Okie dokie. The basics. What exactly is an email sign-off
Your sign-off is the part of your email -- with your name, company, phone, etc. -- that comes right after your text message.
To be honest, I find most email sign-offs pretty boring. (And I find some of them pretty annoying!)
Most often, however, I see lost opportunities.
In this article, well be taking a look at how just a few simple changes to your email signature can make a BIG difference to your business.
Lets explore....
1 - No sign-off, no results
I think its incredible -- since most of the emails I get are from coaches and small business owners -- but I get at least a couple of emails a day with absolutely no sign-off at all.
Thats right. No company name, and no contact information. Emails sometimes even arrive without the senders last name!
This is not only a waste of a perfect marketing opportunity, its pretty bad business. Theres nothing professional about a business email without basic business information.
2 - Start with the basics
Every email you send out should include basic information about you and your company:
* Your name (first and last)
* Company Name
* Business phone
* Email address
Tip: Why include your email address here, when the reader can see it at the top of the email Simply because its easier for the reader to have all of your contact information in one place -- especially if he decides to add it to his address book or contact manager.
A basic email signature might also include:
* Your title or business designation
* Company logo and/or tag line
* Your photo
* Fax and/or cell phone number
* Website address
Tip: If you include any graphics (photo, logo, etc.) be sure to use small files that will download quickly and easily for the reader. (For me, any file I need to wait for falls into that annoying category.)
3 - Whats in it for youHeres the deal. Your email signature is the perfect place to include information about your business, your products, or your services. Why
* Youre writing -- or responding -- to someone you know is already interested in you, or your business
* You know your message will be seen
* Email is a natural place to describe something new, or interesting
* Its totally non-intrusive
* Its easy
* It doesnt cost you a thing!
So, take a minute to think about something about your business -- or your products -- that youd like to tell people about. For example:
* Your upcoming workshop, seminar, or teleclasses
* Your book or audio product
* An improvement youve made to an existing product or program
* New business location, or expanded business hours
* Your new website
Choose one of these ideas now, and take it through the next few steps in this article....
4 - Whats in it for them
To illustrate, lets say you decide to use your email signature to tell people about an upcoming teleclass.
I can imagine several answers to the question, Whats in it for you
* new business leads
* live interaction with solid business prospects
* revenue (if youre charging a fee for the class)
* opportunity to introduce participants to your other products and services
* getting your name out into the business community
* opportunity to shine as an expert in your field
* word-of-mouth advertising from your teleclass participants
If youd like your email signature to attract new clients -- and sales -- be sure to focus on Whats in it for THEM
Going back to the teleclass example, what will participants get out of it (information, fun, interaction, difficult to find facts or tips, a plan/strategy, etc.)
What problem do they have that this teleclass will help resolve Where are they struggling (stress, frustration, ill health, isolation, financial troubles, need more clients, lack of confidence, etc.)
Jot down at least two benefits your reader will get from your product. And then write a sentence or two that simply tells them this -- and shows them how to order or sign up (live links, please!).
Add your contact information, and youve got a powerful email signature!
Tip: To improve your results, add an offer -- or a reason for the reader to take action NOW.
5 - Short and sweet
Remember I said that email signatures are totally non-intrusive I was describing clear, concise, well-written email signatures; yours, I hope!
Take a quick peek into your email Sent box. If youre anything like me, most emails you send out are 10-20 lines long. Many are probably only 2-3 lines.
Dont write an email signature thats longer than most of your emails!
Im a member of several email list-serves (coaching, writing, publishing) and not suprisingly, every one of them has rules about email signatures. The maximum suggested length is between 7-8 lines.
Use this length recommendation as a guide when developing yours. Think 3-4 lines to get your marketing message across, and 3-4 lines for your basic contact information. Thats all you need.
6 - The tech of it all
Okay, one question that often pops up is whether to use a text only or html email sign-off (often called signature in your mail program).
In my mind, that totally depends on your audience.
If you work with a fairly tech-savvy group of people, and would like to add the graphics and formatting that are possible with html, go for it. For some audiences, however, html is a mistake -- since itll show up as an unreadable mass of code if they dont have the software to decode it properly.
Not sure Stick to simple text email messages and sign-offs.
In the past couple of years, email signatures have become incredibly simple to do (technically, that is!). Heres where to find basic instructions from two of the most popular email programs:
Outlook: Tools > Options > Mail Format > SignaturesAOL: Mail > Set Mail Signatures > Create
For other mail programs, check the Help menu, or write to customer support. These days, virtually every ISP will has a way for you to add an email signature -- with or without a marketing message -- quickly and easily.
Tip: Take a minute or two right now to write a new email signature, and get it into your email account.
7 - Keep em fresh
Ever have this experience: You drive past the same billboard day after day, and after while, you literally dont see it at all
The same holds true for email sign-offs. After several emails with the same sign-off, your readers wont see it any more. So write several sign-offs -- for the same product, or for different products or programs -- to keep them fresh and new.
Each time you write one, ask yourself:
* Does it meet your marketing objective (Whats in it for you)
* Does it offer a real benefit to your reader (Whats in it for them)
* Is it clear and concise (7-8 lines, including your contact information)
Use these three questions as guidelines, and youll be well on your way to creating email sign-offs thatll attract customers -- and increase sales.
Best-selling author Kathy Gulrich helps clients get from idea, to action, to results - more quickly, and more easily - whether theyre looking to write a book, develop a new product, or market their product or business. Clients love her direct, no-nonsense approach - and her gentle insistence on great results. Find out for yourself: Check out one of Kathys teleclasses, or pick up a free worksheet, at
I was out trying to help our local boat shop owner meet his quota for bass boat sales when I ran into my friend Ned the Newbie, well his real name is Gary but he is really interested in online marketing and has been learning a little more each time we meet. He also reminds of Ned from the Simpsons cartoon because he is so bubbly and eager to please.
