Recipients will judge you based on your email content and address. Here are some thoughts that will probably come to mind when they receive a ‘business’ email using a Gmail account:

• Why are they using a free Gmail account? Is this even a legit business?
• If this company will not invest in a proper email address, do they have the funds to sustain their business?
• I wonder if the owner is taking his business seriously.
• The brand must not be very profitable. The quality is probably not good.

Are these doubts and impressions what you want to communicate to your stakeholders? When you meet business partners for the first time, you want to do your best to project an aura of professionalism. From your attire and handshake to the way you walk, you consciously make an effort to exude credibility, as you know how much people value that quality in a business partner.

Your email address and content should receive that same level of attention from you too, as they represent ‘how you look’ in the online world. An email address that clearly shows who you are and what company you represent instantly makes you appear credible and professional to the recipient.

An email account contains valuable information- email addresses of contacts, agreements with business partners, history and progress of projects, negotiations with suppliers. These are confidential business information that you want to protect as best as you can.

Unfortunately, using a Gmail account can make that extra challenging for you. If you have a team member using Gmail, you do not have any control on when he changes the password to his email. If he leaves the company, you will have to trust that he does his part in deleting his account or that he doesn’t use it to communicate with your company’s customers or suppliers.

In case issues arise about an employee, you will not be able to check his email correspondence. This might put your business relationships in jeopardy- something that you should never, ever risk.

Your Brand is more than you think

Remember that your brand is more than its name, logo and the tagline, but a bigger part of it is the set of emotions and thoughts that people associate with it- how they feel about your brand. Every email message you send out is a chance to market your brand, so make each one count. Well-designed emails that clearly shows that you put effort and care into them will send a message that is more than the words they contain.

For an email to be an effective marketing tool, it has to match your company’s personality and image. It is wise to integrate your brand’s logo and colors to your email messages to make them more memorable.

Unfortunately, playing with your email’s design is not something that you can do with Gmail. If you choose to stick with Gmail for your business email address, you would have to make do with their limitations and generic design.

A generic email conveys inexperience, while a branded email communicates competence and tells the recipient that your brand is established, unique and qualified.

These problems are not only exclusive to Gmail, but you will most probably encounter the same issues with any free email provider. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. The good news is that setting up your branded email address does not have to be costly or complicated.

Here, we share with you where to get your free business email address and how to set it up. The bottom line is that you need a company email address. It is one of the best investments you can make- no matter the size and type of business you have.