By Joseph Albanese

The Importance of Email

Sometimes we have to fill out online forms that request our personal information. We know never to reveal social security number, credit card information, and to be tentative about releasing our address. But Email address has become a causal source of personal information that is given out for everything. To normally make an account requires a username and password to be generated from scratch and an already established email to be released. Most of the time, the sites asking for an email need it to tie your account to it and not be put on a mailing list. Even if one is subjected to repeated spam, most email services have effective anti-spam measurements. However, one does not want to have to sift through Viagra ads and Cougar Dating sites to find a legitimate email that was wrongly marked as spam. That’s where these tips come in to reduce the chances of spam, implement better email practices, and manage your accounts without flooding your inbox.

1. Create Multiple Email Addresses

Email accounts are free to make. So why not create many of them? This method is a good way to manage mail for different aspects of life. I have my college email, my regular email, and a junk email that I use to sign up for accounts that require an email. This junk email address is used for those mailing lists that one might get signed onto for creating an account. My regular email is also my ‘professionally’ email because I don’t use it that often. Make sure your business or professional name is appropriate and not ‘gurlsinBIKINISrock’. A professional email should be concise and easy to remember. Also, using your name as the address with only a few numbers is a very good idea. This connects who you are to who you are emailing someone as and makes your name more memorable. Use different email providers for different features and see which fits you best. AOL sucks by the way, just saying.  I personally use Gmail because it has a good spam filter and nice interface. Also, Gmail allows me to easily sign into my multiple accounts or set up email forwarding to manage my email addresses easily.  In order to keep track of all these accounts and emails, invest in a password protection program. I use KeePass. You only need to know one password to access the program (better make it a good one) and it lists your username, password, and other information you add about each account it holds.

2. Use Disposable Email Services

Maybe you aren’t sure of a site’s legitimacy or you want to sign up to receive a free iPad but don’t want to give out any of your email addresses in case it isn’t true. Try out Mailinator. You can create any address you want and have it be @ mailinator.com, or use an alternate domain from there list (since many sites are catching on to Mailinator and list it as invalid). The purpose of this and similar services are NOT to create an email address that is regularly checked and used for important activities, but should be used as more of a test for a site’s validity. When using an email through Mailinator, ANYONE can view its inbox. So create and manage your own email addresses, but when you need a quick email to be used for a bogus account, try a disposable email service. NOTE: Mailinator deletes its inboxes regularly, anyone can read any of them, and you can’t send emails this way, so don’t use this service for private and personal email addresses.

3. Use Professional Hosted Emails for your Website

If you are a business professional or own your own website, you have probably been exposed to this. Having an email address @ yourownsite.com not only looks professional, but helps keep business all in one place instead of in your personal inbox. Zoho is pretty popular and is pretty cheap. Several other hosting sites are available that offer similar features, so read their FAQs or try their free service to see which is right for you. Look at Google Apps. There is a free trial for business professionals to incorporate many different Google products into a bundle, and have an email at your domain name is one of those features. Just don’t use GoDaddy’s service, they supported SOPA and anyone who uses the internet doesn’t like that. :p

Hopefully this post has helped you assess how to manage your email accounts, avoid spam, and create a professional look to co-workers or clients that you might be messaging. Remember to safely protect your email addresses and to identify which sites to give your email to.

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