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Email address strategies that work

Email addresses are typically not something a lot of us give enough time creating. Too often, we "Accept" a default email address or just use one we have used forever.

You already know all the sayings about first impressions and dress for success; yet have you ever considered what type of first impression your email address makes?

Many Realtors are control freaks, yet surprisingly, they don't take control of their email address!f I hope to show you the reasons to change this!

Here are just some of the email addresses I have used:

JimPaulson@Micron.net;
JimPaulson@coldwellbanker.com;
JimPaulson@remax.net;
JimPaulson@topproducer.com;
IdahoNewHomes@hotmail.com
GoOwnIt@gmail.com
myemailspam@cableone.net
JimPaulson@GoOwnIt.com

I am a lot more strategic these days about my selection of email addresses. I hope you can learn from some of my mistakes so you can control your online image better.

The first mistake I made was just using my name at my Internet Service Provider (ISP). When the parent company quit offering email service, my email address ceased to exist!

The second mistake I made was being too tied to my company. I used to think this was perfect since my email address said not only who I was, but where I was. I was a die hard company man. The day I left Coldwell Banker, my email died. When I went to RE/MAX, I thought that was the "be all end all" company for me, so I repeated that mistake. Even for those of you that think you will never change companies like some of my friends, you may still loose your email if your Broker sells their company or merges with another company through no fault of your own!

My third mistake was using the email from a vendor. I thought using JimPaulson@TopProducer.com was a cool email address since it wasn't tied to my Brokerage and I planned on always being a Top Producer so I thought I was covered again. As their fees kept increasing and their service didn't appear to keep up, I dropped them and lost that email too.

One of my favorite email addresses I have ever created is MyEmailSpam@cableone.net. I have had that for about eight years now and have checked it only once! It is a perfect address for those online trials that require a valid email address.

I created accounts at both Hotmail and Gmail and use them for different reasons. The IdahoNewHomes@hotmail.com was primarily used for my new construction side of my business. The GoOwnIt@gmail.com was tied more to my Brokerage emails. I have these pushed to Outlook so that I can use the additional functionality of that program and even had them pushed to my PDA. What happens when Google (or someone else comes along) and takes over Hotmail? I will loose that address yet again!

The solution to these problems is to buy your own domain that you control. The best solution is to buy "YourName.com". You will see that I don't because someone beat me to that over ten years ago. If you are just starting your real estate career, I suggest having a "real estate nickname" that you can use to help differentiate your Real Estate life and communications with your personal life. In hind sight, I should have been James in real estate and Jim in my personal life. My friend Jack goes by John at work so he can differentiate why someone is calling. This can also help with having two social networking accounts so your alter ego can come out privately.

I bought the domain www.GoOwnIt.com so I can personally control and direct the emails associated with it. As I grow my company, I can use position based email addresses so as I grow and expand my company, I can just reassign their email and never loose the continuity of the position.

Sales@GoOwnIt.com
Referrals@GoOwnIt.com
Broker@GoOwnIt.com

When one of my employees goes on vacation or gets promoted, we can just re-route that email instead of giving access to personal email accounts.

If you need to buy your own domain, let me know since I am also a Pro Reseller for GoDaddy.com.

Jim Paulson, CRS, GRI, EPRO, SFR

NAR Employer Assisted Housing Instructor and EPRO Instructor
Owner/Broker - Progressive Realty Corporation
Specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate
http://www.IdahoMLStours.com
Http://www.Progressive-Realty.info

Posted by Jim Paulson (Owner/Broker) on 02/14/2010 10:45 AM

Comments (110)

Email Strategies for Realtors in the Sales Strategies / Tactics Channel

email address, email strategy, emarketing, online marketing, domain names, domain name marketing

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110 Comments on Email address strategies that work

FEB

2010

Have never thought of this topic before having your own email address is something I will have to consider. Thanks for sharing.

We are lucky we learned this in 95 right after Gore invented the internet. :0) I wonder a little about our website though,, interesting post.

I have long been a proponent for permenant e-mail addresses. My REAL e-mail is a roadrunner account, but I own www.jimsellsthetriangle.com. Therefore I Publish jim@jimsellsthetriangle.com, so if at any time I need to change my roadrunner account, it will be transparent to my client base.

For years, I used my server "lennharley" address. Then there was a glitch and it was eating mail.

Oh well. Now I use mail from our MLS which is reliable. I'd prefer to use my server address @lennharly, but not reliable.

Great post Jim and a timely reminder that I will pass along to a friend who is starting her own staging business.

Jan

I never have used the broker email address as you have stated that can change. I do not like using my name as the domain address either. I preferto use and email address associated with my we site. When it comes time to retire form the business I have something to sell wihich will include a top ranked web site URL/Email along with a contact data base.

havent put much thought into this either, but I tend to use the names that probably wont go anywhere, google and yahoo

I have my name registered. There is some actor with my first and last name beating me with google juice though :( - I will just have to out blog everyone blogging about him, lol.

