Is using a free webmail email not professional for a small business/consultant?
It depends on what your business is. I'll try to give you some examples and thoughts, but the answer will vary based on your particular "consultant" business.
- If you are a company where your physical location is key (tax shops, financial services consultants, etc.), a webmail email account would be fine. Your business will be driven more by your presence at that location, and having a yahoo or gmail suffix will not usually matter to your clients. More important will be your signage, advertising, location, etc. If it's not cost effective for you to have your own company email, then it probably wouldn't hurt you to start off with a webmail address.
- If you are working from home, without much face to face interaction with clients, and your email and webpage are your primary sources of contact, then I think it is important that your contact information conveys your company name, and your company name conveys what you do. All of your marketing and advertising and points of contact should be in sync to convey a professional and knowledgeable image. I would not recommend using a webmail account in this instance, if you want to be taken seriously in this day and age.
- If you are making most of your sales or are gaining most of your clients in person, then your personal appearance will matter most. What email address you have on your business card won't matter, if you're able to close the deal and deliver value to your clients. A webmail would be fine in this instance.
For all of the above, if you are building a website, then I'd go ahead and get an email account that matches the website. Most domain registries come with a few email addresses, and wouldn't cost that much to add if they don't. When you're talking about $5-$10 a year, it would be worth it. Oh, and one last thing…don't have your email address a mile long. It needs to be something fairly easy that your clients can type in, without any wacky spelling for them to mess up.
I hope this helps. Without knowing your exact situation, it's difficult to tell you exactly what I think you should do.
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May be you used the wrong word "professional". I think people look to the cover before buying something. If the packing is well done and shiny, then the product is more likely will find some one who will pick it up.
The email which shows your business name has the same effect of the chocolate cover.
Any how, the domain names are now cheap and costs almost nothing so why not using that nice cover if it doesn't cost that much?
References :
Unless there is previous interaction between the consultant and client where the client already knows the caliber of the consultant, it is not best to use a free webmail account.
Using Gmail or Hotmail or Yahoo for business email does not really look professional. It gives the impression that this business person is too small-time who cannot even afford his own website.
Plus, there's the question of reliability. A free email account does not convey the image of reliability. A free email account means a person can easily create that account — and delete that account — that it may be impossible to reach that person later on.
References :
It depends on what your business is. I'll try to give you some examples and thoughts, but the answer will vary based on your particular "consultant" business.
- If you are a company where your physical location is key (tax shops, financial services consultants, etc.), a webmail email account would be fine. Your business will be driven more by your presence at that location, and having a yahoo or gmail suffix will not usually matter to your clients. More important will be your signage, advertising, location, etc. If it's not cost effective for you to have your own company email, then it probably wouldn't hurt you to start off with a webmail address.
- If you are working from home, without much face to face interaction with clients, and your email and webpage are your primary sources of contact, then I think it is important that your contact information conveys your company name, and your company name conveys what you do. All of your marketing and advertising and points of contact should be in sync to convey a professional and knowledgeable image. I would not recommend using a webmail account in this instance, if you want to be taken seriously in this day and age.
- If you are making most of your sales or are gaining most of your clients in person, then your personal appearance will matter most. What email address you have on your business card won't matter, if you're able to close the deal and deliver value to your clients. A webmail would be fine in this instance.
For all of the above, if you are building a website, then I'd go ahead and get an email account that matches the website. Most domain registries come with a few email addresses, and wouldn't cost that much to add if they don't. When you're talking about $5-$10 a year, it would be worth it. Oh, and one last thing…don't have your email address a mile long. It needs to be something fairly easy that your clients can type in, without any wacky spelling for them to mess up.
I hope this helps. Without knowing your exact situation, it's difficult to tell you exactly what I think you should do.
References :
11 years as a Consultant, a number of those as an Independent and with a couple of my own small businesses.