Why is email important for small businesses?
In today’s crazy web world it is important for a small business to maintain an email address. Going beyond social media (which is a wonderful way to share ideas and promote your business) an emailaddress allows customers, employees, and potential customers to keep in contact with you directly. It also serves as a useful marketing tool for your business.
Use your domain!
Too many businesses loose business through email. Some of the keys to this is branding, being organized and maintaining communication with customers, partners, and those that could be either in the future.
The first step was a website. By securing a specified domain (mybusiness.com) this is the key to business identity. Once you buy a domain for a website, that same domain can be used for email purposes as well. This way you are always linked to your website and your online identity.
The second is keeping and maintaining updated contact lists. As any business networks, email addressees should be saved and stored for future mailings. The more you network, the more you can expand this list, and ultimately the more people are exposed to your business! Another way of expanding this list is to provide places for people to opt-in to your email list. Generally those who subscribe to your email contact list are among the most knowledgeable, loyal, and vocal members of your customer base. It is important to maintain these connections!
The third is being organized and being efficient in your emails. Though email is a simple way to maintain open communication with your clients, it can be greatly over, and under used. Emails should generally be responded to within 24 hours. So making sure someone is able to respond efficiently is important, but in the other direction SPAM is bad. TOO many emails can make your customers leave faster then going out of business.
How can I set up my company email?
Yes- there are many free tools out there that you can use for email. Beyond the simple sites Hotmail, googles gmail, and AOL. However, it is important to use the domain name you used for your website also as part of your email. So when you purchase hosting, many places offer free webmail. Using this method you have the security of knowing that you will be identified as the business. Using this webmail platform you can connected it to Outlook, Mac Mail, or whatever mail program you enjoy using! (Even your gmail can be set up so that you can write and reply via your business.com email.)
Now that you have an email, you can market your business and stay in contact with the public, you now possess a great tool to help your business grow! If you need help setting up email, or have questions on how to keep your emails organized please feel free to contact us below!
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