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.
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