How to Make a Professional Email Address

Creating a professional email address is crucial to first impressions.

Your email address conveys a direct reflection of yourself. It tells the recipient who you are and represents how you handle yourself in a professional environment. The email address will convey your attention to detail as it will manifest in your application of skills, knowledge and abilities. Often overlooked, the email address often conveys a first impression about your priorities, and when using your email address for business correspondence, job searches or educational inquires, it may mean the difference between a favorable response and no response at all. Following a few simple steps will put you on the right path to creating a professional email address that will help polish your image and convey the right first impression.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• Internet access
• Web domain and/or email provider

Instructions

1. Create an email address that takes into account all four aspects of an email address. These aspects include the username, the "@" sign, your domain and your domain extension, such as ".com."

   Your username will define you and who you are. The best option is to define a professional address as "firstname.lastname." The domain should incorporate business or your profession. Your extension should be a .com or a .org address if possible, as they the ones the public is most familiar with, followed by .info, .net or .us if in the United States.

2. Research professional email service providers that offer domains and email services attached to those domains. Most providers offer very similar services with similar pricing; you will want to select one that offers established services rather than a provider only on the market for a short time. You want to ensure your domain and email offer reliability not only for yourself, but also for those with whom you communicate. Settle on a provider you feel most comfortable with and purchase your domain and email services.

3. Set up your email account once your provider confirms your domain is active. Set up your email address to read [e-mail] (or some variant). Your email service provider will provide you with detailed instructions to set up your domain and email account. Ensure you follow those instructions to get yourself up and running correctly.

4. Set up your email so that instead of your address, your name is shown in the "From" field of your outgoing emails. This helps people to determine who you are without having to read the email. You should use your full name such as "Kenneth W. Wills" and never just your first name.

Tips & Warnings

• Refrain from using nicknames such as "partygirl2012" or anything of the sort.

References

• Productivity 501: Creating a Professional Email Address
• University of Wisconsin: Professional Email Etiquette
• GC Web: Professional Email Address

Resources

• Yahoo Directory: Professional Email and Domain Service Providers
• Northland College: Professional Letter Guide