So I stopped drooling long enough to say hello and to see how his Internet marketing strategies research was doing since we last met. As usual Ned was all excited about something and wouldnt let me get a word out before he was asking questions.
Read about our last meeting at:http://www.inetstrategiesinc.com/articles/ned-the-newbie.html
Ned is trying to learn so much about Internet marketing that he is getting himself confused and frustrated, but he is determined to earn a living from the Internet. He just needs to learn to slow down, take baby steps and maybe even relax a bit. But that wouldnt be Ned, would it.
The question on the tip of Neds tongue was What is Niche Marketing and can I make more money with it than I can with Internet marketing
This wasnt a question I was going to answer right there so I invited Ned back to my office where I would be able to show him examples plus I was a little distracted by the boats and I dont like being distracted from business and Ned was fine with that.
Ned was waiting for me when I arrived back home, and as usual before I could even say hello he was asking questions. Although his first question was to ask if I had purchased the bass boat I was drooling over.
Once we settled in I opened my browser, handed Ned my keyboard, along with a note pad and pen, then asked him to go to Google.com and search for: what is niche marketing, using the quotes in this case. After only 2 seconds Ned had the following definitions.
------------------------------------------
Definitions of Niche Marketing on the Web (from Google.com):
Niche marketing is the process of finding small but potentially profitable market segments and designing custom-made products for them. Niche marketers are often reliant on the loyalty business model to maintain a profitable volume of sales.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_marketing
------------------------------------------
Neds face was a little red as he admitted how easy it was to find that answer to what niche marketing is.
Learning how to use a search engine to find, or better yet, research market themes and topics is extremely important to any online business, so take the time to read the Advanced Serch Help for the search engines you use.
Because I am so fanatical about fishing lets look at fishing as the keyword for our market study.
Use Google.com to search for results on the keyword fishing. How many did you find 100 million, okay I would say fishing might just be a little too general, so lets be more specific by looking up bass fishing.
Be sure to use the quotation marks so that you are finding results that have bass fishing as a phrase, rather that two words any where on the page. That can be important for contextual reasons.
That narrowed our search from 100 million to just 3 million. Okay, that is still a lot of pages out there competing for that phrase, but dont give up quite yet.
How about getting a localized a bit. Lets add our local area into the search criteria. This time use a plus sign before the quotes that hold New Brunswick. You search text should look like:
bass fishing +New Brunswick
Now you have narrowed your market down until you are only competing with 40,000 pages. That is a little more do-able at this point in your marketing experience. After you have your foot in the fishing market door for your niche and you have started earning an income, you can start moving into other niches within the general fishing market to generate more sources of income.
Lets take a few minutes and use a couple of research tools that will help you understand Niche marketing a little better.
Two very useful tools are http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ and https://adwords.google.com/select/maincmd=KeywordSandbox. These tools are really made for paid search engine campaigns, but they will give you an idea of the best keywords and phrases that make for a good niche market.
http://www.goodkeywords.com/ - You could also try a freeware Good KeyWords, which can be downloaded by clicking the link, to choose targeted keywords.
http://our.affiliatetracking.net/wordtracker/a/14875 - I recommend WordTrackers database of terms that are actually used on the major search engines and is the most complete and dependable keyword phrases suggestion tool. WordTracker draws their information from most of the major search engines.
Lets take a look at the Overture Suggestion Tool and see how many requests there are for these phrases. It is kind of important to have enough people that want what you have in order for you to earn a living from your online business.
Start with the keyword fishing just like we did when we were using Google.com.
Overture says 280,000 searches were made for this phrase over the past three months. Cool, you could make lots of money there, all you have to do is sail past all those millions of other pages out there trying to compete with this term. So lets look at the list and see what we can gleen from it.
280730 fishing 34156 fishing trip alaska 22113 fishing lure
113665 fly fishing 32640 fishing trip 21853 fishing gear
108583 archery fishing hunting 31267 fly fishing vacation
19789 alaska fishing 45136 fishing boat 30419 bass fishing
16141 cat fishing 45011 fishing vacation 28874 fishing rods
15814 fishing report 38952 canada fishing 28684 deep sea fishing
14538 trout fishing 37699 alaska salmon fishing
25332 fishing tackle 13961 lake fishing
If we use the same tool and search for bass fishing instead of fishing we will get a tighter market and one that would be a little easier to break into, although bass fishing is still a huge market.
30419 bass fishing 1135 bass fishing striped 700 bass fishing trip
5069 bass fishing home page 911 bass fishing mexico 639 bass fall fishing
2181 bass fishing tip 903 bass fishing smallmouth 592 bass fishing tackle
1839 bass fishing lure 834 bass fishing fly 538 bass fishing free game
1727 bass fishing report 828 bass boat fishing 516 bass fishing pro
1620 bass fishing peacock 816 bass fishing game 468 bass fishing picture
1584 bass fishing florida 762 bass fishing tournament 459 bass fishing technique
Now if you were to use this same tool and specify a location also you would have narrowed your market into an even tighter Niche market. Think about it this way. If you decided to get into Internet marketing and you tried to marketing to everyone you would be so general that you would most likely reach no one, but...
... if you break that far too general market of fishing into smaller groups you can be far more focused on your niche market target group and will stand a much better chance of succeeding.
James Mann, owner/webmaster
Search engine optimization is a huge part of most marketers success strategies so take the time to learn how to start your own online business by pre-planning your SEO.
Take our FREE 7 Day eCourse on search engine optimization for your web site. FREE 7 Day eCourse