Email addresses received from your ISP(internet service provider) are great for personal use; but do you think they give the impression that your company is big and well established? Or does andy@rbbalch.com look better? Do you see the difference? The andy@rbbalch.com is using our OWN domain (not someone else’s).

For less money that you think you can use your own company name as part of your email. And one big benefit is that if you decide to change your email provider (i.e. from COX to QWEST; or from AOL to MSN), your email address will stay the same. Why not look like the big guys with your OWN domain - you deserve it!

CHOOSE A DOMAIN NAME. The domain name is the part of an email address that appears after the "@". It is in your best interest to choose a domain name that is as close as possible to the actual name of your business, without being excessively long. Remember -- most people do not like to type long email addresses.

CONFIRM AVAILABILITY: Go to www.networksolutions.com and type in the domain name you want for your email address. There’s a nice search box near the top. If the name you want is available, you can buy it. How much will it cost? Good question!! Using the option of Network Solutions, charges are $35.00 for one year; if you sign up for 5 years, the price drops to $19.99 per year. Keep in mind that prices are subject to change, per the provider. What if the name you want is not available? You will have to keep trying until to come up with something that is not already taken. Or, you can consider purchasing an existing domain name from its owner; however, that option can get very expensive.

CHOOSE AN EMAIL HOST: Companies vary in price to host your email and/or your web page. Pricing can vary from $20 to $50 per month for hosting, dependent on whether they are hosting your email only or email, web site, e-commerce and other options. Check to see how the pricing varies and if there are extra charges for number of email boxes, amount of storage space used, etc. Also check out the features offered. For example, you could setup email boxes like andy@rbbalch.com, sales@rbbalch.com, info@rbbalch.com. We use help@rbbalch.com in our advertising and for customer service.

OPTIONS TO CONSIDER: Dependent on the options offered by your hosting company, you may have several “front” boxes or aliases, which can be forwarded to another personal email box. This option is valuable if someone leaves the company or is on vacation. If the hosting company offers web-based email you can check your email from anywhere in the world (with an internet connection).

That’s it. Pretty simple and fairly inexpensive for such big results. SO, what are you waiting for - get rid of those FREE email accounts (remember EVERYONE knows they are free too - your clients included) and start advertising your own name and company in your email correspondence.