Great point. I was working with an agent transferring from another company who ran into this issue. We tried to get them to forward his email for a set period but in the end he had to start over. I suggested he purchase a domain and only use that email address going forward as it keeps options open. I've owned a few of my domains for over 15 years and would never let them go.

Tom

Jim, you might try using capital letters in your domain to make it easier to read. This used to cause problems, but most programs sort through it. For example, I suggest trying Jim@JimSellsTheTriangle.com

Lenn, First, congrats on breaking the 900,000 point barrier today! Secondly, it might be your hosting company that is the issue with your domain. That is exactly the reason to have you control it in case you need to change hosting companies, you won't loose your email.

Scott, you are absolutely correct in realizing your domain has value as a commodity to be sold later if managed correctly. That is exactly why I didn't open Jim Paulson Realty even though I have great name recognition in my market here in Boise, Idaho.

Christopher, my brother has the same issue. His name is Gary Paulson and even when you try to Google him, Google typically comes back immediately with "Did you mean Gary Paulsen?" who is a very popular children's book author. One of my brothers email accounts is "YeOldImposter@..." which has an autoresponder saying if you were looking for Gary Paulsen, you didn't find him.

I cover a lot of this in my EPRO workshops. If you are thinking about getting your EPRO designation, let me know and I will send you a short video on it and a discount coupon to save you a few bucks too.

Jim, great advice. I have had mu own for years through GoDaddy and have never had a problem. The company I work for has changed addresses 3 times since I have been there but mine never changes.

I learned about this when I was studying for the EPRO designation and am glad that I don't have to worry about the issues you have addressed, having my own name domain......or as close as I could get....@AnnAllenTeam.com

This is one of the core subjects that is taught in the ePRO course. If you haven't taken it, then I would highly recommend it. www.eproNAR.com is the website. I've had my domain MovingToNova.com for several years, and it goes where I go!!! And I create other email addresses for different purposes.

Jim,

Great advice and well articulated as to why you want to create your own e-mail id. You certainly want to own it. Even if you never "leave" your company, e-mail names can still change. They will follow you for awhile then, but not forever.

Excellent info for ALL!

All the best, Michelle

Your e-mail address should be part of your "branding" and reflect the image of you and your company. It is suprising to see how many agents give such little thought to this item with domain names so easy to register and inexpensive. Do some research and one can find some reliable web hosting sites for agents that start at $9.95 / month. (1and1.com's My Business Site) (AgentBizUp.com offers 1 Business Class e-mail address starting at $8.88/mo) (Or a full feature hosting site like Ultra Agent at $24.95/mo)

I purchased my domain name when I first got into the business in Nov 2004. Which is a good thing since I have changed companies several times.

Your email address advertising for whatever company come after the @ symbol. You should advertise your own company - you being a Realtor having your own website. Too many realtors see themselves as part of the company they are associated with when in reality you are a 1099 commission only employee. You are your own business and need to promote it as such.

Aaron

I also went through the ePro program. I have my name registered and have it set up as an alias in my (paid) Yahoo mail. I also have the capability of sending/receiving with it through my gMail mailbox - which I've had to do recently when there was a glitch with Yahoo and my ISP - weird situation, I could receive but not send through Yahoo - locally, Yahoo/Optilink customers had the same glitch. Thankfully, it's been resolved.

From the desk of David Dee,

Jim, great suggestions. It's best not to be dependent solely on one platform.

I am glad to see people admitting the value they got from their EPRO classes. Remember, I can get you discounts if you want to take the course since I am an EPRO instructor. Just email me separately and tell me you saw this on Active Rain!

Branding is a great point some of you brought up. You are always in need of branding you, not your company! I can't believe how many Open House signs I see that never even give an agents name. What great exposure on your cities busy street and all they see is "open house"!

Hi Jim,

Those are some great tips on using email. I use gmail or branded email from my domains for my business. I like gmail so much that I've ported many of my branded domain email accounts to google apps so that I have my branding in place but all of the functionality, backup, etc of gmail.

Great Tip Jim,I recently discoverd this my self. now I own my domain as well.

Only been in the business three years..

Very timely and important post. Thanks!

Jim, thank you for this insight, these are great strategies! I do exactly what you suggest: (1) I use my Realtor.com email for real estate advertising; (2) I own my own domain name that I use for all regular email; and (3) I have a freebie account at mail.com that I use when signing up for spam offers.

Your blog post is now FEATURED on our group, http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice . We're looking forward to having you aboard as our new moderator!!!

