What Is An Email Signature And What Do I Do With It?

You hear it all the time… email signature, sig file, signature box, etc

What Is A Signature?

A signature is a short block of text at the end of an email message with information identifying you and providing additional information about what you are offering. You can think of your signature as passive advertising. It follows you wherever you go on the Internet and quietly and very effectively tells those you meet who you are and what you do - if you are taking advantage of the benefits of a personalized signature.

You can use your signature in the closing of ALL emails you send. It is like an extension of your identity. It also allows potential clients to easily find your details and contact you. You can use your signature when posting to message boards and forums, too. Of course, you will want to read the rules of the forum to be sure that signatures are allowed.

What Does An Email Signature Look Like?

Usually, an email signature is best limited to 4-6 lines or less. It needs to create curiosity, clearly state what you are offering and invite readers to CLICK on it to learn more - all in a nanosecond - because that is about how much time you have to get the attention of the readers of your email.

Keep the lines of your signature short and concise and easy to read quickly. Include only enough information to create curiosity to encourage the reader to CLICK on the link to your website (or to call a phone number if you do not have a website).

Always include your telephone number in your signature as you want to be appear approachable - as a REAL person, which you are of course!

How do I create an Email Signature?

In Outlook Express, you can have multiple signatures (one for work mail and one for private messages, for example). Fortunately, creating signatures is easy.

Creating a Signature in Outlook Express:

To set up your email signature in Outlook Express:

• Select Tools | Options... from the menu in Outlook Express.
• Go to the Signatures tab.
• Click New.
• Type the text of your signature under Edit Signature.
• Try to limit your signature to 4-5 lines of text, and
• possibly use the standard signature delimiter.
• This field is for plain text only, but you can also enrich your signature with HTML formatting.
• Click OK.

Using Domain Names In Your Signature

Purchasing your own domain name is inexpensive and simple to do and makes a huge difference in the appearance of your signature. Contact Us for more information.

If you want readers of your messages to click on your signature, target the audience to whom you are writing. Be sure your email is professional and attractive to the target group. You may want to have several different signatures for different target audiences.

One effective way to capture attention with your signature is to make it a PS (postscript) or even include Pssssssst in your signature, like this…

Sam Sample
021 555 5555

Psssst - Need a bond? Talk to us!
http://www.sahometraders.co.za

A PS or Psssst gets attention!

Automating Your Email Signature

Most email programs have a feature to allow you to create multiple email signatures and include them automatically in your emails. Click on Help in your email program and type in “email signature” and you will find detailed instructions - or you can even do a search for information on the Internet and you will find a variety of instructions.

Marketing With Email Signatures

You know how you get forwards from people you know with articles, stories or jokes? When you share something of value with people you know - or to a discussion list in which you participate - always include a signature because you never know when someone is going to forward YOUR message to all of their friends. This is a powerful marketing tool

The Most Important Part of Your Signature

Of course, the most important part of your signature is the destination to which you are leading your readers. Therefore, the most important thing to remember is..

Proofread, proofread, proofread.

Spelling is extremely important of course, but even more important is the accuracy of the URL or website address that you include in your signature… for if someone clicks on the link you provide and it does not work, you have lost the opportunity to capture that reader’s interest. One way to be sure the URL in your signature is working is to copy & paste it into your browser and go to the website yourself. Then you will know it works!

In a signature file, you have one chance to capture your reader’s attention. Make a it a good one!

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