Business Basics: Part One — Email
Thanks to all of your hustle, sleepless nights, and tears of frustration, you’re venture is growing — CONGRATULATIONS!! Now that you have a moment to breathe, let’s review a few of the foundational basics for a growing business.
Must Have — Business Email Address
First of all, may we please take a moment to say goodbye to your email address? While I know that it has been with you through school, relationships, breakups, and starting your adventure, but it’s time. If it ends with Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Me, or heaven forbid, AOL, it has to go. Your customers are judging you.
Most noteworthy, according to the Association for Psychological Science, a person judges you in 1/10th of a second. Consequently, when a potential customer sees your email address, they immediately decide if you are a “business”, or a person dabbling in a side hustle. Therefore, first impressions matter.
My top picks:
GSuite for $5/Month (Try it free for 14 days)
Business email through Gmail (example: name@yourcompany.com)
Video and voice conferencing
Secure team messaging
Shared calendars
Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations
30GB cloud storage
24/7 support by phone, email, and online
Security and administration controls
Alert center for GSuite
GoDaddy for $4.99/Month
Domain-based email (example: name@yourcompany.com)
5GB storage for email, contacts and calendars
Sync across all devices
Shared online calendars
Up to 400 email aliases
24/7 support
30-day money back guarantee
Must Have — Email Alias
As a result, most business email providers allow alias email addresses (a forwarding email address). They are a massive asset to a small business. Aliases allow you to route emails to multiple groups, or to help create the basic email accounts while you grow.
PERK: All aliases are owned by the company. Why does that matter, you ask? There is not much more painful than changing an employee’s personalized email address with hundreds of vendors, customers, etc. As a result, skip the pain, and have the alias be your “catch-all”.
Here are a few ways aliases can be created and used:
firstname@yourcompany.com: This will be your primary email address. Depending on the number of employees you plan to have, I recommend keeping it simple (firstname@yourcompany.com). If your business model is to employee 50+, you will want to create accounts using full names (firstname.lastname@yourcompany.com).
sales@yourcompany.com: This email will be routed to everyone on your sales team. In the beginning, you may not have a “Sales Department” to route this alias to, so I would recommend having it forward to your business e-mail.
help@yourcompany.com: This email will be routed to everyone on your customer service team.
accounting@yourcompany.com: This email will be routed to your accountant and/or bookkeeper.
QUICK TIP: When replying to an email alias, make sure to reply from that alias versus your personal email. Above all, make sure the customer knows that you have separate departments for their needs (and that the owner will NOT be replying to all of their emails!!).
Must Have — Email Signature
“The email signature is the most neglected business opportunity in daily communications.” — Criminally Prolific. Therefore, if you do not have a creative email signature, stop what you are doing, and create one now. Because it is literally a business card in every email you send. Again, first impressions matter.
Here are my top picks:
The Société: If you are a member of the Société Socialites, post in the group asking for a kick-@ss graphic designer to help create your custom email signature. Search for an email signature you like, screenshot it, and send it to your new best friend. Once you have the .jpg of your signature, embed it into ALL of your outgoing emails, and link the .jpg to your website.
Fiverr: They will create your email signature, and email it back to you for proof/approval for a one time fee.
WiseStamp: User-friendly interface allows you to create and edit your own email signature. They offer free and annual fee options.
Finally, if you are a member of The Société, and are interested in helping BossBabes create a kick-@ss email signature, please share this article with your information. Another way to promote your services is to post your details in the comments below.
Also, watch for the next article in this series: Business Basics: Part Two — Website
REPOSTED FROM BOSSBABE
Joining as a Contributor to #BossBabe, is multi-business owner, #Forbes Contributor, #InmanNews Author & #TomFerry Business Coach, Stephanie Arnett. While managing three companies is demanding, she loves the challenges, teamwork and growth. As a wife, mom & entrepreneur, she knows all about being the kid’s taxi, husband’s side-kick & maneuvering employee meltdowns. Stephanie is passionate about empowering women through self-defense, time management and business skills.
