A Professional Email Account Adds Credibility

Notice to all “Professional” Service Providers, Executive Recruiters, etc. that contact me… I do not take you seriously if you contact me with your @aol.com, @gmail.com, @hotmail.com, @comcast.com, @verizon.net, etc. accounts.

I don’t care if you have the most amazing offer, you’ve place doubt in my mind about your credibility as a real business. So I delete your messages, unopened.

Why? Simply put, I don’t have the time. Nor do many others like me.

Here’s what you need to do:

• If you managed to register a domain name and build a website, there’s no excuse for you not to have an email address with that same domain name.
• Contact your registrar for help.
• Search for do-it-yourself solutions like Google Apps and follow the instructions.
• Hire a consultant who can have you up and running in a few hours.

Your professional email address is an extension of your personal and business brand. While it is one minor piece of your overall marketing effort, it’s part of your first contact with a prospect. Get it right and reduce one more barrier to a great conversation.

Thoughts?

Direct Email: With or Without Images?

Isn’t it better to do a little more work to reach the consumer how they want to be communicated to?

I was reading a thread online where the original poster questioned the effectiveness of HTML emails. “I’ve begun to minimize the graphical elements to try to minimize the big “X’s” that are displayed if a person does not download the graphics.”

A half-dozen responders affirmed/advised to steer clear of publishing HTML emails and including images.

Professionally, I disagree with that opinion and consider that a sloppy marketing approach. Why dumb down your message in the hopes of increasing reach?

In tests I’ve been involved with, HTML emails continue to have better click-thru performance than text. But admittedly in order to take into account consumers viewing email on mobile devices, we should continue to push both. A few more suggestions:

• Publish both HTML and text format so the email client can decide which to accept. A reputable email service should provide send options for HTML, text and AOL.
• Keep header images thin vertically. Nothing is more unattractive than a 600×800 pixel placeholder when image blocking is on.
• Overall, keep your design simple, put emphasis on a compelling call-to-action and minimize distractions.
• Use descriptive ALT tags and link titles.
• Push one or more tests to accounts you have on Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc. Then check how your messages look in webmail, Outlook, Outlook Express, Apple Safari and Thunderbird.

That’s just a short list. I’ve talked about more in my Ten Email Marketing Best Practices video.

I hope you find this useful. What’s your experience?
-Roland

Worthwhile Reading – Week Ending 04/20/2008

Here are some topics of interest I’ve read in the past week. Definitely worth your time to read. Read more

Ten Email Marketing Best Practices

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

In this screencast, learn ten tips for successful email marketing. Read more