The importance of an appropriate email address cannot be over emphasised. An inappropriate email address will most certainly turn some clients away. An inappropriate email address in this case, is an address which should only be used for a personal email account. It is one which says nothing about your business, or service. Now, you've probably had that Hotmail or Yahoo account for years and are quite attached to it. That's OK, you can keep it and use it as your primary email account. However, super_junk1980@yahoo.co.uk or mr.chuckles.76@Gmail.com is not something you should see on a hypnotherapy business card. JohnSmyth@hotmail.com or OldTownHypnosis@Gmail.com is much more professional. Your name, or your business name are the ideal target email addresses.

 

The best option is to get a website up and running and use the domain name as your email address. So if you own www.JohnSmythHypnotherapy.com you are usually supplied with a free, or heavily discounted email account. You can then register John@JohnSmythHypnotherapy.com or info@JohnSmythHypnotherapy.com; whatever your preference is.

 

Another great thing about email, is the fact that you do not have to check all your email accounts separately. You can change your email settings to forward incoming mail to your usual personal email account. So you can check your normal email account on Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail etc etc. Any mail sent to your hypnotherapy email account will have been copied and forwarded to your preferred email account. You can also set up SMTP Protocols on your phone, or PC to directly login to your business email just like you do with Gmail, or Outlook. Your phone, or hosting provider should be able to help you here. Remember to reply from your business email if you are using an email forwarding function. Imagine sending an email to info@OldTownHypnotherapy.com only to receive a reply from irish_hero86@yahoo.com. Always be sure where you are replying from.

 

You don't need a website to avail of a professional email address. If you simply register a domain name, you can use the email facilities which usually come with the domain. This is a cheap option from as little as about €5 per year for .com/.net/.org etc etc. The .ie domains cost around €25 per year. Paying above this is excessive. Shop around and be sure that an email account is included in the price, because some companies will request that you purchase email as an extra (especially the ".ie" resellers). You need to show that you have a genuine reason to register a .ie domain. A company registration certificate is ideal but may not be necessary depending on the chosen domain name.