Going Pro - Email for Beginners
One of the most important things in business communication is building trust and a professional email address will go a long way as a starting point. Most business communication these days is via email, so it’s important to project a good image.
If you’re in business, or you’re starting one, chances are you’re on the internet for email, research, industry news, etc. Perhaps you’ve taken the first step in “staking your claim” in the “world wild west” and have even registered a domain name.
If you currently use the email address given to you by your ISP or even a Hotmail or Gmail address with your business name in it (eg: matildasflowers@hotmail.com), then it’s time to take your email seriously and take it to the next level, ie: info@matildasflowers.co.nz.
This means Matilda will not only have secured a domain name that she can use as a website address, but she can use it in her email address and it will instantly make her business look much more dependable and stable. Plus, her email address will be consistent with her other branding.
Taking the next step and registering a domain name is not only one of the best things you can do to give yourself more a professional image but it will also allow you to create multiple email accounts for different roles within your organisation, such as accounts@matildasflowers.co.nz – this account can even be set-up on a separate computer, one that the book-keeper can use.
Email Accounts can be set-up in different ways to accommodate different ways of working, we’ll look at that in another post.
But for now here’s what we’ve talked about
- A domain name secures your place on the web and allows you to park a website
- A domain name allows you to set-up professional email accounts for consistency, professionalism and credibility
- Multiple Accounts for various roles can be set-up
- Email Accounts can be configured differently depending on how many computers and mobile devices you have and would like to use.
POP and IMAP Email
In a previous post we talked about POP versus IMAP email accounts. Many people are unsure of the difference, so let’s have a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of both.
What is POP?
POP (Post Office Protocol) is the system that most people use in business. POP works similar to the standard postal system; when a letter is sent, it is transferred from the mail depot to your letterbox. Similarly with POP, when you click ‘send and receive' on your email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird, your email is transferred from the server to your computer.
What is IMAP?
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a growing alternative to POP email for business owners. While POP emails are downloaded onto your computer, IMAP emails are stored on an email server and accessed via the Internet. With IMAP, you can access your email from anywhere that has an Internet connection.
Which one is best for me?
An advantage of IMAP email is that you have no issues with storage space, because your emails are not stored on your computer. And because messages are stored on the server, they won’t be affected if your hard drive crashes.
Yet another advantage of IMAP email is that changes are synced when using multiple computers. This is not the case with POP; for example, if you access your email from a different computer or mobile device, any changes you make – deleting, reading, or sorting emails – will not be synced with your email account. So when you log back into your email from a different location, you will need to re-read, delete and sort those messages, which can be very frustrating. With IMAP, any changes you make will sync back to the server, and will remain the same no matter where or how you access your email account.
A disadvantage of IMAP is that you need to be connected to the Internet to access your emails. But with POP, you can read your email even when you are not connected to the Internet, because the email files have already been downloaded to your computer when you hit send and receive earlier.
Although most people will be using POP email already, IMAP is best for people who have multiple computers and need to check messages on the go, or those who have wireless cards or broadband.
If you'd like to know more about POP or IMAP and which one would work best for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch.