Not long ago, I attended a networking event and struck up a conversation with someone who was offering a rather unique service. I was very interested in what she was offering because it addressed a problem I had recently experienced, and I could immediately see great potential for this business concept.

We exchanged business cards with the promise that we would be in touch. Later, as I was entering her contact information into my system, I was suddenly stopped cold. Suddenly, I had no desire to do business with this person.

Why my sudden change of heart?

It was because of her email address.

Have you ever stopped to consider what your e-mail address might be saying about you? Could you be inadvertently killing potential sales and interest in your business with an inappropriate or unprofessional e-mail address?

This businesswoman had presented a perfectly professional image in all other ways. Her clothing, her demeanor, her handshake, the passionate way she talked about her business, even her business card said “I am a professional and it is safe to do business with me.” She had obviously put some time into the development of her image. She presented herself as the consummate professional and I bet she is.

But she blew any goodwill she had garnered with me entirely when I encountered her e-mail address: hotsugarmama@blahblah.com.

Read that again: hot-sugar-mama at blahblah.com.

Now on a personal level, I would not have been offended by that and may have been mildly amused. But to use that professionally just reeks of—well—unprofessionalism.

And so of course, my next thought was, “how unprofessional might she also be in the conduct of her business?” The service she is selling involves dealing with potentially sensitive personal information of her clients, information that most folks wouldn’t want someone else to know about or to reveal to others.

Some other e-mail addresses I’ve seen lately were along those same lines:

• thedeadrule@blahblah.com (the guy was selling insurance but was a big fan of the Grateful Dead).
• liquidlover@blahblah.com (an owner of an upscale private clothing seller). I didn’t ask the meaning of that one.
• chewchewhuhhuh@blahblah.com (Uh, what?)

Do you get the idea of how inappropriate these e-mail addresses are for business?

Another pet peeve of mine is business people using Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL e-mail accounts for their business address.

Now, I have nothing against those providers per se, but they do not project a professional image for your business. Plus, they often severely limit what you can do with your e-mail accounts.

Save these accounts for using to sign up for mailing lists but never use them in the professional arena with your clients or prospects.

The best thing you can do right now is to register your own domain name and start using that as your e-mail address. Like mine: marty@martymarsh.com marty@successfulsoulproprietor.com or yours would be yourname@yourbusinessURL.com.

If your budget just simply does not allow for this and you must use a free e-mail account, at least use something tamer in the name portion of the address, preferably your own name or the name of your business. For example: martymarsh@yahoo.com or successfulsoulproprietor@aol.com.

These days, you can register a URL very inexpensively and get e-mail service at the same time, even without a Website. I personally like GoDaddy.com.

There is just no excuse any longer for not having your own domain name. Without it you’re likely to be perceived as being unprofessional in the way you deliver your services.

And remember, right or wrong, true or not, how you are perceived --- especially online --- trumps everything else.

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