Regina P. Brown

I don't compete with a celebrity, but a law. Amy's Law. There are many, many google pages about this law. Oh well. So, I went with AmyLawRealtor.com. Hopefully content, key words and google searches will link people to it. Also, direct marketing. I haven't switched my email to this domain, though. I will work on that. I have found microsoft office live to be a great place to buy domains and build websites. It was easy for me.

Jim,

This is an excellent summary and you mention all the reasons why something can go wrong.

Recently, our broker changed affiliation from Coldwell Banker to Royal LePage, and everyone who had a Coldwell Banker e-mail lost their identity.

And, I forgot to reserve my name as a domain name. I checked it every month for years. Then, about a month before I needed it, I checked and it was gone.

Brian

I disagree on a few points but agree with most everything else. There is nothing worse than any business and/or any professional person using the regular ISP email address, or worse yet, hotmail, yahoo, gmail, etc. as their primary business email address. For other purposes as subscribing to info on the net, free trials/signups etc those are perfectly fine as you are using them, but for anybody using those as a primary business email address, that is a huge no-no. I simply do not take seriously any professional or business who has their email address as pookie23@hotmail.com or even littlerockrealtor@yahoo.com for example. It's ridiculous and makes someone look very amateurish, in my opinion. Some email addresses of people in business makes my jaw drop sometimes.

Back in the late 90s, I domained every one of my family member's names including my own. Due to my name is somewhat of a famous name, I couldn't get the dot com names for my name but I did get a .net and another two decent .com names for myself. My wife and kids I acquired their names dot com luckily. For example, if my son's name is John Smith, I domained johnsmith.com. I didn't bother with the .net domains as much because .com is what you want if you can get it. Over ten years later, I am so glad I did that. One of the names I have belongs to one of my children, is very common, short and sweet, and dot com. I have on two occcassions turned down offers of $2500 and $5000 for the domain. Coincidentally, both people who offered were both real estate agents in other states who had that name and wanted it. The one who offered me $2500 actually got mad at me for not selling it to him because I had the nerve to keep it for a child who at the time wasn't even in grade school yet and he was a professional adult and felt entitled to it! I politely told him to get lost, and if he wants it that bad, the price for him was now $250,000. Never heard from him again. The $5000 offer was made to me in 2008.

The point is, all common names are long gone and have been for years, and there's a reason for it. They have value and are highly sought out. Also, the shorter the dot com name, the better. There is no value and nobody wants to type out john@johnrobertsonlakehavasucityrealestate.com, however you don't want lkhavcityre.com either. The challenge is finding anything good today that is short and sweet and is dot com.

Just my two cents.

Regina, thanks for the Feature and selecting me to help moderate the Virtual Office group. Keep in mind that your Realtor.com email address will disappear the day you decide to quite paying them to advertise there however! I need to add that to my list of email mistakes.

Amy, how about branding due to the ties to "Amy's Law" instead of fighting it? I would play off that name recognition and write blogs about Amy's Law in your area so if someone Google's it, they will also find you!

Here is the link to the discounted EPRO class: http://jimpaulson.epronar.com/eprosignup.asp My trainer code for the additional discount is: 9791

Also, for domain names starting at only $9.95 for your own .com:

http://www.securepaynet.net/default.aspx?prog_id=441341

>>AmyLawRealtor.com

You can't do that because the term "realtor" is trademarked. The NAR has strict rules regarding using "realtor" or "realtors" in domain names, and we're not allowed to do it that way.

URL's are so inexpensive these days, I do not understand why more Realtors do not own their own domains. I use an email with the group I work with, but also own several others as well. They all feed into my Outlook. Everyone has their own way of doing things, but I never liked using a Gmail or Yahoo account for business purposes. Like I said, we each have our own way of doing things, but that is my opinion on the subject.

Personally I did not think much about it but I set up my email as clarksells@telus.net telus is the company that has been around in our area for a while it is one of the big players so I thouight it would be safe. then to make it easier for clients I give them my other email address which is

clarkh@remax.net my first address just shoot all my emails to this address. So clarkh@remax.net is really clarksells@telus.net

I am so glad I got my name domain 10 years ago

Good post. I got to admit that I've never really pushed the me@domain.com because I liked my c21 account. But, after reading this, and some of the comments, it's definitely time to reconsider.

To Raymond Denton:

Actually, Amy can use that as long as she maintains her affiliation as a REALTOR®. Her name is Amy Law, and she is a REALTOR®, so AmyLawRealtor.com is okay. Now, if Amy chose "YourHoustonRealtor.com" it would a violation of the REALTOR® trademark, as Amy isn't the only Houston area REALTOR® in the area.

Sorry to butt in on that one, Jim. Just thought a correction was in order.

Suggest that people get their own domain -- whatever they choose it to be -- and then the e-mail address can be theirs forever -- even when they change companies.

