______________________________________________ How to Create and Market Your E-mail Signature By Herman Drost ______________________________________________ Note: If this shows in your browser, simply click "File" in your browser and select "Save As" and make sure that file type is text (.txt) Links in this article do not show as active because this is a text file. Why text (.txt) format? Text files are much easier to download, don't require much disk space, and easier to print. ======================================================== THE CENTER FOR INTERNET MARKETING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION http://bizinfo.manila.ph ======================================================== Hi, This is Ave Ramel, the Coach of the Center for Internet Marketing Research and Education, exponent of internet marketing since 1999. This article was evaluated by your Coach and made available for The Center's archive for new subscribers. 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Proceed to your Coach's Weblog located at http://aredconsult.blogspot.com and discover secrets, tips, and tricks ______________________________________________ How to Create and Market Your E-mail Signature By Herman Drost ______________________________________________ One of the most effective ways to passively promote your business is to create an email signature file. People don't often put much thought into this powerful passive marketing tool and therefore lose out on an opportunity to gain new customers. =========================== What is an email signature? =========================== This is usually a few lines of text placed at the bottom of an email message, forum or newsgroup that identifies you, your company and your product or service. ===================================== How to create an email signature file ===================================== This should include your name, company or web site title, your web site address, your phone number, email address or other contact information and a short message advertising your web site or business. Try to keep your signature file to 6 lines maximum. ========================================================== How to create your email signature file in Outlook Express ========================================================== In Outlook Express, choose Tools-Options-Signatures-New and write your email signature in the edit signature box. If you want to create several email signatures in a notepad file, then click the "File" radio button, and browse for your signature file. This makes it easy to edit any of your email signatures in notepad and upload the edited version in Outlook Express. Tips: Put a lot of thought into the creation of your signature file so it matches the theme and personality of your web site. Create several signature files in notepad for different products, services or occassions. You can then copy and paste them into your email program. Keep your signature file within 65 characters wide. This is the maximum viewing width of most e-mail clients. If it's wider than this it may "break" onto the next line, taking up more space. ========================================== 7 ways to market your email signature file ========================================== 1. Outgoing email - include your email signature in every email you send to your customers. This will remind them of who they are doing business with and it will also help with branding your business. Create 4 or 5 different email signature files in notepad and save it in an easily accessible folder on your computer. Use one for each different product you are promoting. 2. HTML email - most email clients these days can receive html email. This means you can liven up your email messages by including, live links, graphics and even interactive forms in your html email. Use the full web site address for your images otherwise they won't render well in the recipients email mail inbox ie http://www.yoursite.com/images/header.gif 3. Graphical signatures - you can also create a graphical image of your personal signature in your favorite graphics software. To do this, write down your signature on paper with a thick black pen. Scan it into your graphics software and upload it to your server. When you insert the image into your html email, use an absolute URL. 4. Online forums - when relying to a post or creating a post, create an interesting subject line that entices visitors to read your post. Make it informative and of value. Don't write an ad - it won't get opened and may even get deleted by the forum moderators. Include your signature file at the bottom of your post. Make sure it contains your full web site address (so it's a live link) and include the keywords in the link text that relates with the theme of your web site. Doing this will increase the link popularity of your web site (an important factor in your site's rankings). Search engines regularly visit active forums and message boards, thus spidering the link in your signature file. Tip: Make sure your signature file relates to the information you are posting. 5. Articles - you can include a signature file at the end of articles you write. Your article may be published by 100s of ezine publishers reaching 1000s of potential subscribers. By including your web site address in the resource box of your article, you will acquire many links back to your web site thus automatically increasing your site's link popularity. 6. Autoresponders - if you set up a sequential autoresponder with several diferent messages, be sure to include your email signature file following each message. Include a quick advertisement or two for your products but don't overdo it. The main purpose is to to remind them to visit your web site. You can also leave your email signature in ezine ads, newsgroups, polls, surveys, guest books and feedback forms. Include it in your confirmation emails as a result of visitors filling out your forms. 7. Tracking - to optimize the effectiveness of your email signature, you need to also track them. This will enable you to find out which email signature works the best. When using the full web site address in your signature file, you can redirect it by tracking the full URL. The best way to achieve this is by using ad tracking software (see resources below). This allows you to keep track of any number of URLs used in your marketing campaigns. Try to use your email signature file everyday in your online marketing efforts. It doesn't take much effort, it won't cost anything and can reap huge rewards. ==================== Ad Tracker Resources ==================== Add2It.com Adtrackz.com ================ About the Author ================ Herman Drost is the author of the popular ebook: "101 Highly Effective Strategies to Promote Your Web Site" http://www.isitebuild.com/web-site- promotion Subscribe to his "Marketing Tips" newsletter for more original articles. mailto:subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more of his in- depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles ============================== Let Me Help You Get Customers: ============================== AREDCONSULT SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS I. EXECUTIVE COACHING - for busy entrepreneurs, decision-makers and marketing executives who can't spare much time away from their office operations but must immediately grasp and harness internet marketing to contribute to the company's profitability. I will come to you instead. 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