E-Mail Signatures

Presumably when you created your Web site you had something to say (or show) to the world. You've done a lot of hard work, and you should want the everyone to know about it! Otherwise, why bother?

Besides the usual methods, one simple thing that everyone should do is create a signature for any and all e-mail messages that they send. This includes messages sent through mailing lists such as egroups and Yahoo Clubs, as well as newsgroups. In fact, using a signature is the only generally accepted (non-spam) method you can use to advertise anything, including your personal home page, when posting to newsgroups.

Most e-mail programs allow you to specify a signature of some kind -- usually you can set it up in the preferences or options. If the e-mail program does not support this, then make a small text file and keep it open -- then copy and paste the small amount of text for each e-mail that you send.

Okay, some simple rules for signatures:
Do not include any graphics in your signature.

Never include any executables (scripts) as these may contain viruses (or may be mistaken for them).

Avoid HTML -- just keep your signature nice and simple.

Include a few dashes between your signature and your text. Systems such as Majordomo (an e-mail list processor) use dashes as a separator.

It's a good idea to avoid directly plugging your favorite affiliate programs in your signature. Use the signature to get people to your Web site, then plug whatever you want there. Some anti-spam filters will delete your message entirely if they find affiliate program references.

Keep your signature under 6 lines if you can.

Keep it G-rated.

Remember, the point is to include your signature on normal e-mails -- not to send out your signature. You are just trying to let people with whom you are already communicating know that you have more to say on your Web site.

Keep each line under 65 characters.

Make sure all URL's fit on one line (URLs that have line breaks will not get clicked on).
Here is a sample signature (this is the one that I use most often).

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