We have had our own email domain name for at least nine years now. Would not consider any other name. Emails coming from folks who call themselves professional yet use @yahoo.com, @hotmail.com, @msn,com, especially @aol.com, etc, always look cheap to me and leave me with a verybad first impression of the sender.

Jim, Thanks for sharing your experiences and suggestions.

I agree. That's why I've had Tim@HomeAtlanta.com since I began. It's simple. No dots between names. Really hard to misspell. It's a .com.

I wanted to be sure about the use of Realtor in your domain and/or email address, so I just downloaded "On your mark - a trademark pocket reference for members" via the Right Tools Right Now part of Realtor.org It provides two exceptions allowing the use:

to identify a member (e.g. johndoerealtor.com or realtorjohndoe.com)
with a member's firm name (e.g. xyzcompanyrealtors.com)

You are not allowed to use descriptive words (including geographic) or phrases however!

Great topic. At least we gotten away from the days of the cutsie email. Remember when email first began people came up with cutsie emails because they were afraid to use their names?

I think its great to use your domain as your email. my domain is Israelhunter.com however i still have not set it up yet. Mostly because my people frequently spell my first name wrong. Of course I am still using my first name in all my other emails too. I am using the email provided by my company israel@platinumbrokers.com and it filters into my other email.

Jim did you open a can of worms or what... I completely agree that you should have your own domain. It has biten me on the tail a few times with using the companies email address. I am a fan of the info@domain.com such as my email is info@loanidaho.com as well as info@idahovahomeloans.com The challenge in SEO purposes is to have keywords in your domain. But would highly recommend to anyone to go and get your own domain even if you can't have a website at least use it for email Great post Jim!

Great idea. I own a url and should definitely change my email to one that is mine - donna@findyourhomeli has a nice ring to it.

Personally, I think that it is best to own yor own domain name versus going with a company name, unless, of course, you own the company :)

Good post. I have a slew of them, too, but have always focused on one main email address that goes with my domain name. Go figure, last week the Web Provider had a major email problems and all emails were suspended a few days.

Mark,

I made the mistake of using the company email address and phone number of a company I owned. Doing so made it impossible to sell the company when we decided to downsize. I would have lost much of my personal business as a result. In the end I decided not to sell even though the agents wanted to keep the company intact. 35 agents had to go to new brokerages and I lost the potential revenue from the sale.

Lesson learned--always have an exit strategy.

Tom

Couldn't agree more!

If I was your new email address, I wouldn't trust you! I agree 100% with your post, and I think it brings out a good point that many people don't consider. Thanks for sharing.

Another benefit of multiple email addresses is that you can set up different customized email responders to each. (I live on my computers and PDA so I don't have auto responders set up) However, JimPaulson@GoOwnIt.com could be personal; Broker@GoOwnIt.com could be professional, info@GoOwnIt.com could have a bunch of links, etc. Also, if you own your domain, you can have unique emails to each of your marketing segments: newspaperad@; flyer@; MLS@; etc.

The sky is the limit on how far you want to take it!

Be careful of a name that can be taken out of context. For example, when if I saw an email from israel@platinumbrokers.com in post 41 above, I could accidentally delete it assuming someone is trying to sell me Platinum from Israel.

Try sending yourself some emails using capital letters to separate your words and see if it makes any difference. For example, with Corey's comments in #42 info@IdahoVAhomeLoans.com at least to me is easier to read and remember than info@idahovahomeloans.com I will need to try using different fonts and bold in my own emails to see what, if any, it makes in the delivery. I will let you know how it goes shortly!

I just sent emails to several of my accounts using a mix of font sizes, bold letters, italics, underlined, and capitalization. The only one that was partially messed up was the Italics to a hotmail account. It worked fine to Gmail.

JimPaulson@GoOwnIt.com
JimPaulson@GoOwnIt.com
JimPaulson@GoOwnIt.com
JimPaulson@GoOwnIt.com
jimpaulson@GoOwnIt.com
JimPaulson@GoOwnIt.com

The potential lesson here is to consider using different fonts to help people read and understand your email address. If it is too long and hard to remember, it won't be as effective. For example, isn't a phone number easier to remember with the "-"? I even went out and bought a vanity number to make it easier "1-877-Go-Own-It". Unless you find it easier to remember 18774669648.

Great post!!!! I have used my domain names for years for email (info@eNOVAHomes.com). Point2agent allows you to back up for emails.

Sorry about that I did not really mean to do the capital letters I just have a habit of it when it comes to the VA... There are plenty of .com's still available.

This is something I need to spend more time on. I own several domains, but don't have email set up under the domains.

Hi Jim -- I did what you suggest when I first got my own domain at the start, using my own name, then several years later when I started my own brokerage, I know use my brokerage name, so even with planning, things can still change! Yikes!

