What’s in YOUR signature?
Many times every day, I am left to wonder aloud: why do so many people not use this easy, free, and important opportunity when they are connecting with others in their regular emails?
I open my inbox and sift through the many inquiries. I see emails from all industries; small business owners, or my community of artists, or would-be clients. They want my advice, want to know my opinion about an idea or marketing plan, or want to know more about what I can do to help them.
More than 50% of emails I receive leave me in the dark. I am ready to react. I want to go see their website to get more information so I can pinpoint their needs in my attempt to help in a reply. But, far too often, I can’t! It’s a big blank space under their name or just a first name.
Sometimes, I don’t even have a first name in the signature, just the “sent from my Ipad” auto-signature – which you can change by the way! Meanwhile, WHO sent this? And if your email address is blissedout@gmail or yahoo or….whatever.com, I truly have nothing to go on.
Unfortunately, hitting reply is the only option and that leaves the interaction at a very basic and one-dimensional level of exchange.
Here’s what I put on the base of every single email I send from my personal email program:
Mckenna Hallett
808-986-8114 (Hawaii Time!)
Visit My Golden Words Helping Businesses Get the RIGHT Words Out!™
Official Solutions Provider and Core Certified Authorized Local Expert with Constant Contact. Grow your business with my help. Sign up for a FREE 60 day trial with Constant Contact Today!
Mckenna Hallett is a wordsmith and copywriting expert specializing in creating real results for all things that need marketing (and all things need marketing by the way!)
Want Free Tips and Hints about Marketing Best Practices? Join My Email List!
This is on every email I send out or reply to. I have set this up in my mail program and it is automatically in place at the bottom of every email. I use Mac Mail, but ALL programs let you do this basic task.
Therefore, every single person has the easy and instant “opportunity” to call me directly, visit my website to learn more about me, join my email list and, of course, sign up for a free trial with my beloved Constant Contact Email Service Provider.
This may be my one hundredth email to them, but if they need to call me for any reason and want to do it instantly – there’s that phone number. Maybe they just talked to a friend who could use my services and voila!: they can share my info in an instant.
Maybe, just maybe, they finally decide they want to check out my services and hire me for a project. They can click and learn more instantly! Or just call me. We are all too easily and quickly distracted. We need instant access.
Yes! People still use phones. I sure do. I prefer to call if someone has just written 200 words full of questions about my services. Don’t make me email answers that will take 30 mins to compose but 5 mins to discuss. Let me have instant access.
And why would you not want to share your website? Are you trying to grow your business? Why would you keep anything as important as your website a secret from anyone. Even your BFF might want to forward your info and now you just made that really easy, right?
Are you involved in anything special now? Is there an upcoming event? I there a sale going on? Add that in with the links to drive traffic to your website or a landing page or social media sites or anything that could lead to increasing your clients or contact’s knowledge and involvement. I recommend you have whatever you want to share must be in a link in that “signature” block! You have nothing to lose.
And if you are missing the essential link that entices people to join your email list – your official email marketing program list – then you are throwing away opportunity and, therefore, money. You must ask people to get on your business/professional email list. You should be asking for that everywhere, by the way. But that’s another post entirely!
If you are reading this and are confused about the difference between a gmail/outlook/hotmail types of personal email program vs a professional program, you need to read this.
If you can’t figure out how to create a signature, just make the effort to send the basics manually every time. Have at least your full name, your phone, and your website address:
Cheers,
Mckenna
Mckenna Hallett – 808-283-2108 – www.mygoldenwords.com
You must do this. Your signature block is the smartest and most cost effective marketing tool in your kit. It lets you passively be a marketer at every potential “meeting” with others. It could mean the difference between a sale and/or new client in the very next personal email you send!
By the way, if you aren’t on my list, well, do that now! You will want to stay informed about the next blog post, you need to get on my mailing list. I won’t over do it – but I will keep you growing your business!
Been doing that for a Looong time. Most valuable. But I found someone looking for my address via an email query and she asked me for my address. Needless to say I said it is below every message I send. Point is I think people are zooming through their email and not looking at the bottom. Remember the old style of writing business letters with both sender and receivers address at the TOP of the letter? Hmm maybe that would work but it is annoying. O well You can bring a horse to water but it may not drink.
Thanks!
Artliveslong, D
Well, yes, that’s happened to me, too! Amazing, but we are all “skimmers” today and even though my phone number is very clearly under my name, it still gets “missed” and people will ask for my phone number! I think that people assume (since they are not in the Practice) that they need to ask. I might just experiment with putting my info under a “heading” like CONTACT INFO: and put it BIG RED colors. That might be the next best thing to the TOP of the letter of the bygone days?
What I do is make the information into a larger type size, then bold it.
That’s a good idea, Bill. And do you have a link so people can sign-up for your emails, too?
Thanks McKenna, I’ve had that same thing happen, people asking for my contact info when it too is at the bottom of each email I send.
The extra thing I appreciate about your “signature block” is the addition of COLOR! Genius! I will be making that change to mine.
Mahalo nui loa,
Patrice
http://www.artofaloha.com 🙂
Yeah… And I am even thinking of adding even more color! AND…How much am I missing when I am out and about in my inbox, too? We all need to slow down, right? A hui hou, Patrice!