Buy a Domain for Email or at Least a Gmail Account

Several friends of mine recently left their job all at once (the company had a mass layoff). I checked in LinkedIN, and it looks like I’m now missing a way to directly contact at least 70 of them, because they used their business email address as their primary point of contact. My goal in writing this is to get you to consider one of two options: either buy a domain to use as your email address, or at least get a gmail account.

Why NOT to use your ISP’s email address

Say you make your home email address your primary point of contact. If your home address is yourname@comcast.net, what happens when you shift from Comcast to Verizon? You’ve just lost a bunch of folks who only knew how to reach you the other way.

Why NOT to use your business’s email address

Times change. People move. That’s one reason, but the other is this: sometimes, your company doesn’t want your company being represented by the places you visit and use that email. For example, we had a CTO who pointed out that anyone in our company contributing to security forums online using their work email address would be terminated. Why? Because every time someone from my company’s security team asked a question on such a forum, it signaled to hackers (who read the same forums) our company’s vulnerabilities.

Buying a Domain for email is easy

There are plenty of providers. I use 1&1, though I don’t give them the highest marks. Lots of people use GoDaddy, and if you use them, check around with your favorite podcasters, because some have deals with GoDaddy that save you money and give the podcaster a few bucks, too. The cost for a domain, especially if all you’re going to use it for is email, is around $6US a year right now (yes, you can find cheaper, or more costly).

Or Gmail

I recommend gmail because it’s easy. It’s web-based. It’s flexible. You can use it with a mail application on your desktop, with a BlackBerry, and in lots of other ways. It has powerful search, and is widely accepted as a good import gateway for most social networking sites, meaning you can make your friends portable.

Equipping YOU

The basic idea, in case I wasn’t clear, is that by making an email presence that points directly to YOU, people will know how to reach you, no matter what the circumstances of your employment or your choice of ISP on a given day. It’s about maintaining connectivity.

What do you think?

Photo credit, Joe Shiabotnik

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http://www.laurengalanter.com Lauren Galanter

I completely agree with this post, Chris! To be honest, it surprises me that there are people who would only have a work email address without a personal one, even if it is an ISP.

What I like to do is give out my personal Gmail address to people at work after I leave a job so they can continue to get in touch with me–but only after, mostly. Why? Because due to auto-fill, if people have my Gmail I start getting work email in my personal Gmail account. :-)

I would also agree with what many other commenters already said here, which is to route a domain email address through Gmail–Gmail is like cheese, it just makes everything better! I’ve become so used to the interface and logic of Gmail that I can’t stand using anything else for email! I created a new Gmail account for work and route my work email through that. That way I also have separate Google docs, calendar and the like just for work.

Google Apps really is a great solution for using Gmail/Google Accounts for work or a custom domain, also.
http://annoyinglyboring.com PG

I had, and still have, patglennon.net for coming up on 8 years now I think. I have recently started giving out my gmail address instead though because my host had major issues a few times in recent months and my email was not getting to me.
http://annoyinglyboring.com PG

I had, and still have, patglennon.net for coming up on 8 years now I think. I have recently started giving out my gmail address instead though because my host had major issues a few times in recent months and my email was not getting to me.
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http://www.cortneysellers.com CortneySellers

Hey Chris,

Splendid article – once again!

I have my own domain (and many others). I also register my name/email address with all popular services JIC anyone ever looks for me somewhere. I should go through one day and see how many accounts I have scattered through cyberspace.

I also create a few specific email accounts for specific purposes which help identify phishing attempts.

While I do have gmail/yahoo/aol/aim/hotmail/etc accounts, I prefer my own domain based email b/c I rent a dedicated box for a server. This way I don’t have to worry about third party TOS/Privacy/etc as I know who has access to what whenever.

Along with this – I’ve registered several domains along the same lines as my name. I have .com, .net, .tv, and more and even a domain with my first name as it is commonly misspelled.
Cortney Sellers

Hey Chris,

Splendid article – once again!

I have my own domain (and many others). I also register my name/email address with all popular services JIC anyone ever looks for me somewhere. I should go through one day and see how many accounts I have scattered through cyberspace.

I also create a few specific email accounts for specific purposes which help identify phishing attempts.

While I do have gmail/yahoo/aol/aim/hotmail/etc accounts, I prefer my own domain based email b/c I rent a dedicated box for a server. This way I don’t have to worry about third party TOS/Privacy/etc as I know who has access to what whenever.

Along with this – I’ve registered several domains along the same lines as my name. I have .com, .net, .tv, and more and even a domain with my first name as it is commonly misspelled.
http://www.lnxpowered.org Michael Perry

Just adding my second thoughts a bit late here :). I registered a domain at register.com because for some reason its who I use. I wanted to use a domain that no matter what would always get to me. Basically two steps for me and you don’t really need someone to host the mail:

1) register the domain at a registrar.
2) use a custom DNS service that allows email forwarding like http://www.easydns.com. You simply create an MX record, change the DNS for your site on the registrar and wait a bit. By a bit, we are talking a few hours at the most.
3) enter the address you wish to have email forwarded to so now when someone emails you at the address the DNS and MX mix at easydns.com grabs that email and sends it off to the so-called “mailmap” you wrote.

I chose gmail and then I purchased more disk space. You could also find a hosting service that offers more like fastmail.fm or a real hosting company. I have a new deal with lunarpages.com that was gonna hold my mail; but it became too complex to have all those steps and stops.

In the end, you want something that you can manage and have it adapt and adopt to your life style. Gmail may become bad. Easy to change.
http://www.lnxpowered.org Michael Perry

Just adding my second thoughts a bit late here :). I registered a domain at register.com because for some reason its who I use. I wanted to use a domain that no matter what would always get to me. Basically two steps for me and you don’t really need someone to host the mail:

1) register the domain at a registrar.
2) use a custom DNS service that allows email forwarding like http://www.easydns.com. You simply create an MX record, change the DNS for your site on the registrar and wait a bit. By a bit, we are talking a few hours at the most.
3) enter the address you wish to have email forwarded to so now when someone emails you at the address the DNS and MX mix at easydns.com grabs that email and sends it off to the so-called “mailmap” you wrote.

I chose gmail and then I purchased more disk space. You could also find a hosting service that offers more like fastmail.fm or a real hosting company. I have a new deal with lunarpages.com that was gonna hold my mail; but it became too complex to have all those steps and stops.

In the end, you want something that you can manage and have it adapt and adopt to your life style. Gmail may become bad. Easy to change.
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venkat2009

Buying Domain name With Email,Gmail Vey Usefule For me..I was Bought the Domain With Complete mail,Blog UsiNg the Domain name Registration site http://www.tucktail.com/
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Thank you.
He This way I don't have to worry about third party TOS/Privacy/etc as I know who has access to what whenever.
keith

I'm selling gmail accounts in bulk – 100% working if not FREE replacements for life for those that don't work. (exception to those that are banned because of spamming – not my fault, gmail bans spammers).

100 accounts – $8
200 – $14
1000 – $60

email or skype me
keith_oliverz@yahoo.com
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My goal in writing this is to get you to consider one of two options.
Bruce

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Buy a Domain for Email or at Least a Gmail Account

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