Great tips. One other thing is to pick a name that is easily remember or spell. The last thing you want is for someone who can't spell your name of your business correctly. I recently heard and advertisement on the radio for an energy company. They ad says "Go to Jaxsa (pronounced as Jack Sa, from what I can tell) Energy website" but it is actually spelled Gexa.

This is helpful information. I'm thankful I learned this early in my career. I establish my e-mail and my phone number upfront. Although I switch companies my clients are able to reach me.

I love using my first name at my name [dot] com. I've had it for several years. Easy for clients to remember... I also have a few other addresses...

Thanks for the strategy. I know I need to implement much of this. The one thing I never understood was people using their brokerage email address. What if they LEAVE their brokerage?

Makes sense. And, even if you mess up and do something insane like forget to renew your domain registration, having something portable that isn't hard to manipulate is good. I had william@williamsplaces.com; now, due to having lost that domain name, I simply changed the suffix to .net...and it works fine.

FEB

2010

So often we see Realtors using a e-mail address that make you think.. What are they thinking. I have seen a few wild ones such a poohbear@______________

I've had the same (main) email address since--GULP--1988. Same provider, and it's a small, local ISP. Of course, over the years I have added various Yahoo and Gmail addies that have to do with real estate or my other businesses. About five years ago I bought my own name as a .com, but have never activated the email feature. I actually have TOO MANY email addresses right now...can't remember to check half of them as it is!

This goes along with everything we hear about marketing - BRAND YOURSELF - so many agents don't take control of their business.... Great Post....

Good post and great advise. It is about the little things. You just don't know what will trigger your next deal

Tony

I made the mistake of using the company email, and it has been pretty reliable, howeve r there are times it doesnot work. I have since moved to gmail using Outlook. Thanks for the tip, I am now going to take that into consideration

Thanks for the idea today.

Patricia/Seacoast NH

Great post and ideas. I have done the same thing, using the company or the vender. Then when things change, uh-oh, you have to get a new email. Fortunately, I changed my e-mail prior to the changes happening. Your post is very helpful, especially to those getting into the business. Another option is not to use your imamom64@hotmail.com either. It should be professional and something that people remember.

Great post & definitely, email signatures is one of my hot buttoms

Seeing hotmail, gmail, or aol.com on an email address just reeks of unprofessionalism to me and I think a lot of other people feel that way too. Those email addresses are for teenagers to use or for your Facebook friends to contact you. Not for a professional. Definitely get your own domain name and your own personal email address with that domain. That puts you in control again.

Jim,

In a different vein we have used the e-mail alias support@ourdomain.com on our website for years. We find that people are much more comfortable contacting a "support" person. They tells us things they would never tell a Realtor.

I have committed these email faux pas as well. Now I own several domain names & my email will never be "owned" by any company that I work for. Big Box brokerages LIKE for agents to use their default email. Makes it easier to control your database after you are gone.

Good advice...thanks for the post

My broker is constantly complaining because I won't use a company/franchise email. A perfect example of why I don't, we are a GMAC company that is transitioning to Real Living. I have used the same primary email address since I began my career and have email addresses from each of my websites that "dump" into the primary so that I know where they came from without having to check so many accounts.

Great Blog!

Glad I took the epro course. I saw the need to change my email and did so just in case something happened with my company. It did they sold to a new owner, I did not like the way the new owners ran the business so I moved. Thank God I had changed my email address about 2 years before the move.

AMY,

You will soon or someday be getting notified from the National association of Realtors® that your use of the term Realtor®, in your email or domain is not allowed.....ask me how I found out.

They inform you in a no nonsense way...and they are deadly serious.

I have been using my own domain email for a few years now. I'm always uncomfortable when I email an offer to another agent's hotmail or yahoo account, wondering if they are actually going to recieve it or not.

Jim, how true!

@gmail.com; @hotmail.com; @yahoo.com and @aol.com screams- amateur!

I have had Clients actually tell they wouldn't work with Realtors, because they did not come off as a professional as the other person!

Your first impression now days is usually your email.

Also, you should try using s signature template- makes you look ultra professional and should be branded to look like your website!

I get at least 3-5 extra loans a year, because I hev presented myself better than the other lender!

Jim this is a very good point, you should never let the company control your email. I work for RE/MAX Metro but I let my RE/MAX Email forward to my own email. Also I agree that professionals should never use a generic email most email fileters block them anyways.

Thank you for the great post. You have answered a couple of questions for me. First, I did secure 10 domain names for my area but I have not used the email feature on any of them. I will do this immediately. Second, I do use my "coldwellbanker.com" email address on my cards. I too will stop using this on my next batch. One of the sites is www.trishoconnorrealtor.com I appreciate you clearing up the realtor part in your post.

I do include my personal web site information on the business cards. I have also considered adding my Facebook Page and my twitter name. What do you think about these ideas?

