Promote Your Business With an Email Signature Does your email signature contain a humorous quip or a philosophical quote from a dead poet? If yes, you're wasting a wonderful opportunity to promote your business for free! An email signature is the text that you see at the bottom of the body of an email message. Most email software applications allow you to create an email signature that will be used automatically each time you send out a message. To the individual, the e-sig is a chance to be creative or funny or to make a political or social statement. To a business person, an email signature is a beautiful opportunity to advertise your business to everyone who views your email. While advertising is often banned in mailing lists and newsgroups, email signatures are not. Post a message and your carefully worded signature will follow. Remember that an e-sig is an advertisement and therefore the basic guidelines for writing advertisements apply. However, modifications for online use are required. To get the most mileage out of your email signature, keep the following guidelines in mind: 1. Less is more. Some email systems and mailing lists will automatically cut off any signature exceeding 4-6 lines, so keep it below this length. It's also a good idea to set your line lengths to about 60 characters -- the optimal length for readability. Many email programs will allow you to set line to 60 characters. If your email program doesn't offer this feature, use hard returns to end the lines at the desired length. 2. Attract attention to your signature by creating "borders" of text or special characters. 3. Include the name of your business and a short, pithy marketing statement. 4. Sell benefits, not features. 5. Offer something free - i.e. free information, a free-to-enter contest, free samples, etc. Your free report can contain other advertising material, but please ensure that it does include free information so your potential customers will not feel that they have been exploited. 6. Make it easy for people to contact you by providing clickable links to URLs and emails. For example, if you add &auot;mailto:" in front of an email address, most email programs will allow the user to open a new message to that address simply by clicking on the link. 7. Avoid using HTML coding in the signature. Many persons do not or cannot view HTML email. If you send plain text email, you are sure that everyone will be able to view it properly. For example:
"A healthy puppy is a happy puppy! "
For a FREE report on canine health and nutrition, send a blank email to
mailto: report@something.org
The Good Dog Shop -- For All Your Pet's Needs! (http://www.something.org)
In the simulated example above, the mythical Good Dog Shop sells a benefit (i.e. -- a happy pet), offers free information that pet lovers will appreciate, provides contact information, states the business name, and gives viewers two methods to quickly contact The Good Dog Shop. All in 31 words plus two lines of border! Disclaimer: I have created the name, "Good Dog Shop" for the purpose of providing an example. If there should happen to be an actual business by this name, my article does not refer to it.
FREE GIFT when you visit June Campbell on the web. Also information about writing business proposals, joint venture contracts, business plans and more? Visit June Campbell's business resource site.
Nightcats Multimedia Productions: http://www.nightcats.com/
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
More Website Marketing Articles
More By Developer Shed  developerWorks - FREE Tools!
|
Learn how you can extend modern application lifecycle management to IBM System z through the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform (SDP). The Did you say mainframe? e-kit includes podcasts, webcasts, tutorials, white and red papers, demos, and articles designed to help ease the challenges of modernizing your enterprise. This complimentary kit for mainframe developers is a practical, how-to guide for making the most of an existing development environment, including the skills and infrastructure already in place at an established enterprise.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
WebSphere Process Server delivers a unique integration framework that simplifies existing IT resources. Often, as IT assets grow to support business demand, so too does their complexity and manageability. In this webcast, we’ll discuss how WebSphere Process Server helps deliver an SOA infrastructure that provides a common model to orchestrate, mediate, connect, map, and execute the underlying IT functions. Discover how WebSphere Process Server simplifies integration of business processes by leveraging existing IT assets as reusable services without the complexities of traditional integration methodologies.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Visit IBM developerWorks to download IBM DB2 Express-C 9.5, a no-charge version of DB2 Express 9 database server. DB2 Express-C offers the same core data server base features as other DB2 Express editions and provides a solid base to build and deploy applications developed using C/C++, Java, .NET, PHP, and other programming languages.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Learn from the best! Find out how developers use Rational ClearCase to be more flexible, innovative and deliver higher quality code in the Rational ClearCase Power Users eKit. This complimentary eKit provides a collection of materials, like articles, whitepapers, and demos that can help you become a power user of Rational ClearCase.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Asset Reuse is a key strategy for companies looking to create innovative solutions to solve complex software development problems. Searching for, identifying, updating, using and deploying software assets can be a difficult challenge. Listen to this webcast, to learn about strategies and tools that you can leverage for a successful project, including Rational Asset Manager, Rational Software Architect and WebSphere Service Registry and Repository.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Join this Rational Talks to You teleconference on November 29 at 1:00 pm ET to participate in an interactive discusssion with Grady Booch around architecture and reuse. Get your questions answered!
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
Get a free trial download of IBM Lotus Forms V3.0 (formerly Workplace Forms), which provides a zero-footprint eForms solution to help you automate and move forms-based business processes off the desktop and onto the Web. With Lotus Forms, you can extend applications beyond the firewall by creating a single electronic form document ready for use in both thick and Web 2.0 thin client format.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
In this webcast, IBM Rational will discuss the importance of Web application security and will share techniques and best practices to introduce application security testing into current QA processes including: understanding common security vulnerabilities and techniques to integrate security testing with defect tracking and remediation systems in an effort to safeguard sensitive online information.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
WebSphere Process Server delivers a unique integration framework that simplifies existing IT resources. Often, as IT assets grow to support business demand, so too does their complexity and manageability. In this webcast, we’ll discuss how WebSphere Process Server helps deliver an SOA infrastructure that provides a common model to orchestrate, mediate, connect, map, and execute the underlying IT functions. Discover how WebSphere Process Server simplifies integration of business processes by leveraging existing IT assets as reusable services without the complexities of traditional integration methodologies.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
With IBM Rational Systems Development Solution, you can deliver products faster with higher quality. Within this kit, Read the “Model Driven Systems Development” white paper to see how to improve product quality and communication. Then check out the rest of the e-Kit to learn more about important topics that can affect the success of any software project through customer examples, tutorials, informative Webcasts, and best practices for designing, building and managing systems. From start to finish, at every stage in your projects, Rational Systems Development Solution can help your company reach its full potential.
FREE! Go There Now!
| | | |
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools!
| |
