Is Your Email Signature Working On Your Behalf?

Your signature is a valuable piece of marketing realHere is an example of an email signature structure
estate. It's one of the few places where you canthat works.
update your marketing in less than a minute andYOUR NAME
keep the people that know you up-to-date in yourYOUR TITLE
work through the emails you send.YOUR TAGLINE or WHAT IT IS THAT YOU DO IN
Your email signature is an easy way to show peopleRESULTS ORIENTED LANGUAGE
you take your work seriously and what you're up to.YOUR PHONE
And the best part is you can let it promote yourYOUR EMAIL
services on your behalf. It just becomes a part ofYOUR MAILING ADDRESS ON ONE LINE (THIS IS
your email.OPTIONAL as your mailing address would be on your
Before I give you a sample email signature structure,website)
here's what you should avoid putting in your emailYOUR WEBSITE
signature:A CALL TO ACTION.
How do you set up your email signature?
1. Avoid Quotes I love quotes as much as the next
gal. However, when you are positioning yourself as1. In Microsoft Outlook, on the Tools menu, click
an expert, the go-to person in your network, don'tOptions, and then click the Mail Setup tab.
waste advertising space to quote other people.2. Click on Signatures and then click on New.
Quotes pull the attention off your work and puts the3. Give your email signature a name. I have a
reader in "thinking mode." Hmmm... wasn't that a nicedifferent signature for each email account I have set
quote. It feels nice. Ah.... That's not what you want.up in my Outlook. (One for my personal, one for my
You want them to take action. Which leads me tobusiness email address so when you send out an
my next point...email you can select what signature to use.)
2. Include an Action Step Encourage people to take4. Once you've given your signature a name, click on
action beyond reading your email signature. Create anAdvance Edit. This will give you the option to make
environment where people see you as activelyyour signature look nice by selecting the font style,
solving problems on their behalf. This requires actioncolor and spacing as well as setting up hyperlinks to
on the part of your clients as well. So think aboutdifferent pages on your website. Microsoft Word will
what would be a great first step to becoming a clientlaunch. Type up your signature and click Save and
or buying your product. Break the giant stepthenclick OK.
(becoming a client) into baby steps such as signing up5. Then you'll be taken back to the set up section
for your newsletter or attending an upcoming class.where you can select signatures for your email
3. Avoid Backgrounds Designs This makes your emailsaccounts.
difficult to read and looks amateurish.If you have a new version of Outlook (I have 2003)
4. Avoid fonts that are hard to read.or another type of email management software such
Papyrus is a popular one in the wellness community.as Entourage for MAC it's virtually the same steps,
Although pretty, it causes eye strain. Stick tobut to be sure, do a search for "email signature" in
Tahoma, Verdana, Times New Roman variations,your help bar of your email system and follow the
Helvetica and other similar fonts. If you like pretty,instructions given.
try the font called Trebuchet.