I also appreciate the good comments about the E-Pro. I have been considering this course and you have convinced me to go for it!

Keep posting these good thoughts for those of us that are fairly new to the business. They are extremely helpful.

Excerllent points. I have owned my own domain since day one and have complete control over my email. I also have control over the email for my buyer and listing agents.

Another thing to consider is getting control over your phone number. Are you being routed through the system at your office? What happens when you change to a new company? I will tell you, you old broker gets all of your leads!

52 = Cory, actually I promote using capital letters in email addresses to make it easier to read.

54 = Chris, you are right, the only thing constant in life is "Change"; but planning for it helps.

56 = Niema, phone numbers are equally important and the case for another blog. I only publish my cell number and my personal toll free number that I own and control.

59 = William, one trick I just learned is to post all your old email addresses (even the ones that don't work anymore) on your website so that if someone looks you up in their favorite search engine via email address (or old phone numbers) they can at least find you.

62 = Sonsie, I highly encourage you to consider forwarding your emails to a single destination like an Outlook account so you don't need to check multiple accounts all the time.

70 = Glenn, email aliases are a great yet under utilized tool. They can also be used to track effectiveness of advertising. I am just expanding further into using these and have 15 accounts set up for my company (i.e. Broker@; Jim@; Accounting@; JoinUs@ . . .).

71 = Jenna, you are so right. Even though I am not a Big Box Brokerage, I hope my Realtors don't read this post (grin).

As the technology for e-mail improves, older e-mail services are becoming obsolete. Some are even judged on their e-mail addresses and even dismiss people who use 'antiquated' e-mail services.

GMail lets you switch pretty easily, though: http://techcrunch.com/2009/05/13/stuck-on-hotmail-gmail-just-made-it-incredibly-easy-to-switch/

Too many e-mails can get burdensome, though and who knows what the "next" thing will be and end up replacing GMail?

Nick
(The DotLoop Team)

#73 = Lissa, keep your broker happy by using their email address for intra company emails and have it forwarded to your other email. That way, if you leave, you just loose their internal emails to help filter your inbox (grin).

#75 = Larry, thanks for trying to assist Amy with her email; however, based on what I read directly from NAR's website, she is fine since she met one of the two exemptions - it isn't a geographic or descriptive phrase (plus she is a Realtor). If I am wrong on this, please let me know; but I am pretty sure I am correct.

#77 = Ben, Thanks for bringing up email signatures. That is another task you learn via the EPRO classes. It is part of the "branding" many of the comments have brought up.

#78 = Alex, I am not sure about generic emails being blocked by filters. I think it appears that way since many spammers set up a gmail or hotmail type account to send spam from so that filter catches it due to being sent to multiple parties at the same time. However, since spammers use those, you be cautious that your important message could be considered Spam.

#79 = Trish, I would probably not suggest adding your facebook and twitter names on your business card. Those are great for follow up, but the KISS method (Keep it super simple) is generally best. Once you direct them to your website, have it offer links to the other methods!

#80 = Mark, you are right, controlling your number is critical as well. No one can control how your calls are being answered better than you can! It is hard for some over zealous floor agent, receptionist, etc., to redirect your call if they are never given the opportunity!

Great feedback and comments, thanks for engaging this post!

I have had my own domain email since getting in the business. I never would use a company email address.

Past clients can always find me as I have same cell, same email.

Owning your own domain is a must. I would not go any other way. Always own your own e-mail address. However, I never use my full name in the e-mail address. I actually want someone to contact me.

I have always had my account at yahoo for that very reason- it follows me anywhere I go. And on the hotmail.com email address- they will most likely continue to utilize it rather than loose all of their email users in the purchase- so I think you are safe there!

I agree with Michael and Aaron. One thing to consider, if you use sales@yourdomain.com, info@yourdomain.com, support@yourdomain.com, these pre-fixes are seen as very generic and certain email newsletter providers will not allow you to subscribe/import these in. Some financial institutions (Edward Jones Investments in particular) will not allow you to receive e-statements at those pre-fixes either. Typically multiple individuals have access to said generic email accounts and those accounts are more likely to flag approved email as spam.

great article. I am going through that now with time warner even upgrading my internet will cause me to lose my email address. What a joke.

Good points! I am a broker and don't require agents to use company emails although they are available at no charge.

I have been using yahoo accounts instead of Keller Williams for related reasons, but sometimes it freaks me out thinking what would happed if yahoo crashed...

I have my own domain, poconolandandhomes.com - it's all part of branding myself. Email: renee@poconolandandhomes.com It is what I do - sell land and homes in the Poconos. You are right on target. My email and my brand follow me where ever I go while working real estate and new home construction in the Poconos. I am an independent contractor, and I value "independent" highly ! :) Important too to identify what it is that you are in your domain name. Search engine friendly. You did a great job with this blog post. Thank you.

