Email Sig Lines Are Critical

(Editor’s note: This week’s marketing tip is brought to you by an Internet colleague of mine, Judy Vorfeld. Thanks for your contribution, Judy!)

How do you market your Internet business with low funds and high hopes? Well, marketing your business begins with marketing yourself — just about everything you do and say on the Internet reflects you and your business. It’s all about relationships.

Since you don’t usually meet people face to face on the Internet (with the exception of Web conferencing), you want to personalize your communication as much as possible. In the real world, upon meeting someone in person, you might shake hands, exchange business cards and talk about each other’s businesses. You would listen, respond, give good eye contact and hopefully, your partner would do likewise. In doing so, you’re exercising the fundamentals of building a relationship.

Online, the characteristics change a bit. In some respects, without the human face-to-face, you have a deficiency in your ability to build a relationship. However, there are definitely things you can do to overcome this shortfall. Let’s take just one aspect: your email signature line.

The words that appear at the end of each email message you send are called a “signature line.” Most email programs now allow you to automatically attach a signature line every time you send an email. I recommend you prepare a good signature line (also called “sig line” or “tag line”), and use it at all times.

An email sig file should say something about who you are, where you are, and the name and nature of your business. Make it easy for people to contact you. Let’s use mine as an example:

Judy Vorfeld - mailto:oss@ossweb.com
Office Support Services - http://www.ossweb.com
Copy Editing - Copy Writing (documents & Web)
Web Site Analysis - Design - Coordination
Arizona Phone: 623-876-8168 || Fax 623-876-8169

Anyone reading this knows the general nature of my services, and that my business is in Arizona. They can call me, fax me, e-mail me, or go to either of my sites to learn more about me and my business. Incidentally, sometimes e-mail addresses don’t appear in a recipient’s e-mail header. I recommend including your e-mail address in the sig line.

In 1998, Dee Power of Capital-Connection.com contacted me, having read my comments in a newsgroup. She’d known me through various newsgroups, but it was only recently that I’d created a good sig line. Noting that I did Web site analysis, she asked if I would consider writing a regular column, critiquing Web sites, for her newsletter. I agreed. The newsletter subscription base is impressive, her online business is growing, and she endorses my business on her site. I put the critiques up on my site, once they’ve been published, to give Dee and the sites I reviewed more exposure. It’s a win-win situation. All this came about because of a sig line.

By putting all the above type of information at the disposal of others, you’re making a statement that you’re accessible. And that you’re a professional. Now get out there, sig it up, and network!

 back to top