might as well make sure that you will enjoy checking and sending emails with an easy to use program. I will see you in the next “Internet Helper!”