Ten days ago, I took the plunge and changed my business email address.
Why would I do such a thing, you may ask?
When I started my business three years ago, I knew that I would need an email address for it that was separate from my personal email address. At that time, I mistakenly believed that I was a proofreader, and so I made up an email address almost on the spot which contained a reference to proofreading. (Sorry, but I am keeping the actual address to myself, out of respect for my own privacy.)
Alas…I soon realized that what I did for my new career was not proofreading, but copyediting.
In one class I took a year and a half ago, our teacher suggested that I get a new email address–one that more accurately reflected what I do. Otherwise, she said, potential clients (and other people) might think I am a proofreader who knows nothing about copyediting.
“The teacher is definitely right,” I thought, “but changing an email address once everyone knows it is such a pain in the rear end! I’ll never be able to do it. Woe is me!”
I finally stopped whining ten days ago and changed the address. I made up one that references copyediting instead of proofreading and made it active.
But then came the hard part–letting all of my contacts know about my new email address and asking them to use it from now on.
Thank Heaven that I keep an Excel spreadsheet of my past and present clients’ names, affiliations, and email addresses. I used the spreadsheet to make a list of client email addresses, plus addresses of other important contacts. Then, I composed my email:
“Good afternoon. This is to inform you that my email address has changed. The new email is […]. Please make a note of it. Thank you very much.”
The last step was typing each email address into the “To” field from scratch. Yes, this was a drag, but very necessary.
My email address is much more accurate now, and I love it. My old one is still active in order to “catch” folks I may have missed (and whom I will notify of the change very soon).
Have you ever changed your email address? How easy or difficult did you find the process?