The Importance of a Professional Email Address

Even with the rise of social media, email is still one of the preferred methods of digital communication. Email is fast, convenient, and professional (at least it should be). I am pretty young and do not remember a time where the internet and email did not exist. I got my first email address when I was ten years old, and I used that address for years and years. However, as I grew up, I realized my email address needed to grow up with me.

Why do you need a professional email address?

Just as design is important for first impressions, so is a professional email address. The email address you use says something about who you are, whether you’re communicating with pastors or ministry partners. What do you want your email address to communicate to your partners? An email address from your high-school or college days made to communicate with friends and family or using that ISP you had in the 90s (looking at you juno.com) isn’t going to cut it.

What does a professional email address look like?

For example, [email protected] definitely tells us the person has an affinity for cats but is it professional? Not exactly. Although it is unique and would be easy to remember, it does not connect your contacts with who you are professionally or the work you do. A better email address would be [email protected] or [email protected].

These examples are more ideal and are good for two reasons: it includes the user’s name and uses a more updated domain account. “Hotmail” still works, but if you prefer to use a Microsoft account, they now use “@live.com.” If someone else has the same name as you and uses it for their email account, a series of numbers may be appropriate to add to the address such as [email protected].

These examples work well for personal and business email addresses. However, sometimes you may need a completely separate email for your business or ministry. If your ministry is called “Open Arms Ministry,” an appropriate email address would be [email protected] or [email protected]. This will help organize and maintain a separation of work and home life while staying professional. You could then have an email address to use to contact friends, family, and sign up for online shopping and have another email for your business and ministry communications. There is no limit to how many email addresses you can have.

Email Service Options

Google Mail makes it easy to have multiple accounts. It’s as simple as a few clicks to switch between personal and work accounts, keeping everything separate and organized. You can even send and receive from different accounts with most email providers. As you probably know, privacy isn’t their focus when it comes to your inbox.

If your organization does not provide email service using a primary domain (like ministryname.org), you may be wondering about options to use. If you’re interested in more privacy-focused email providers without ads, check out these services:

1. Hey.com (Email reimagined from the makers of Basecamp.com)
2. Protonmail
3. Hushmail

Or buy a domain name from Missionary Domains and add the email service. For example, Open Arms Ministry could be [email protected].

An email address is a way to introduce yourself and your ministry to the world. It should be professional so that you are presented as adept, knowledgable, and a good choice with whom to partner. A mature email address might be just what you need to reach your financial goals.

What is the funniest or weirdest email address you’ve seen use in professional communications? Share your funny story with us in the comments!