Simplify Your Email Address

It is not always easy to establish an email address using your given name especially if your name happens to be John Smith or Jane Brown. When altering your name to acquire an available email address careful consideration should be given to avoid confusion.

After reviewing registrations recently for one of our monthly networking meetings, it was obvious that email addresses which varied greatly from a given name were not only a problem for us but seemed to be for the owners of the email address as well. On 2 separate registrations from the same individual one email address consisted of their first and last name and the other, their first and last name with the number 1 after it. Which one is the correct one? Did the owner create 2 separate email accounts? How far back do we go to discover the correct one? Let’s search incoming mail even though it appears the 1 was simply a typo.  Remember, don’t assume because the email with the number 1 after the name was the correct “one”.

Another email which appeared to be the first name and the first 3 letters of the last name also required further investigation because the first three letters of the last name were brd but the email address was bdr! Another typo? Is someone dyslexic? Was the last name spelled incorrectly or was the email address incorrect? Upon further investigation, which is my point, the inconsistency between the name and the email address was correct!

This is the given name, kazimier and this is the name used for the email address, casimir! Should we invest any additional time to consider if there is a typo here?

If you simplify your email address costly mistakes could easily be avoided. Imagine an amazing lead that could have come your way except the email address you provided for yourself was incorrect or was translated incorrectly! We are all aware that keeping it simple will result in fewer mistakes and increase efficiency. Your email address is a key piece of contact data; choosing to become too creative could lead to confusion.

Here are a few tips to consider for your 2012 email address:

• Write down your full name, the name which appears on your resume and mailing address and establish an email address that is as clearly related to this name as possible.
• Do not use words other than your name such as ballplayer, sexyone or gonefishing. The days of Hotmail are long gone and if you still have a hotmail or aol address, get rid of it.
• If your proper name is available, use it and only it. Don’t add numbers, extra letters or varied spelling if it is not necessary.
• If your name is not available give consideration to using a middle name or initials. Avoid numbers or a year of birth which mean nothing to anyone else who may be trying to decipher your email address. Consider a first initial with middle name or something which might be more familiar to those interested in your email address such as, johnsmithcga@ or johnsmithemba@.
• Avoid underscores as they are sometimes lost in the underline or confused with a dot. Unless the letters are within your name, use caution with i’s and j’s. Depending on the font type used, ijij you could be left guessing which letter it is.
• Stay as consistent as you possibly can and no one will ever be left guessing! The easier you are to contact the better your chances are of being contacted. The consistency between your name and your email address should be extended to your twitter, facebook and linkedin url’s; .com/name
• Create your google profile and establish an @gmail.com account. Rogers.com is another respected email provider.
• Those who have stayed current have likely purchased one or more domain names using a given name or company name. Establishing an email address in relation to the domain name is usually free and another option for creating a consistent, professional email address; JohnSmith@johnsmith.com.

Simplify your email address and reduce the risk of mistakes. That missed email might have been the opportunity of a lifetime!