Mumsnet Talk

Hi all,
I was reading on another forum that they wouldn't take your business seriously if you offered them a gmail address. (ie. yourbusinessname@gmail...).

I know it doesn't cost much to set up a hosted address - but it's another expense isnt it? And gmail works well...(most of the time)

What do you think? Unproffesional or not?

Depends on the business i suppose. I ouldn't take it seriously unless it as a cottage industry type business like home made clothes, knitting, jewellry or similar.

Probably depends on your line of work... Because I freelance and get work through existing contacts or placement consultants I have just used a googlemail address as my 'professional' address. If I was actively trying to 'sell' a more corporate service I would probably get myself a web page and accompanying email...

Yes, I avoid gmail/hotmail addresses for that reason.Sorry.

Not as unprofessional as spelling unprofessional incorrectly.

'unprofessional' - Sorry!! (need more caffeine...)

Thanks for your responses!

Gmail does indeed work very well but it does give the impression of a throw-away account.

The domain name (eg, the mycompany.co.uk bit) costs about £80 for a two-year registration I think. Different registrars deal with different areas, so Nominet does .co.uk, Verisign does .com and .net and so on. They'll charge different amounts.

You'll then need to pay to get email handled via that domain name. That will cost you a pound or two per month for each mailbox (eg, saartje@mycompany.co.uk is one mailbox). You can then redirect that email to your Gmail account.

It might be worth having a look on your broadband supplier's website to see if they do any deals for domain names and email hosting.

we have our businesses email address hosted with GoDaddy £14.99 for two years and I think that includes the webpage name

1and1 can do you a UK domain and POP email accounts that divert to your private one
http://order.1and1.co.uk/MailInstantMail;jsessionid=F6175ACDB25B1F6C42075F9F3AC0F10A.TCpfix141b?__lf=Static
I actively dislike gmail hotmail and yahoo
DH has his website domain name
I use one of my personal ones but I own the domain name ....

Thanks again for your advice everyone. I’ve sorted out a more professional email address now.

I guess I didn’t really need much convincing – I was just having a bit of wobble about the costs of setting up this side of a business

- I wanted to say what clam said.

Gmail is definitely better than hotmail/yahoo though.

so long as it is businessname@gmail.com and not something along the lines of boozyfloosy@..........

I think this is an odd one. I read on a US based site that having a gmail account signals that you are "down with the kidz" as Google is currently where it's at. Apparently it shows you're at the forefront of cutting-edge technology. CV's with hotmail or yahoo addresses likely to be banned by corporate recruiters - wtff? So a hotmail address obtained nearly 20 years ago shows you know shit about technology? :/ I find this all very perplexing and will try and find the article as it was just plain odd I felt.

Anyway, in your shoes I'd do what you've done and get my own domain.

My personal account is hotmail, and has been for many years. Hotmail seem to have sorted out a lot of the spamming problems it had for a while. I view gmail accounts with much suspicion, as that's where the spamming fuckers have gone.

My business account is my own domain and I get endless spam, but that goes with the territory.

Am always very dubious about a UK domain registered via godaddy, sorry gaston! It's an entirely personal thing.

You can also use Gmail with your own domain for free and not pay someone for your email service.

Google 'Gmail for domains' and it will tell you how.

I couldn't find the specific article I was after - but this is very similar:

lifehacker.com/5447335/know-what-your-email-address-says-about-you

I think for the 20 quid a year or whatever it is - use your own domain then use whichever front-end email tool you fancy.

my business email is my company name.
I also have a btconnect.com email address.
i use both, but put my domain name one on correspondence and advertising.
It costs me £8 for 2 years to own the domain name, and the email addresses I get as part of my website package (i get 5 but i only use one, I don't need more, because it all comes to me anyway. I'm sure if i expanded i could have others for other employees)

oooh
it went up to £10.99 for 2 years in my last bill

What GreatExpecTEEtions said... I bought a domain name cheaply, you can get them for as little as £10.99, and then I converted my Gmail account to one that used my domain name, for free.

So my web address is www.nameofbusiness.co.uk

and email address is myname@nameofbusiness.co.uk (and you can choose multiples to look extra professional, such as sales@nameofbusiness.co.uk, director@nameofbusiness.co.uk etc etc

mine is a webeden one.

not wishing to advertise any company in particular, but they are pretty fantastic as web hosts go.

I've always had a website (even if a static page) and an email address based on the website address for all my major businesses and minor cottage industries. I always like to see a website to check out a business and would question how professional someone was if they didn't have a proper business address.

Having said that, once I've initiated contact, I wouldn't really notice or mind so much if their emails were coming from hotmail or gmail, as long as the rest seemed professional.