Honestly, I cringe every time I see a business with a unprofessional email address. Many businesses owners opt for a bigpond, hotmail or gmail email address. Why? Generally because they’re cheap, easy to use and cloud based.
Imagine you’re meeting a new important customer and they ask the question “what’s your email address?”. Which response is better:
“My email address is nowra.realestate@hotmail.com”
OR
“My email address is info@nowrarealestate.com.au”
What many business owners don’t realise is that getting a professional email address is actually easier than you think! Due to the number of options out there, it can seem daunting. But I am hoping that this post will make things clearer for you and show you the benefits of having a professional email address.
1. Use your web hosting
The first option is to speak to your website hosting provider (ShowellTech does a great job at web hosting – click here to find out more). Your web host should be able to set up simple POP3 email accounts for you and it should be included within your annual web hosting fee.
The positive side of this is that it is a very cost effective way of getting a professional email address with your domain name. The downside to POP3 email accounts is that you have to use a email client (such as Outlook or Thunderbird) to send/receive your emails. You’re also responsible for maintaining the backup and security of your email data.
2. Google Apps For Business
The second option is to explore Google Apps for Business. I’m sure we’ve all heard of Gmail – Google’s solution to email. What most people don’t know is that Google also offers premium services to business customers. Google Apps for Business gives you much more than a professional cloud-based email system. Google Apps for Business gives you access to Google Drive, Calendar, Docs, Sheets and much much more. Instead of getting showelltech@gmail.com you get info@showelltech.com.au.
Google Apps for Business is available in Australia for $60 per account per year. Monthly payment options are also available.
Google Apps for Business gives you the ability to access you email (as well as drive and calendar) from anywhere in the world, from any device. It is 100% cloud based and it all runs under your own business domain. You also get 30GB of free storage on Google Drive and 24/7 live support from the Google Support Team. No need to worry about backup and security – Google takes care of that for you.
Read more about Google Apps for Business here.
ShowellTech can help you setup and manage your Google Apps system. We can also provide advice and training on how to use your new email system.
Want to move your current email system across to Google Apps? We can also help you migrate all your data across to Google.
3. On-premise Email Hosting
If you’re a larger business you may choose to purchase and setup your very own email server at your business premises. Although this option give you full control over your email data, it also introduces a number of other potential problems into your IT system. This problems can cause a cost blow-out and really eat into your IT budget. Potential problems are things such as:
- Maintenance and management of the email server.
- Physical and virtual security of your email server.
- Backup, recovery and disaster recovery.
- Remote / Offsite access to email data.
So what should you do?
From one business owner to another. My advice to you is to stop using unprofessional email addresses for your business and to start using your own domain (such as info@yourcompany.com). Which solution would work best for you? In my experience Google Apps for Business has always ended up being the best solution for a variety of our customers. The benefits such as access from anywhere, ample storage space and the team collaboration tools makes it a great email solution for any business.
Need more info? Contact our team now!