Email is one of the most important forms of communication for any business on the web today. As with anything, there are right and wrong ways to set it up. This article will discuss some of the basics of business email, and how it should be set up. For our example, let's assume a golf course with three email addresses. One for the head pro, Richard (richard@), one for the assistant pro, John (john@), and one for the secretary, Rhonda (rhonda@).
1
- POP3 accounts
These are individual email accounts, and this company would need three
for now, with room to grow in the future. (Some ISP's that host only
allow one POP3 account, so be sure to check before signing any contract.)
The accounts could be richard@, john@, and rhonda@. These are the root
accounts, and should be set up so each person can check their email
on their own computer.
They can also be forwarded to other accounts. For example, if Rhonda has an AOL account, the rhonda@ account can be automatically forwarded to her AOL account.
I think it looks unprofessional when I visit a site, and the contact email address is something like golfer1@yahoo.com, or john4385@aol.com. The email address should match the domain name, like danperry@onlinegolfsolutions, where onlinegolfsolutions is the domain name of the site (which it is).
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- Aliases
An alias is nothing more than additional names for a user. They allow
messages to be sent to multiple addresses, but end up in the same mailbox.
A good example of this may be for the secretary, Rhonda. A section on
their site is called "Memberships", and on the bottom of the page is
a link for more info, with the email address as memberships@. This is
an alias, and will automatically end up in Rhonda's email box. Other
alias possibilities could be accounts@, headpro@, asstpro@, teetimes@,
etc.
The number of aliases should be unlimited, and the setup time should be minimal. This is another easily administered option that gives the site a professional look. As I've stated many times before, it's the little things that make the difference.
3
- Nobody Account
A nobody account allows email to be received if the sender types in
the wrong name. There can only be one nobody account per domain, but
it is a valuable account. For example, rhonda@ has been set up to receive
email from the nobody account. A user sends email to Rhonda, but spells
it as ronda@. As long as the name is greater than 3 characters, if it
doesn't match any other name set up for the site, it will automatically
be sent to Rhonda's account. This is a powerful email tool, and one
that no small business (pro shop) should be without.
Next month we will be discussing Auto-responders, vacation messages,
and web-based access.
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