Ever receive an email from another lawyer – opposing counsel, someone looking for a referral, or merely a stranger who is reaching out to you with a question – and see their address is from AOL, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, or another freebie service? I’m not talking about listserv emails, just the ones that they are using for “real” business.

What’s your impression of that lawyer?

Do they seem serious, professional, trustworthy? Or does their message fall a little flatter than might otherwise be the case?

It’s so inexpensive to get a domain name, and so simple to set up your own email address for that domain, that it’s nearly criminal to tout yourself as a professional while walking around with an email address that scream, “I’m too cheap – or too poor – to shell out the meager $10 a year for a domain of my one!”

Don’t care about what other people think of your AOL account? Well, what happens if AOL’s servers go all screwy and you lose your email?

Think it can’t happen? Guess again.

Don’t believe me? Check out this post on Technotheory about why you absolutely need your own email address.

Related posts:

1. How To Manage Your Email More Effectively
2. Disposable EMail Addresses? Not As Stupid As You Think.
3. Your Email Signature – You Need One, But Tread Carefully!
4. 8 Ways To Market Your Law Practice With An Email Signature
5. 7 Ways To Profitably Use Email Marketing In Your Law Firm