Be smart about email.

Make it go to work for you.

We’ve been helping a number of clients with different email matters lately so thought it might be good to write (perhaps again) about email with our clients. Here are some email pointers:

1. Use email to brand your domain.
Too often we see people use emails like “[email protected]” instead of “[email protected]”. Your email address alone has the ability to brand your enterprise. It looks and sounds more professional, as elusive a concept as that may be. More info: https://goatcloud.com/2013/05/08/how-to-use-your-email-address-to-brand-your-website-and-domain/

2. Use a snappy email signature.
Email signatures aren’t just a great way to let people know how to contact you. They also present an opportunity to pitch or inform. Include a line about your next event, or a great sale, or how to connect socially with you, or a new online commercial. Anything with a live Internet link is viable. Change it over time. More info: https://goatcloud.com/2012/12/17/let-email-signatures-do-some-branding-and-marketing-for-you/

3. Start an email newsletter.
Half the battle of marketing sometimes seems like it’s reminding people you know that you exist. Well get out in front of them with a regular email newsletter, just like this one. We use and love Mailchimp. It’s free (up to reasonable limits), easy to use and effective. There are other options. More info: https://goatcloud.com/2014/02/07/goatcloud-internet-marketing-tutorial-6-email-marketing/

4. Email forwarders v. email accounts.
We have often recommended to our hosting clients that they use email forwarders as a means of simply accomplishing item #1 above. A forwarder is not a real email account. It just passes email along to a set destination. Up until a few weeks ago, this was a great solution. We’re becoming less convinced if you intend to use the forwarded email address a lot. If you utilize shared hosting (I believe that, like a majority of people hosting websites globally, every one of our clients does, whether hosting with GoatCloud or elsewhere. Why? Because shared hosting is relatively inexpensive.), the large email providers are increasingly rejecting forwarded emails. Here’s the thing about shared hosting. You never know exactly who your hosting neighbors will be. If your hosting neighbors spam, your email IP address can become “tainted” as it were. There are effective workarounds and we can help you with this. We are grateful to one of our clients, the Post Landfill Action Network (check them out; great environmental nonprofit) for bringing this concretely to our attention!

Do you have additional ideas for online social and sharing best practices? Leave a comment below.

Image source: Letter Carrier in Mailster Vehicle (1955) from Smithsonian Institution in Flickr Commons