How Many Email Addresses Should I have?

I am kinda embarrassed to say how many email addresses I currently have because I have so many that I have forgotten the actual number. I started out like everyone else with one and that one happened to be created almost 15 years ago, does anyone remember the Internet service Prodigy? Well that was my very first email address. I then went on to get an email from this little upstart company some of you might have heard of called AOL. I no longer have an AOL address but my oldest current email address is about to celebrate its 10 year anniversary.

Ten years of having a Yahoo email address is not really that great but I would challenge you all to find out what is your oldest current email address and can you beat 10 years. If so please post how long you have had it and let me know if you have saved any emails from that address from so long ago. I have never deleted any of my emails from Yahoo and probably never will. Yes I KNOW I should delete the old ones but it really is a kick to see some of the emails I sent and received from people 10 years ago.

So at present count I think I have about 45+ email addresses both professional and personal and YES I do check them all. Some I don't check as frequent but I am very good and creating folders and setting up rules in Microsoft Outlook to keep most of them organized. My good friend Peggy Duncan who is a Professional Productivity Expert thinks I am crazy to have so many email addresses and even more crazy that I never delete any of the emails I get. Don't get me wrong I do delete most of the spam but the rest is archived and backed up on a regular bassist.

I am sure I don't hold the record for one person having so many email addresses. Who do you know that has more?

As a rule of thumb most small businesses should only have as many email addresses as they need to get their business done. If you are a soloprenuer like myself I would go with 3 professional email addresses to start. The first one you should have is your main email address Yourname@Yourcompany.com then I would go with info@yourcompany.com and sales@yourcompany.com I would then get 2 free personal email addresses from any of the free email services say gmail.com and yahoo.com. Use these email address for things you really don't want to come into your business email address or things you think you may get more spam then legitimate email. If you need more, I say GO FOR IT but only if you can keep track of them.
Don't lose any business because you forgot to check one of your many email addresses.

So, how many email addresses should you have? As many as you can keep track of and not have to hire someone to do it for you.

New Kid on the Block of Email Marketing Services

The space of web based email marketing services has been dominated by a very small group of companies. The most popular of them all has been one I have been affiliated with for almost 6 years. Constant Contact by Roving Software is by far one of the most easy to use and cost effective email marketing services on the market. I have seen many try and fail at coming close to what Constant Contact has to offer. One such company iContact.com formally known as Intellicontact.com has probably come the closest when it comes to features and pricing plans.

Today I was informed of another company that looks like it has a shot at playing with the big boys. Viper Logic Corp., a company out of Palms Springs, California has developed their own email marketing services called "Vipermailer". Vipermailer.com has a very simple website but from the looks of things, a very powerful presentation of features and mailer templates.

As of this writing I have only seen emailed examples of their templates and read about their dynamic features and pricing. I will do a follow up blog when I have been given the chance to try their service free, for 30 days.

Speaking of pricing, I really do think Vipermailer.com has an advantage with their service plans where cost is based on the number of subscribers they have to send email marketing message too and not how many individual emails are sent per campaign. Both Constantcontact.com and iContact.com share this type of pricing strategy.

So for I am very impressed with Vipermailer.com and I look forward to sending out my first test campaign to my subscriber base and see what they think of this new email marketing kid on the block.

You've Got High Tech Mail

You've Got High Tech Email to be more precise. This was the starting sentence of a Wall Street Journal article I read today saying that email marketing is getting another look from the heavy hitting marketers like IBM and Cisco Systems. These are the two of the many companies who shyed away from email marketing after the spamming wars of the late nineties. Their is a new company that is giving these fortune five hundred marketers a reason to send email again. Eyetools, a San Francisco software company has developed a technology called "heatmapping." This technology can tell marketers what parts of the their emails get the most attention. Heatmapping uses cameras attached to a computer that track a person's eye movements to figure out what part of the screen is being viewed. The results are displayed in vivid colors on what is called a "heatmap" that makes clear where on the screen people's eyes focus.

Eyetools has two email services. The first one discovers whether your key message is getting through and is tested in an email client. The second one is for email campaign optimization of landing pages. That way you can see how your offer performs from email open to landing page. Their pricing ranges by a per person cost to a ten person group study cost. Most of their clients want data collected as a group of people open their email and see what they click on as well as see what they are drawn to once the do reach their landing page. What say you. Would you use or encourage your company to use such a services before you sent out your next email marketing campaign? Let me know your thoughts.

Personal vs Professional Life Email - Don't Squander Your First Internet Impression

Summary: They say first impressions are everything these days. So why are you turning business away by sending a free email address to your potential customer? Better yet, why are you giving away a perfect opportunity to promote your business?

My first email address was with compuserve.com back when you could only have numbers for an email address. They then allowed us to have letters as well on prodigy so I switched internet service providers or internet content providers as they are better known to us geeks. My next stop was with the number one provider AOL and my name became an extension of my love for jazz music and I have had that email address ever since. I also have a yahoo.com email address that I use strictly for its Spam filter and free virus protection software that is built into the website. Free email addresses are great and I suggest you take advantage of their many no cost features. But I only use them for personal reasons. The main reason I don't use them for business is because I refuse to give the free email services anymore free publicity and not get anything in return.

The use of email addresses that promote anything but your business is a waste of great branding potential. Every time you send and email to a potential client or customer you have a perfect opportunity to promote your business. Yahoo and MSN will gladly give you a free email address because you help market their business with every click of the send button.

Earthlink and AOL get you to pay them every month to promote their service. I ask you, what are the chances of wemakewidgets@aol.com winning a ten million dollar contract over yourname@wemakewidgets.com Who do you think will be taken more seriously? Don'’t get me wrong I am sure there are many multi million dollar deals done using these services. But how many of them keep using it to create a more corporate and professional image.
Why not go to a website like Proemailaddress.com and register your own little piece of electronic marketing. This can be done for as little as $9.95` for a years worth of keeping your businesses name moving back and forth through cyber space. And get this; yourname@yourcompanyname.com makes a much bigger impression on those you look to do business with in the future.
I can't tell you how many business cards I have received with yahoo, msn, hotmail and especially aol.com email addresses on them and thought do I really want to do business with this person. Are they just a fly by night business? Can I trust a person who can'’t take the time and effort most legitimate businesses use to make sure they are recognized and respected industry leaders?

At one time just having an email address on a business card was impressive because not everyone had an email address let alone knew how to use it as a marketing tool. Gone are those days and in their place one has to step up their game and make more of a first impression. Using a professional email address does just that and more. Not only does a professional email address bring more promise and prestige to your company but it is one of the most inexpensive forms of mass marketing there is today. You are able to market your business to many potential clients while at the same time keeping customers informed and up to date through correspondence.
So in reading this article if you only get one thing that you can use please see to getting a professional email address and give your business the optimum chance to show its true worth.