Which company would you choose when giving someone the keys to your home jon@prodogwalks.com or mrwigglebutt234@gmail.com? A branded email address goes a long way to cultivating an image of professionalism.
A Branded Email Address Projects Professionalism
In a recent survey by Verisign, 65 percent of those surveyed believe a professionally branded email is more credible than a free email account. That's a lot of potential customers! In a separate article from dog*biz, they advise pet sitters to "act like you've already made it". While a free email address may be convenient to get set up, it can project inexperience or worse. People may not believe you're a real company! A branded email address says, "we're serious about our business."
A Custom Email Awareness for Your Brand
Marketing is all about building brand awareness and invoking an emotional response. For pet sitters, you want people to trust you with access to their home and pets. While mrwigglebutt234@gmail.com might be cute, no one is going to associate that with your business. Most people type your email in once and then never think of it again.
Imagine you're a pet owner and Jon from Pro Dog Walks has been doing a great job. Your nearby neighbor just got a dog and in passing asks who you use for dog walking. Would you rather they say "Just email jon@prodogwalks.com," or "I don't remember, I think it was mrwigglesomething@gmail.com?" Personally, I don't want to miss that referral opportunity because my email doesn't match my company name.
Growing your business is all about having a professional appearance, and making it easy for potential customers to make contact. Even if it seems like small potatoes, having an email address that matches your company name and website is important to your success. At both Scout and Walk It Like a Dog, we use Google's G Suite (20% off the first year with this link). It's easy to set up and only $5 a month per user. In addition to email, you get access to a ton of other business features such as Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Calendar.
