Posted by PAW on 3/8/10 8:27am
Msg #325855

Effective email communication is of utmost importance

As part of your marketing plan, you should consider email marketing strategies to those companies that you already have worked with as well as those you would like to work with. Effective email communication is an extremely important aspect of your campaign. You need to have your audience want to open and read your email, not simply toss it in the trash. David F. Carr, a Forbes' Business Intelligence columnist, has written an excellent piece on mass marketing using email; "Why should I open your email? - Tips for getting customers to read your messages." You can read his article at http://tinyurl.com/yef3bh6.

IMO, one of the most important tips that David offers, is:

[begin quote]
Please identify yourself. This may seem ridiculously basic, but I receive a lot of otherwise legitimate commercial e-mail that fails to meet this test.

The "From" field in your e-mail consists of your e-mail address, plus optional text for a display name. For an individual note sent to a business contact and a few CCs, something like "David F. Carr" with the e-mail [e-mail address] is fine. Assuming you have a business domain name, use an e-mail account associated with it, which looks more official than [e-mail address]. Many small business people persist in using a personal e-mail account for business, perhaps because they never got around to setting up an e-mail associated with their Web site, or never got in the habit of using it.
[end quote]

Reply by Notarysigner on 3/8/10 9:01am
Msg #325862

Thanks PAW. I'm in complete agreement.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 3/8/10 10:04am
Msg #325867

The email address issue is one of my biggest business pet peeved, one that even some of the otherwise brightest business owners do, without thinking of how it appears. A domain name and email are so cheap these days, there's no excuse not to have one, even if all it is used for is email.

Using freebie email addresses makes you look cheap.

It's okay to use gmail, for example, if you like the service, but take advantage of the advanced features and use it professionally with your domain. It is so easy to do, and you look way more professional.

Reply by ikando on 3/8/10 2:46pm
Msg #325932

I agree with Marian--domain names only cost $10.99 for a .com at GoDaddy. That comes with email addresses (plural) for each person/department you want to designate.

As to the gmail comment, I know a lot of people (myself included) forward their "business" email to their gmail or outlook account for easier access rather than having to log into another website. It's not that difficult, and really does make you look more professional.

Reply by Carole Breckbill on 3/9/10 9:52am
Msg #326059

And if you have this service thru GoDaddy, they will automatically set you up to have your mail forwarded to your "personal" address. I've had wonderful experiences with them.