Most people get along just fine with Yahoo or Hotmail email addresses. The aggressive spam filtering keeps them from being inundated with junk.
But there’s an audience for whom Yahoo or Hotmail email addresses may be a bad idea. These people regularly receive legitimate emails that look like spam to Yahoo and Hotmail.
Who are these people? Internet Marketers.
You’re trying to make money online, you’re networking and getting your name out, and a friend of a friend of a friend is given your email address because you’re involved in a program they want to get into. But they want to get in under someone they know and trust, and want to contact you first to talk about the program.
So they send you an email.
A couple weeks later they get tired of waiting for a reply and find someone else to join under. Meanwhile, the email was gobbled up by spam filters, so you never saw it. This has happened to me, when I’ve tried to contact people at both Yahoo and Hotmail addresses to have them join programs so I could join under them.
When you’re doing business online, especially in the Internet Marketing arena, making absolutely certain you can receive every email sent to you is critical.
I’d recommend using a Gmail address as your main contact address, if you don’t have a domain of your own. Gmail also has a spam filter, but it isn’t as aggressive as Yahoo or Hotmail, and generally passes most Internet marketing related emails.
Of course, the absolute best option is to have your own domain and hosting. My continual recommendation for hosting is Site5’s $5 a month plan. Two years of top-notch web hosting for about $120 is a good deal, and I personally run several sites on my Site5 account.
But if you can’t afford paid hosting, go for a free Gmail account to ensure you’re receiving every email, even if it has spammy looking Internet marketing links.