You’re driving along and you see a nicely branded van.

Very clear messaging, lovely graphics and you know exactly what the service is.

There’s even a domain name!

 

And then, there it is, the ever-present abomination that is the  @gmail address.  Instant fail.

 

Why?  Why in the name of all the deities (if you subscribe to them) would you go to all that effort and then look like a complete amateur by having a Gmail address ?

You have a domain name, USE it.   In the examples below, who would you consider buying from;

 

 

I see countless businesses “promoting” themselves this way. Do NOT use a Gmail address.

A domain name will cost you from €8.00 / year.  How many coffees do you drink in a week ?

 

I understand the argument that people have had their gmail for years. There are ways to keep using that address and phase in one that uses your domain name or alternatively keep using the gmail account but “mask” the sender with your cool shiny new email address at your very own domain name.

Any decent hosting company will advise on how you can do this.*

 

So PLEASE, don’t waste all that work done on creating your brand and then kick it in the teeth with an @gmail address.

If you have any questions on the above please feel free to comment and I’ll be more than happy to help.

 

I’d be interested to hear if you’ve ever changed your mind based on someone not having a “proper” email address.

 

P.S.

 

*Any connection to real plumbers called Peter is purely by chance.

*Disclaimer: I work for Blacknight. This is not a sales pitch. It’s a HUGE pet peeve of mine 🙂

** A valuable contribution by @donenda