Maintaining a personal email address and a business email address is very common these days. In fact, it would be safe to say it is the norm.  And for good reason.  Firstly, it helps to maintain a better work/life balance.

By having both a personal and a business email address you can schedule time to check both or either mailbox according to your own priorities.  Trying to use only one mailbox for personal and business use can become a major waste of time and efficiency.  Why? Because you have difficulty separating the mail.  There are ways around this, but is it really worth it when you consider several additional reasons to keep you mail separate.

Usually, the need for a second email address only arises if and when you have your own domain name.  For example, your business is XYZ Pty Ltd so your domain name and website are www.xyz.com.   When you being to adopt this domain name in your email address, you are puttng that name to work.  Here’s why:

• The domain email address presents a professional image of who you are.   A generic webmail service like bigpond, hotmail, gmail and others present an amateur image.  For example, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is not as professional as This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  The doman name version tells people you are more serious about what you do.  You take your business seriously and you can be trusted.
• Use of the domain email address helps recipients to automatically remember the website address and your business name.  They don’t have to think about it after receiving a series of domain emails.  This has significant marketing implications.   When recipients forward Laura’s email to others, the new recipients can recognise the website address from the email address.   If you also use the bigpond address, many recipients will lose the connection.