4 ms·

And furthermore using Google mail for business purposes doesn't have unprofessional stigma anymore, especially amongst younger people (naturally meaning under 5

And furthermore using Google mail for business purposes doesn't have unprofessional stigma anymore, especially amongst younger people (naturally meaning under 50).

alias_neo 3y ago
Using Google Mail sure, but using Google's domain sure as heck does. I cringe every time I see a business card printed with a gmail.com or similar, or on the side of someone's van. If you can go through the effort of registering a business and having a professional looking logo plastered all over your vans, business card etc, you can almost certainly register a domain for your email.
- MrVandemar 3y ago
  Especially medical people with gmail, that gives me the heebie-jeebies. Pretty sure that's a privacy nightmare waiting to happen ...
- dazc 3y ago
  Purely anecdotal from the UK, but it seems like the more professional the email address and website the more likely it is you're not dealing with a real trades person. Genuine tradespeople are often always fully booked months in advance and they don't want to be dealing with random emails all of the time, most of which will be time wasters. For regular businesses though, I agree, it looks bad.
  - alias_neo 3y ago
    I'm in the UK, and that's where I tend to see it most, on trade-person vans. If they've gone through the effort to get some nice logo design vinyl on their van, why not get a matching email domain for their "company"? For me, seeing a Gmail etc on the side of an otherwise nicely decorated van shows a lack of attention to detail, and that's not what I want in a trade-person, who typically I only hire for the tasks beyond my capability/skill level.
    - lolc 3y ago
      I get the feeling, but unless their business is something web-related, their attention to detail is better spent elsewhere.
      - alias_neo 3y ago
        I think you might be right, and maybe I should change my perspective. Nobody really wants to deal with that, I do it, and I don't _want_ to.
- EspressoGPT 3y ago
  I think that's a rather geeky perspective. No non-technical person ever cares.
  - 15457345234 3y ago
    They'll care after they accidentally email their entire company's accounts to some random gmail account after receiving a phishing 'hi, I'm your new accountant at audit_firm_you're_using' email. If you don't use a corporate domain for your company's correspondence your customers have _no way_ to tell who's a legitimate employee of your firm and who's spoofing when they get an email.
    - EspressoGPT 3y ago
      Yeah, that's true for companies that have several employees with customer contact. But many individual companies/self-employed workers don't have that.
      - 15457345234 3y ago
        That's irrelevant. Even if you're a sole trader, if you use companyname@bigemailprovider anybody can create companyname.secretary@bigemailprovider and phish/steal your customers by pretending to be a member of your staff. Your customers will assume good faith unless their approach is blatantly scammy.

And furthermore using Google mail for business purposes doesn't have unprofessional stigma anymore, especially amongst younger people (naturally meaning under 50).

alias_neo 3y ago

Using Google Mail sure, but using Google's domain sure as heck does. I cringe every time I see a business card printed with a gmail.com or similar, or on the side of someone's van. If you can go through the effort of registering a business and having a professional looking logo plastered all over your vans, business card etc, you can almost certainly register a domain for your email.

MrVandemar 3y ago
Especially medical people with gmail, that gives me the heebie-jeebies. Pretty sure that's a privacy nightmare waiting to happen ...
dazc 3y ago
Purely anecdotal from the UK, but it seems like the more professional the email address and website the more likely it is you're not dealing with a real trades person. Genuine tradespeople are often always fully booked months in advance and they don't want to be dealing with random emails all of the time, most of which will be time wasters. For regular businesses though, I agree, it looks bad.
- alias_neo 3y ago
  I'm in the UK, and that's where I tend to see it most, on trade-person vans. If they've gone through the effort to get some nice logo design vinyl on their van, why not get a matching email domain for their "company"? For me, seeing a Gmail etc on the side of an otherwise nicely decorated van shows a lack of attention to detail, and that's not what I want in a trade-person, who typically I only hire for the tasks beyond my capability/skill level.
  - lolc 3y ago
    I get the feeling, but unless their business is something web-related, their attention to detail is better spent elsewhere.
    - alias_neo 3y ago
      I think you might be right, and maybe I should change my perspective. Nobody really wants to deal with that, I do it, and I don't _want_ to.
EspressoGPT 3y ago
I think that's a rather geeky perspective. No non-technical person ever cares.
- 15457345234 3y ago
  They'll care after they accidentally email their entire company's accounts to some random gmail account after receiving a phishing 'hi, I'm your new accountant at audit_firm_you're_using' email. If you don't use a corporate domain for your company's correspondence your customers have _no way_ to tell who's a legitimate employee of your firm and who's spoofing when they get an email.
  - EspressoGPT 3y ago
    Yeah, that's true for companies that have several employees with customer contact. But many individual companies/self-employed workers don't have that.
    - 15457345234 3y ago
      That's irrelevant. Even if you're a sole trader, if you use companyname@bigemailprovider anybody can create companyname.secretary@bigemailprovider and phish/steal your customers by pretending to be a member of your staff. Your customers will assume good faith unless their approach is blatantly scammy.