E-mail is an indispensable tool for today business, however, there is one account you should never use: the email account your internet connection provider gives you.
Most business owner would get a web hosting account with their own domain, yet, some will chose another path: when you hire an internet connection, your provider will generally offer you one or more email accounts, something like yourname@yourprovider.com (for example, yourname@prodigy.net). Although these accounts work very well and are included in the service at no extra cost, you should never use them.
The reasons:
1. The most important one: if you ever decide to change your connection provider, you will have to pay to keep that account. The cost goes from 3 to 10 dollars a month, depending on the provider. Some providers will not even offer that option.
2. If you change your connection provider and decide not to keep your email account with him, you will have to tell all your friends, clients and providers about this change. This could take several months and you may even lose some important contacts because they will not know where to reach you anymore. If you make the mistake of using the email account by your new connection provider, you will eventually go trough all this again.
3. With each email you send as yourname@yourprovider.com you are publicizing your provider. Would not it be better if you publicize your own company name? think how good it would look something like yourname@yourcompany.com. This is the kind of services you would get with a web hosting account.
4. Using your email account from your connection provider doesn't look very professional. It gives the impression that either you do not know much about internet and its advantages, or (even worse) you are too cheap to spend a little for your own company presence on the internet.
Thinking of getting a free account at hotmail.com or yahoo? Although this accounts will never expire (except if you don't use them regularly) they are not professional looking either. Again, you will look cheap with this kind of email for your business
The best option to avoid all this is to get your own domain name and a web hosting service, with which you will not have to worry about whatever connection provider you are using; you will always have your emails no matter how many times you change services and you will be promoting your own company.
Start emailing... with your own domain.
http://www.articlecircle.com/internet/new-to-the-internet/don-t-use-that-email-account.html
