Sep 25, 2009 | blog
Sometimes it’s the simple things that we overlook the most. For Personal Branding, this is occasionally the email signature. If you look over the most frequent and pervasive communications tools we have, email is still a top contender for the vast majority of folks.
With that in mind, anyone who has built a specific brand for themselves or for companies that are very brand aware, a custom email signature should be a “no brainerâ€. I’m surprised at how often folks tend to forget about this most basic of branding options. An email signature doesn’t have to be overly complex, or designed by a professional designer, though these are sometimes options.
On the simple side, just having a standard email signature in plain text can do wonders. It can have the basic contact information, including social network URLs if that’s desired. This works equally well for corporations as it does for individuals. For a large organization, it can allow for different telephone, cell, and fax numbers, but keeps a consistent layout and message to the recipients.
For more advanced or adventurous users, the ability to utilize HTML formatting and images makes for very impressive and robust brand statements. Going this route also allows for a picture for individual email accounts as well.
I’ve also found that having more than one custom signature is a plus. The number of sigs I use changes during the course of a year, but there are basically two that I use. One for personal emails and one for business emails. The personal one is quite simple, as I’m corresponding with people that already know me well and don’t need a constant reminder that I’m so-and-so.
The business signature is more professional and has contact information for practically any way a person can find to interact with me. Variations on the business sig for me range from the company I work for, a sig for “Social Media Breakfast†related emails, and a personal business sig. This allows me great flexibility to communicate specifically what I’m representing in that email.
Whatever route you choose to go, don’t hesitate to create your own customized email signature. Use your favorite search engine using “custom email signature†and you’ll have a number of options to help you through. So don’t leave this “low hanging fruit†on the tree – go get your sig together today.
Photo credit: darque9
Feb 9, 2009 | happiness
The big 300 makes me very happy to have taken the advice of many friends and continued, even when I thought writing about happiness was a bit silly.
Thank you!
Jan 23, 2009 | blog
I have to hand it to blogging friend and fellow SOBCon 2008 alumni Robert Hruzek of Middle Zone Musings. His monthly What I Learned From… series morphed into a fantastic display of blogging talent from around the web in January of this year.
Robert opened his blog to anyone interested in sharing a list of their posts from their blogs. Calling it BLOGAPALOOZA! – What I Learned From 2008, this blogging extravaganza has featured some of the best writing talent you can find on the ‘net.
You can find my post here – just posted today actually. So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Robert for the chance to share some posts of mine from 2008, and be part of a great group blogging project that has accumulated well over 100 entries so far.
So Robert, here’s a “tip o’ the hat†to you for organizing BLOGAPALOOZA 2008.
Dec 25, 2008 | blog
Try as I might, I couldn’t find the post that I thought I wrote about Moleskines some time ago. I think it was about a year ago a couple of online friends and I had a chance to finally meet and talk in person. It was a local version of LifeCamp, and it was Jason DeBoer-Moran (@newcoventry on Twitter) and Thomas Knoll (@thomasknoll on Twitter) along with a few more folks looking to organize and prioritize our lives these days.
One of the biggest take-away’s for me from that first meetup with my now-good friends was the importance of keeping track of thoughts and ideas. While these guys had been doing this for some time, it was a new initiative for me to keep something close to hand to quickly capture those moments of inspiration. The best device to record this information seemed to be a simple notebook.
However, I wanted to find something that was as rewarding to write in as the thoughts I was trying to capture. This is where the Moleskine comes in. Sure, lots of folks are turning back to these traditional mobile information gathering notebooks – to the point of it being cliche. The thing is though, I really enjoy these notebooks. They seem to reward the writer with a great feeling when writing in them.
For me in particular, these notebooks bring a sense of permanence to the things I’m writing. They bring a connection to the past, and offer a way to tap into the legacy of pen & paper in a way that the average ringed notebook found at your local big box discount store for 99¢ simply can’t. If you’re looking for it, a Moleskine can’t be beat for bringing another dimension to note taking or journaling. Give it a try for your next journal and see if it helps to inspire and capture the ideas, stories, and things that you’re trying to save.
Nov 25, 2008 | blog
Hi! Sorry I’m not posting as frequently as I had been. I’m working on that, but am a bit sidetracked with my current client in Minneapolis. Its funny how some clients can take up not just time, but more importantly energy from your normal pursuits.
Sometimes it’s hard to work at client sites, where you don’t have the connectivity, or freedom, or time to keep up with the daily routine. Other times it’s just a rollercoaster of energy absorption that the client takes up so I don’t have any left for personal endeavors. Its a really frustrating experience when I think about it.
So, I’m trying to “partition†my client work from my personal work. That was something I thought I had gotten a handle on awhile ago, but must have forgot somewhere along the way. At any rate, as I work through rebalancing my work/personal time, I’ll be working on posting here on the blog again.
Stay tuned.
