Personal Brands: Use a professional email address.

Many people use their email as a database. You want them to be able to easily find you when they want to reach you. If your name is not apart of your email address it makes it much more difficult. If you are not easy to find you are loosing out on opportunities. Using an unprofessional email address is a big mistake.

For example: I come across a job opportunity that might be perfect for a young man, Randy, who I met a networking event and connected with via email several months ago. I make a new email message and start typing "Randy" in hopes that his address will pop-up. I search my brain for his last name. I think it starts with a "C." I type in "rc" in hopes that his name will pop-up. Again nothing. The phone rings and my attention is taken in a new direction. That is the end of emailing Randy. He was not easy to find and as a result he did not receive the job lead.  I didn't remember his email address was surferdude23@yahoo.com.

I personally know many highly paid professionals who surf and that doesn't stop me from thinking "slacker loser"when I read "surfer dude!" With the free yahoo email address, it reads "slacker loser cheapskate." Who wants that refrain the the brain!?

I prefer and recommend people buy the domain name of the name they are using. For example: SarahAlexandriaJones.com or RandyCorcoran.com. Surferdude23@yahoo.comnow becomes: randy@randycorcoran.com.

The next best thing is using  a gmail account.With the popularity of gmail, your name may already be taken. Take your time in selecting a name. It is tempting to rush into a name that won't serve you in the long term.

People often put the year of their birth in their email address. For example: SarahSmith64@gmail.com.  This is not information you need to be delivering in this fashion. It may even work against you.

Many older non-technically savvy people are still using their aol email addresses. When one come into my inbox I immediately assume the sender is behind the times when it comes to technology.

Many hosting providers offer "email forwarding." You may be able to have your old or other email addresses forward to your new professional address.

The more consistent you are with your personal branding, the better. Your name is the cornerstone of your brand. Be mindful of how you use your name. Be sure to use a professional email address.