What do you think about ymail, gmail, etc? Are they suitable for a professional (not private) email?

Question

What do you think about ymail, gmail, etc? Are they suitable for a professional (not private) email?

Answer 1

Personally I don't think it looks very professional. Gmail *is* popular, and I've seen many professional emails with gmail. Ymail is okay too, but steer away from Hotmail. I think too many people might associate it with chatting to friends casually, definitely not the professional image you're going for.  

Answer 2

I don't think they are particularly suitable for a public facing professional email. They look rather unprofessional - especially as you are unlikely to get your name without a string of numbers after it. I've seen gmail used, but it is still not ideal.

The other problem is that the spam filters and security settings sometimes filter out unsolicited contacts. Great when its spam, not so great when its agents about a job, or someone trying to negotiate a contract.

As a compromise, it is possible to get email forwards that allow you to use your yahoo or other freemail address, but put a professional email address on it, and retrieve any mail to that address and send it to your freemail account.

Answer 3

If you are referring to it representing your BUSINESS.  Then definitely don't use it.  It is not professional and it looks like you aren't a reputable business.  Most businesses have websites which also come with an email that represents their domain name.  These days its way to easy and economical to get your own.  Yahoo offers domains and email hosting and also a free tool to design your own professional website for a really economical price.

Now if you are talking about something to put on a resume or use when speaking for yourself as an individual.  It's not as bad.  Just make sure you use a professional name like [e-mail] or [e-mail].  Not:  [e-mail] or [e-mail].  Most companies don't look down on you because you have a yahoo or gmail email address on your resume.