Comments on: Don’t Send From a Free Email Address

By: S

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:39:59 +0000

Justin,

You are right on with this post. As Kathy said, the devil is definitely in the details.

Andres,

I can definitely understand your logic of not using important e-mail addresses to post everywhere, but rather more "disposable ones" for certain types of activities.

When it comes to interacting with your visitors and customers as a group, here’s something I hope may help. Have you considered installing a ticket helpdesk on your domain… like TicketDeskPro maybe? I haven’t used it myself yet, but I know someone who uses it for all his user support for the very reason of not having to sift through tons of spam.

So in addition to looking at using Aweber in conjunction with an e-mail address like donotreply@mysites.com or autoresponder@mysite.com for any lists/newsletters, a ticket helpdesk is one solution I definitely intend to implement in my site plans. After all, making more efficient use of our time, having good organization, minimal spam and less effort to accomplish these ends can only result in better customer service.

At $67, it might be worth considering. Just a thought.

Cheers

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:59:37 +0000

You have a valid point. I can’t tell you how many instances I have come across the truth to this. Especially a hotmail account.

By: Andres

Andres — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:39:30 +0000

This is really complicated since if you use one of your domain emails, that email will get a lot of spam.

If you don’t answer the emails, customers will get upset.

If you deal with spam, you lose time.

I use free emails addresses in the reply because I don’t want spam. I don’t like to use email filters either, so in this state of things, there is no real solution to me.

By: Done Your Taxes? Audit Your Email Marketing. - Email Marketing Tips on the AWeber Blog

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:01:29 +0000

[...] your reply address properly brand your business and make your messages recognizable to email [...]

By: dozie

dozie — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:25:32 +0000

Thanks Justin for this blog. Well, I think it very difficult for a prospective customer to pay any attention to your business emails if you’re sending them out through free accounts such as yahoo or hotmail.

By: Emmanuel NOLACK

Emmanuel NOLACK — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 07:30:17 +0000

Here’s a fantastic advice!

As a matter of fact, many people instead get
frightened with the idea of getting something
free. It makes no sense to be promoting or
developing a business and, at the same time,
be running up and down to search for FREES.

A sound business should generate the necessary
ressources to make it grow. People do know and
believe, regardless of their culture, that in
this world, every thing we can expect for, have,
gain or earn has a compensation. Something for
nothing is not possible!

And let’s never forget, even our prayers are only
heard when we accept paying a tribute to the Lord:
SAYING THANKS FOR WHAT WE’VE ALREADY GOT.

By: Lou

Lou — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 07:24:33 +0000

Gmail’s won me over, love the key features:

- the labelling versus folders.
- the heaps of storage
- the smooth,relatively fast interface
- the blindingly fast search of all my emails
for anything based a few barely-remembered
word fragments.

Yup, I’m sold.

But, I realize many clients will equate gmail accounts with hokieness.

The answer? Pretty simple.

- create a catchall domain at my website e.g. lou@myrealdomain.com

- forward all email to lou@myrealdomain.com to my gmail account

- set up a POP3 account for lou@myrealdomain.com in my gmail config

- gmail receives incoming email to lou@myrealdomain.com and, when I
reply, sets the reply address to lou@myrealdomain.com (which is what the recipient sees on the From: line).

Works great for everyone: My clients see a reassuring "real" domain; I get to enjoy the benefits of gmail.

By: Chuck Madere

Chuck Madere — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:28:17 +0000

Thanks for the advice.
This is my first time comming here and I’ve learned something. Great.
Check back a lot I will.

By: Is your free blog worth what you paid for it? | Virtual Impax

Is your free blog worth what you paid for it? | Virtual Impax — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:13:33 +0000

[...] There's a great post over at Return Customer which advocates using domain based email addresses for your business instead of the FREE variety. There's a more indepth post at the Aweber blog communications blog. [...]

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:58:35 +0000

Your own domain name with a corresponding web site SEEM to be elements which should have been covered in Business 101. I’ve actually had clients who were driven to get a web site when vendors refused to consider a credit app without a valid web site address.

The devil is in the details. It’s amazing how such a small detail, like the form the address takes in the from field, can shape the recipient’s opinion.

Go ahead and ignore/argue with the advice offered in this post. I’ve seen first hand the power such minute details can make on a business’ bottom line.