8 Reasons to Stop Using Free Email For Business Right Now

We all know someone, or we are that someone, who uses a free email address for their business.

janesfitness@gmail.com

thetechguy@yahoo.com

beautybytiffany@aol.com

The appeal of free email is strong! Who doesn’t love “FREE”? We understand why you would go this route, especially as a new business just starting up in the world trying to pinch every penny. But this is a big “no-no” that’s actually hurting your business, new or old.

Paying for a business email account is cheaper than you think, especially when you consider the increased credibility, branding opportunities, and other benefits they provide. Here are our 8 reasons to stop using free email for business RIGHT NOW!

1. Credibility, Professionalism, and Trust

This is the absolute most important reason you should be using a business email address with your domain name. Potential customers want to know they’re going to be working with a legitimate company that is going to take care of them, is credible, professional, and that they can trust.

Imagine if you had to use apple@gmail.com in order to contact the most powerful tech company on the planet? It wouldn’t feel right, would it? You would have a hard time trusting the credibility of that email address. Thankfully, support@apple.com is there for you. Trust is important to consumers, don’t abuse it!

2. Brand Image

Your brand image is the impression, thoughts, or feelings that customers have about your company. This goes hand-in-hand with credibility, professionalism, and trust.

The more positive experiences you make for your customers, the better your brand image gets. Every business card you hand out and every person you email will constantly be reminded of your business and the value it brings to them.

3. Exclusivity & Longevity

Once you have your domain name (URL), no one else can take it from you. Free email addresses can be deleted or changed if a company is acquired or goes out of business. You can transfer your business email to a new email hosting provider any time but keep the same email address. Dupont employees have had their business email addresses since 1987 but have upgraded their systems as technology advanced.

4. Security

Security from a free email account is not the same as security from a business solution. Hacks that target businesses are different than those targeting consumers. Everyone faces phishing, spam, and malware but not everyone faces it in the same quantity. Business email solutions have more robust security measures and control over your employee accounts and their respective information.

5. Productivity

Google and Microsoft have productivity tools that come with each of their business email plans. These tools allow you to store files in the cloud, work with your documents on any computer, and work together with your employees or contractors on the same document at the same time.

You can run your entire business using these productivity tools. Ever heard of Google Docs and Google Drive? $5 a month gets you the beefed up version for your business, known as G Suite. G Suite is designed to help teams work together in new, more efficient ways, no matter where members are located or what device they happen to be using.

6. Department Email Addresses

Big businesses use department email addresses, such as support@microsoft.com. Once you switch over to a business email system, you too can have this same setup even as a single person business. You can have yourname@yourbusiness.com and then add any number of department email addresses, which will all show up in your inbox. Once you start adding employees, you can give them access to specific emails, such as accounting@ or sales@. This gives your business the appearance of being larger and more robust.

7. How Do I Find Your Website?

Email is often the first contact you have with a client when you’re a young business. If you contact them using your business email address, they never have to guess what your website URL is because it’s in your email. Companies with longer names often use a shorter URL, such as Bank of America, which uses BofA.com. You never would have guessed that. 

8. Cost Effective

Did you know that you can get a business email account for $5 a month through Google G-Suite? That’s the price of a cup of coffee for something that can change your business. That includes their entire productivity suite of products and online cloud storage. There are other alternatives, such as Microsoft’s Office 365, which offers similar functionality.

Conclusion

Those are our 8 reasons to stop using free email for business RIGHT NOW! Did we leave anything out? Comment below with your feedback or what you would add to this list.

There are tutorials online that can teach you how to setup your own G-Suite account so you can finally have that professional apprance and increased productivity. If you’re too busy running your own business, then let us setup business email for you. Click or tap the button below for pricing and information or contact us if you need anything else.