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Your 'company' even before having a company

_Will_

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Hello -

Like many of you I wear 2 hats, my 9-5 hat and my entrepreneurial hat. I'm exploring some niches ( Customer Discovery) and just wondering how professional you guys look when talking / emailing people. What I mean is.... do you have a domain name ? or you just email from your gmail / yahoo account ? Do you have a 'generic' website and pretend to be with that company (that doesn't exist yet) ? "Hi this is William with XYZ".

I think those things are really important to build your image as a professional. What do you guys think ?
 
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blackhat

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I posted something similar in another thread. One of the best things I did for my email response rate was buy a domain and put up a very basic website. The key though is to waste as little momentum as possible on the website building phase.
+1

That's the way to go. Keep it as simple as possible. I have a very simple landing page for my domain. The only content is my name and email address.

Also, you might consider getting your name as a domain rather than a fictitious company name. It depends on what exactly you are doing, but in my opinion that looks better that a site supposedly for a company but lacking any information about said company.
 

Esquire

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I don't think it matters much.

If you don't have a business ... you don't have a business.

Focus on creating your product or service.

In the meantime ... Gmail works fine.
 
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Vigilante

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I respectfully disagree. I can get a domain name from GoDaddy for .99 cents, and use it to generate a professional email account.

https://www.godaddy.com/email-account.aspx?ci=94937&isc=gofd2001aj

I say fake it until you make it. People don't want the image of doing business with you in your pajamas.

When ever I see a business using a gmail account, I always wonder.

No need to cast a possible negative perception over $3/mo.
 

Esquire

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I respectfully disagree. I can get a domain name from GoDaddy for .99 cents, and use it to generate a professional email account.

https://www.godaddy.com/email-account.aspx?ci=94937&isc=gofd2001aj

I say fake it until you make it. People don't want the image of doing business with you in your pajamas.

When ever I see a business using a gmail account, I always wonder.

No need to cast a possible negative perception over $3/mo.

I fail to see how something that can be acquired for 99 cents is going to impress anyone.

I have a "professional" email address (Z@BetterCallZ.com) that I use for marketing ... but in my everyday day-to-day ... I much prefer to use a Gmail address when communicating with my clients. The functionality of Gmail is so much better than Outlook.

I too agree with "fake it till you make it" ... but in the O.P.'s case ... there is nothing to fake. He has no business. Which is all the more why I think Gmail works just fine for him.

An email address should be the least of his concerns right now. It is a metaphorical business card.
 

Vigilante

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You can integrate your professional email into Gmail and get the best of both worlds. Free. You can have your personal and business emails all meet in your Gmail app. That's one of the reasons why Google rules the world.

There's a huge perceptional difference between having a professional business image, and an action faking business card. Two completely separate concepts.

If you can get something done for peanuts, that takes no time and no real money, why NOT do it? Lazy.

If you run the chance of casting a negative impression (which you do... I am telling you I get one from people that can't figure out how to register a .99 domain name) why take the chance?

There's no compelling reason not to do it. It's not a factor of time, money, or functionality. No reason not to become a real, grown up business. It might actually help you cast the perception you want to cast. You want people to take you seriously.

No downside. None.
 
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Esquire

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You can integrate your professional email into Gmail and get the best of both worlds. You can have your personal and business emails all meet in your Gmail app. That's one of the reasons why Google rules the world.

There's a huge perceptional difference between having a professional business image, and an action faking business card. Two completely separate concepts.

If you can get something done for peanuts, that takes no time and no real money, why NOT do it? Lazy.

If you run the chance of casting a negative impression (which you do... I am telling you I get one from people that can't figure out how to register a .99 domain name) why take the chance?

There's no compelling reason not to do it. It's not a factor of time, money, or functionality. No reason not to become a real, grown up business. It might actually help you cast the perception you want to cast. You want people to take you seriously.

No downside. None.

I stand corrected.

Forget what I just said. Listen to @Vigilante :)
 

Vigilante

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Vigilante

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Z if you ever need help setting it up, hit me up. I have 4-5 email addresses that all dump into gmail. None of my email comes in locally... it all sits on gmail servers. Accessable from anywhere, any device.

