 Technology
Best Practices
Entrepreneur
Mail
The New Email that Brands
Your Business
By T. Scott Plumley
A professional email address
for your company that matches your domain name is an
overlooked, but simple, professional way to brand your
business. Many small businesses and contractors use
public email addresses such as AOL, Hotmail, MSN and
Road Runner as their primary means of electronic
contact. By doing this they miss an important branding
opportunity. This article will show how easy it is to
set up a .com for your company that helps you look more
professional and maintain consistency for your business.
Finding a name is the first
objective. Choose a name that is simple, not too long,
and fits your business. Pick three domain names that you
would like, open your browser, and type them in. If a
website pops up, then it’s taken, but if does not, go do
a domain registrar and see if anyone actually owns the
domain. Many domains are taken, but are not set up with
a host for email and a website.
GoDaddy.com is my registrar
of choice and I manage over 100 domains through this
site. Once you are on the site, there is a field that
will allow you to type in the name you want to register
and it will tell you if it is available. If it is not,
they will give you 10 – 15 options that are similar to
what you typed that are available. Then you can either
just click on one of those, or type in alternate choices
until you find something available that suits you, and
proceed to checkout. The cost of a domain is around
$8.00 per year and can be registered for as long as you
want it. As you go through the checkout process, you
will likely be solicited to buy items most businesses do
not need. Just make sure you check the “No Thanks –
Proceed to Checkout”. You will then have the opportunity
to create the login and password you will need to manage
your name.
So now that you own a .com
domain you need to set up email for this domain, and
possibly a website. Hosting a .com is a two-part
management process. First, you have the domain
management program where you tell Internet browsers
where to go to find your site and also where to deliver
your mail. The second part is the hosting company that
receives this direction provided by your domain and
actually houses the website and email for you.
There are thousands of hosts out there that will provide
you with email and web space for your .com from $5 - $25
a month depending on how much complexity you require.
For the most part, around $8/month is what you should
generally have to pay. Some email vendors that my
clients or I have used are: Yahoo.com, 1and1.com,
GoDaddy.com, HostMySite.com, POWWEB.com, and countless
others. You can also go to www.webhostingbluebook.com
for a good comparison of the current top 10 hosting
sites available to you.
Now that you have hosting
set up for your .com, you will need to have some means
to access your email. Every email host should offer you
a web-based email client. This way wherever you have
access to the Internet, you can go to your email website
and login and get your mail. On your primary PC you can
also set up Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail
(VISTA), or any other POP3 email client that you have.
Step-by-step instructions with screen prints are usually
provided by the host to walk you through the setup
process.
Domain names have been
called the real estate of the 21st century, so having a
presence on the web for your business is as critical as
any form of advertising that you can do. The cost is
minimal when you consider that this is part of your
Internet brand.
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T. Scott Plumley is the
President of High Speed Network Services. High Speed
Network Services provides full IT support to small and
medium-sized businesses. Scott has over 10 years
experience working with small, medium and Fortune 100
businesses. Contact Scott at 813-404-5498 or
scott@hsnsfl.com |
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