One of the great things about owning the domain name for your small business website is that you have the freedom to create any email address you want (provided it's @yourdomainname, of course).

Tired of boring, old "info" or "sales" or "customerservice" or "joesmith" @yourcompany.com? Come up with something creative and memorable that also delivers a marketing message:

• fastsales@joesrealestate.com
• getanswers@janeslegal.com
• lookgreat@janesbeauty.com
• luxuryrides@joeslimo.com

Didn't get the domain name you were coveting? Make up for it with your business email address. Let's say you own a restaurant and want the domain name "greatfood.com". Well, you can try to battle 1-800-Flowers for it, but you'd do better to find a domain name that is availablehopefully one with more brand appeal than "greatfood.com"and then create the email address greatfood@yourrestaurant.com.

Your business email address may not get as much exposure as your business website address, but it does get a LOT of exposure. And it should be displayed almost everywhere your website address and business phone number are displayed.

Of course, all that exposure will eventually lead to lots of spam. So, remember to create several email addresses that are targeted toward different aspects of your business communication to help cut down on and sift through the clutter. The creative email address you promote to the public in your advertisements does not have to be the same one you use to communicate with vendors and other business partners. And perhaps when you're wearing your CEO hat, you may want to use something a little more conservative and official-sounding.