At the end of every e-mail is the signature line which tells the reader how to contact you. It also tells them a lot about you and your brand. Surprisingly, many people don’t take advantage of this last step in the communication process in an e-mail letter.
The minimum contact information that you should include in the signature line is your full name, title, company name, mail address, office phone, fax, and website. I suggest that you also restate your e-mail address.
Cell phone numbers are a personal preference. What I don’t like about including them is the perceived notion that you are available 24/7. Do you really want your customers calling you after hours or on weekends? If you do include your cell phone, it would make checking your cell phone voice mail a critical task. This is up to you.
Some people include their address for social networks such as LinkedIn, MySpace, and Facebook. Once again this is personal preference.
Your e-mail signature says a lot about your brand as a professional. One way to make your e-mail signature unique and memorable is to include a personal tagline. A tagline should be no more than three to five words and it should tell your customers why you are special. My tagline is “Be First, Best, or Different” and it appears at the top of my e-mail signature.
Sometimes a short biography is appropriate. If a bio is used make sure that it is no more than 50 words. The bio is good selling tool for an independent professional such as a consultant, attorney, or CPA.
Pulling it all together, here is a sample of what I use on my e-mails:
“Be First, Best, or Different”
John Bradley Jackson has over twenty-five years of sales and marketing experience from Silicon Valley and Wall Street. He is the author of the new book “First, Best, or Different: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Niche Marketing” and has written 100s of Internet articles on sales, marketing, and negotiation.
Mail address: XXXX Sunset Lane, Yorba Linda, California 92886
Phone: 714 777 XXXX
Fax: 714 777 XXXX
E-mail: johnbradleyjackson@gmail.com
Blog: http://www.firstbestordifferent.com/blog
Website: http://www.firstbestordifferent.com
John Bradley Jackson
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