I've doing this e-mail thing for years - just using a bit of lateral thinking and simple forwarding ..
1 Register a domain name - whether you have .com, .co.uk, .net or whatever is a matter of taste and availability [I have a very unusual surname so my business - when I used to work
- was nnnnnnn.co.uk - I also have a number of other domains ... one is in my sig below beewee.org.uk ]
2 All I have done is set up each domain (at the ISP) with "catch-all" forwarding to one single e-mail account (that's my BT Broadband which is <name>@btconnect.com ) - in other words whatever is in front of the @ symbol, for any of the domains, gets to me via a single access point (BT account)
3 Sending messages from the domain needs BT to set something up called mail-relay - all that means is that they recognise my domain for outward messages - they go through my BT account but show the domain address I'm wanting to send from
4 This is the nifty bit - as the catch-all does just that I can "seed" e-mail addresses that I give to organisations, shops etc - e.g. wiggle@mydomain, johnlewis@mydomain etc - incoming messages get to me via the BT account BUT I can a) identify where they come from and filter and/or b) identify senders that may have sold my e-mail addy or spammers ... and bin the messages.
Still with me ... ?
It works .... and by having a "posh" .. or perhaps the better word is "professional" e-mail address it all looks more credible - as per the cartoon up-thread.
Now - don't get me started on businesses that just have an "07 ... " mobile phone-number - they look non-established to me. I have a landline from BT and a mobile from Vodafone - if I'm not here a call to my landline gets me anywhere in the world - when I go out I press a button on the phone by the front door and Mr BT diverts calls .. a bit of haggling with the BT contract and all calls to my mobile (in the UK) are in the fixed price plan. Works a treat - our neighbour rang once to say the burglar alarm was going off - seemed a bit surprised that I was in the Bellagio in Las Vegas (false alarm, fortunately)
Isn't technology wonderful!
Rob