Good advice, it's definitely important to have your own domain for emails. Two other things I'd like to add (sorry, I didn't read through all 90 replies above so this might be redundant). First, consider buying similar domains as people may misspell or shorten words. For instance, my email domain includes the word "Northwest" but a number of individuals, I found out when I didn't get their emails, were shortening "Northwest" to "NW". So, when the "NW" version became available I bought it.

Second, be sure the server hosting your email domain isn't blacklisted. A server that my domain was hosted on got blacklisted by Yahoo so emails I sent to Yahoo addresses were going to Yahoo's junk mail folder. Unfortunately, the hosting company didn't do anything to resolve it or move me to a different server, so I had to switch hosting companies. Though, having your own server will help alleviate that issue.

I really don't think google is going anywhere. I use gmail and it's always been great for me. Everyday I hear about something else they are jumping into. I think it's a safe bet that they'll be around for the long haul.

email addresses are great little marketing tools. Thanks for blogging about this!

I think I do own my name, but never use it. I'll have to look at that once again. I just wish it was catchier. My daughter's friends call me JoMama. What do you think of that? (JK!!)

This is good stuff Jim. I never gave it much thought because I do not move around much. And I do like Go Daddy.

FEB

2010

Here's the reference: http://www.realtor.org/letterlw.nsf/pages/mmmPartTwo#TwoIII

"3. For use as a domain name or e-mail address on the Internet the term REALTOR^® does not need to be separated from the member's name or firm name with punctuation. For example, both johndoe-realtor.com and johndoerealtor.com would be correct uses of the term as a part of domain names and jdoe*realtors@webnetservices.com and jdoerealtors@webnetservices.com are both correct uses of the term as part of an e-mail address."

It appears that tombranchrealtor.com would be an acceptable domain name as long as I remain a member of NAR. On the other hand, bestrealtorinplano.com or yourplanorealtor.com would violate NAR trademark usage rules.

Tom

Because I write marketing copy for a number of real estate professionals, I see a lot of email addresses, and am always amazed when people who own their own domains don't use an email address associated with that domain.

To my way of thinking, an address that is you@yourowndomain appears to be more "permanent" and professional than you@gmail or you@yahoo. Those addresses always look to me like someone who is hiding or who doesn't plan to be around for long. I know that's silly, but that's how it hits me. I do have a gmail account, but forget to go check it. I mainly use it like you use your cableone address.

Jim - A really useful post. I have one of those famous names so could not get my own dot.com. But I did get my name with "RE" added after it - trying to keep it as short as possible.

In place of these beginnings sales@yourdomain.com, info@yourdomain.com, support@yourdomain.com, what about trishsells@, asktrish@ and trishhelps@

Sorry, I am stumped for a support change.

Thanks again for the post. I have made many notes from the discussions.

Boy, you have made alot of blunders! I recently decided to keep the ReMax mail out of everything so that I would always have control after they had some system problems. Now they are all mine. GoDaddy offers the service so cheaply, why not just do it.

#82 = Nick, Google has made it easy to convert since they love the ad revenue from their free email accounts.

#85 = Gene, I am not sure what you meant by not including your full name in your email. I understood your comment to imply including it is a disincentive to people contacting you. Please explain in greater details. Your last name is a bit unique so would be hard for most to spell so Gene@ is probably best.

#87 = Brian, I was not aware that some companies wouldn't allow emails to names like Sales@, info@., I wonder why that matters to them?

#90 = Dana, you made me think about a major email crash regardless if it is Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail or private domains. I would probably be nice to be able to have a backup plan (maybe doing a partial conversion is possible to a Gmail account or import into Outlook so you can switch at will if (or should I say when) your primary one crashes.

#91 = Renee, Thanks. I was going to suggest you also buy PoconoHomesandLand.com but I checked and it is already taken.

#92 = Ben, great suggestions on buying variations on the domains. Do you have any idea how to check if a server is blacklisted prior to committing? BTW, I hope you have met my brother (John Paulson) or his son (Jessie Paulson) in the Seattle area via successful closings! They are with RE/MAX.

#95 = Joetta, I must admit personally I wouldn't use "JoMoma" but then again I wouldn't have invested in the Pet Rock fad either. It could prove to be a unique niche, but I would do that totally separate in case it didn't work. My brother in Kennewick, Washington used to have "Insurance Guy" as his Job Title and his clients loved it. Corporate had a different opinion! Therefore, him and a partner started their own company and now he is on a cruise in Mexico somewhere as I type this.

#96 = Wayne, I think you might have had a better reply to #95. Who would have selected "Go Daddy" as a name and yet their company kicks mine in sales volume! Joetta, I thought of your new slogan "If you got a real estate question, just ask JoMoma"!