Gmail is smart enough that when you respond to that email, it responds from the corresponding account.
 
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Esquire

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Z if you ever need help setting it up, hit me up. I have 4-5 email addresses that all dump into gmail. None of my email comes in locally... it all sits on gmail servers. Accessable from anywhere, any device.

Gmail is smart enough that when you respond to that email, it responds from the corresponding account.

Thanks Vig!

I had no idea I could do that. I hate Outlook. That was the only reason I kept my Gmail account. Convenience.

Well ... now that I watched the video ... I should be okay. Setting it up as we speak. Thanks for the offer ... and the killer tip! :)
 

Vigilante

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If you get hung up on anything get a hold of me tomorrow.
 

vinylawesome

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I respectfully disagree. I can get a domain name from GoDaddy for .99 cents, and use it to generate a professional email account.

https://www.godaddy.com/email-account.aspx?ci=94937&isc=gofd2001aj

I say fake it until you make it. People don't want the image of doing business with you in your pajamas.

When ever I see a business using a gmail account, I always wonder.

No need to cast a possible negative perception over $3/mo.

@Will As Vigilante points out for 99 cents you can get a dot com and use gmail as your email provider. No need to sign up for Godaddy's email service.

If your looking to save cash you can also use that 99 cent domain and host your site for free with Tumblr.

Here's a video that describes that process:


Directions on how to set up your domain to tumblr:

https://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/custom_domains
 
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Andy Black

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Z if you ever need help setting it up, hit me up. I have 4-5 email addresses that all dump into gmail. None of my email comes in locally... it all sits on gmail servers. Accessable from anywhere, any device.

Gmail is smart enough that when you respond to that email, it responds from the corresponding account.

Yes. I've been doing this for years.

Also, one of my really big clients has done away with shared drives completely. Everything is stored on Google drives... from Word docs, spreadsheets, powerpoints, etc... to creating shared Google docs that everyone in the team updates.

I even get my smaller clients to update a change log which is just a shared Google doc (sorry, I TRY to get my smaller clients to update a change log).
 

StayPositive

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One of the best things I did for my email response rate was buy a domain and put up a very basic website. The key though is to waste as little momentum as possible on the website building phase.
Nothing more, nothing less. I did the same thing and the response rate skyrocketed. Small action, but perception of yours is totally different.
 
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JustWalkinAround

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@blackhat @SlowlaneJay @Vigilante @anyone else with knowledge on this

I'm just starting out and having a professional email + sig etc to increase response rate makes 100% sense. I also want to make a basic website but at the same time I don't want to spend more time than necessary.

What are the must haves on a website that serves the sole purpose of upping response rates from suppliers?

Also I don't have any experience in building websites it could a long time... Should I perhaps just generate the email and skip the website for now?
 
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SlowlaneJay

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What are the must haves on a website that serves the sole purpose of upping response rates from suppliers?

In the other thread, I posted:
Build your pages. Bare minimum, you need a Contact Page, About Page, and possibly a “We’re working hard to fill this space” page…
(I also prefaced it with a disclaimer. I'm by no means an entrepreneur, I'm still figuring all this out. So take any of my advice with a grain of salt.)

In my humble opinion, based on the response rates to the emails I've been sending out, those were all I needed.

I was averaging one in five positive responses with a gmail address. I switched over to the domain email and now average 2.5 out of five. Also, my respondents spend more time answering my questions when responding to a professional-looking email. Their answers tend to be much higher value than when I was using gmail and I actually ended up throwing out the content generated with the gmail address.

If you're spending any time on this, spend it on the about page. Looking at my Google Analytics, that's the page that visitors spend the most time on (even now when I actually have content on the site).

Also, write your about page kind of like a sales page. Nobody actually cares about you. When they land on your about page, they want to know what the site will do for them, they don't really want to know too much about you. My about page has a couple sentences about who I am and then starts talking about who you are and why you should be interested in my page.

Again though, don't spend too much time here. The important thing is to spend time generating responses. I spent a full day on it and I wish I'd spent less time. After the first few responses, the site design changed so much, the only thing that is still the same is half of the copy from the about page.

