What Does Your E-mail ID Say?

Sonali Karande Brahma

iamfreakingouttahere@office.com, lollipop.sweet@gmail.com, superior@rediffmail.com, butterfingers@yahoo.com – I am sure we all have seen some e-mail ids like these, have sneered at and trashed them in full faith.

An e-mail id is our name and identity in the online world. It communicates a world of meaning about us. Head hunters, customers, students, teachers, fans, critics – in fact the entire community – reads a lot into your e-mail id and forms opinions and prejudices.

So what does your e-mail id say about you? What e-mail id creates a good impression and what kind makes for a laughing stock? Do we need to take this whole business of e-mail ids a tad more seriously?

Free-for-all: Yay or nay?

An e-mail has two parts – one that stands for us, the first half; for example sonali@xyz.com or creative@xyz.com. Then there’s the second part that speaks of the hosting address – be it Yahoo, Rediffmail, Hotmail, Gmail or xyz@tcs.com orxyz@infosys.org. Both parts are equally important and both speak volumes about you.

The “free” second halves of an e-mail id, like xyz@gmail.com or xyz@hotmail.com or a Rediff or a Yahoo, often pulls your brand down on its climb up (if it is up there anywhere at all) by a thousand rungs, especially if you want to have them as professional or business ids. The free tag communicates that you have not doled out the miniscule fees for your own domain.

Brand or get branded – what do you prefer?

An e-mail id is the birth of your online brand. You should frame your e-mail id depending on what you want your brand to stand for. E-mail ids generated on a whim or a passing fancy like crankymom@gmail.com, bachcha@hotmail.com or madlyinlove@yahoo.com may sound very creative but have an enormous potential to freak the one at the receiving end. They may not open the mail (if it escapes the spam filter that is) or/and vow never to offer you another glance. But there is an even more terrifying thought – such e-mail ids can brand you as a weirdo forever!

What you say and what the world sees

E-mail ids can make or break your business/image, make your leads disappear or engage and create long-lasting impressions about you. Being informal while crafting your e-mail id is fine but make sure you do not border on the flippant. Innovative is fine but being weird is a strict no-no. There’s a fine line between ingenuity and eccentricity, remember? And two letters from turning your e-mail id into eekmail id.

Sonali Karande Brahma is a brand strategist, creative consultant and a writer with two decades of experience in creating powerful stories for advertising, brand building and communication. She works in mainstream advertising for major MNC and Indian brands. She writes on subjects that interest her and teaches creativity and writing to young student managers at B-Schools. She can be reached on writersonalibrahma@gmail.com

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