#97 = Tom, thanks for taking the time to pull and post the link and summary!

#98 = Marta, Maybe the solution is to just prepare packages with domains and Realtor based emails and forward them to peoples current providers. I can have them set up that way in just few minutes and could charge $20 for the service on top of buying the domain name and hosting. I think that will be tonights late night project!

#99 = Margaret, I was curious why your company name has an extra "e" in their name. I thought it was a typo, but evidently not.

#100 = Trish, thanks for being my 100th post! Yes, you could use different emails in your website and marketing so you can track which one triggered their responses.

#101 = Lyn, yes I have made my share of mistakes in 19 years as a Realtor; however if I take just the ones I admitted to here in this post divided by 19 years it doesn't look as bad (grin). I remember going to a seminar probably 17 years ago and they instructor said "If only they knew how little I know"! Part of being a Realtor is helping our profession, so I have no problem pointing out what I have learned the hard way so others don't have to!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your input so far!
Jim

FEB

2010

This is great insight into our email addresses. I will certainly give it some thought, but I did have enough foresight to never advertise my "company" email address. I've been through 3 companies, now, and I never thought I would leave any of them! Your friend Jack/John freaks me out a little -- I had a buyer client once who did the same thing!

#104 = Nicole, I finally figured out how to deal with Jack/John; I just call him by his last name since is both a friend and a business associate so I cover both bases. He may get mad at me for messing with his system though (grin). I should have used what I learned at my wedding in my real estate marketing (people that call me Jimmy are friends from my childhood; people that call me James really don't know me; and people that called me Jim even though my invitations said James, were my friends.

FEB

2010

I wouldn't ever use a brokerage server for my emails, no way! I currently use gmail, but I like the idea of using one or more of my domains for email. I just have several websites though for different areas up here, so it would mean different sets of business cards.

FEB

2010

I'm so confused!

I have 2 different email addresses thru my brokerage. I have "thought" lightly about getting my own domain name, but I'm not sure how to convert my emails over & not get customers/clients confused over how to reach me.

Dazed & confused....

Dawn, you can gradually convert them over. Typically, you can just forward them to your new account and put an autoresponder on your emails that your new address is ...

Think of it like your clients doing a change of address notice to their friends and family.

FEB

2010

I have the same problem with MyName.com because it is way too common. I was able to get mattrobinson.org and mattrobinson.biz, but .com was taken way long ago. I bet that guy gets sooooooooo tired of getting my e-mails, because I have people all the time telling me they sent it to myname.com.

FEB

2010

You said it, Jim.

We have different e-mail addresses, but our main one is for me, Sold@BevAndBobHomes.com and my hubby is Bought@BevAndBobHomes.com

We have to use every space and every moment to promote ourselves.

Exhausting sometimes but essential all the time.

FEB

2010

I like your post and it is great to read all the responses. I have my own domain name as RealtorGaryPike.com and as long as stay a member of the NAR I can continue to use it. Once I leave that affiliation I must stop using it as it will be a trademark infringement.

However, I also use a gmail account since they have some pretty nice features that seem to just get better all the time, ie Docs. While some may say it is unprofessional to use a gmail email account if they keep expanding what their system will do I will continue to push forward using it. It is also very doubtful that Google will go away anytime soon, which I can't say about my Brokers in this environment.

MAR

I really liked your blog quite informative and interesting facts and figures you have discussed on your blog even the comments are very fruitful and helpful in enhancing the knowledge regarding the topic.

JUN

@Matt, there is another Jim Paulson that is a Realtor and we talk about getting each others data on occaision. On Facebook I had a lot of fun "friending" other Jim Paulson's around the country. I have fun with some of them that have distinctly different heritage and skin tones than myself with our comments about family.

@Beverly, I guess you better not get a divorce or plan on buying "BevAndMyExBobHomes.com" LOL

@Gary, Great point on the use of the word Realtor in your email.

@Dell, thanks!

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Jim Paulson (Owner/Broker)

Boise, ID

More about me…

Progressive Realty (Boise Idaho) www.Progressive-Realty.info

Address: Boise, ID

Office Phone: (877) 466-9648

Cell Phone: (208) 573-0471

Email Me

Jim Paulson is currently the Past President of the Ada County Association of Realtors. I try to use this experience coupled with my 20 years being a licensed Realtor to help bring you relevant information and hopefully an occasional thought provoking idea or two. I am a member of the Greater Boise Chamber of Commerce and and Accredited business with the Better Business Bureau. I can help with Idaho Foreclosures, Boise Idaho Short Sales, building a new home, or even using First time home buyer grants and niche lending prodcuts to buy or strategically sell homes. I am here for your real estate marketing needs! http://www.IdahoMLStours.com Http://www.Progressive-Realty.info Virtual Tour Inventory Widget

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