GL

Sorry, didn't see this:
Also I don't have any experience in building websites it could a long time... Should I perhaps just generate the email and skip the website for now?
Can't speak to that. I decided to build the site.
 
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blackhat

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For a static site, it isn't too bad to start from scratch. But you also have the option of buying a pre-built, ready to go HTML template for $10-15. http://themeforest.net/category/site-templates/corporate

All you would have to do with the template is edit the content. You could even find a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor that would let you click and type on things to edit them from the viewpoint of a visitor (read: no code, just content).

As far as hosting...Amazon S3 is free for the first year with 5GB of storage--way more than your need. It would likely be a few dollars a year after that to host a small site with low traffic.

I've got a fair amount of experience with web development, so feel free to reach out to me at any point with any questions you have or issues you run into.
 
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Vigilante

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@blackhat @SlowlaneJay @Vigilante @anyone else with knowledge on this

I'm just starting out and having a professional email + sig etc to increase response rate makes 100% sense. I also want to make a basic website but at the same time I don't want to spend more time than necessary.

What are the must haves on a website that serves the sole purpose of upping response rates from suppliers?

Also I don't have any experience in building websites it could a long time... Should I perhaps just generate the email and skip the website for now?


@Walter Hay
 

Ron Dee

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Once you get a .99 cent domain name what are the monthly fees? If I link it to tumblr as the host do I only pay godaddy the
.99 for a year then renew for 9.99 every year after?
 
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vinylawesome

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Once you get a .99 cent domain name what are the monthly fees? If I link it to tumblr as the host do I only pay godaddy the
.99 for a year then renew for 9.99 every year after?

Yes, no monthly fees. Just the .99 initial plus after one year there will be a renewal fee.
 

Walter Hay

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There is no doubt in my mind that perceptions can be as important as the real substance. In my first business I was, according to circumstances, Chief Chemist, Managing Director, Purchasing Manager, Delivery Boy, or Sales Representative.

As a one man business operating from home, I had business cards and a letterhead with a business name before I could afford to register a company.

If I was running a business these days, I would not hesitate to set up a website and have a company email address (redirected to gmail of course).

For those I teach importing, an important little instruction I give is to always use a business name in first contact with overseas suppliers, even if they don't have a business name. Would you respond to John Doe at a yahoo address?
 

RogueInnovation

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IMO, (aside from Vig already giving you what you need to know) is that everything you do should have a purpose.

If you are contacting a group of people in a professional matter.
There is a purpose to getting the domain name email.

If you are contacting to test a group of people, you can do it either way.

I currently just use gmail, because I am only talking person to person, and am confident about my future business.
But, I do believe it is crossing your T's and dotting your I's to be neat and professional with your approach at that time. But its not something to get hung up on.

Personally, I think worrying about this is a bit too fiddly.



A lot of people say "we" and "here at" about their startups to project an impression that they are a real company. I prefer to go the other way, with "now with" and "I", because I do not feel the need to be evasive. I prefer to stand there, with a straight spine, and share my gathered experience and budding authority in a non prentious way.

As a newb, I couldn't do that, I felt all weird and like I was a paper thin facade backed up by nothing. But your backup is your integrity, your follow up, your ability to not waste time on wild goose chases, your ability to be earnest and convincing through example.

Stand behind the effort you are investing into the future, and your reliability (but don't lie to yourself or make bs promises)


Keep your startup simple.
Start with a cheeseburger and fries, before you perfect your big mac.

One man CAN make a good cheeseburger and fries, the question is, does he have the gumption to stick to the task, and learn how to create the big mac in the COMPANY way?
Where it requires understanding of scale, financial analysis, market analysis, to sculpt it as a maximum profit maker and popularity winner.

And can you then back that up, by going on the offensive, and using its profits to drive the sales further with branding and awareness?

IMO, people are far too static with business creation, you need to be capable of the tasks and to do them when needed.


I prefer talking to a guy that will, over a business that won't.
Understand that, and the question you proposed will be a silly one.
Because you'll be more preoccupied with the business tasks you are doing than, the image logistics, on very small tasks.
 
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