by Rachel Smith
06 May 2016
I’m sick to death of my email signature.
It was designed for me years ago, and I loved it at the time, but instead of maintaining the designer’s ‘less is more’ look, I just kept tweaking it. Whenever I did anything new, I’d add it to my email signature like a desperate interior designer who thinks just one more strategically-placed throw pillow or pot-plant will complete the look.
I just assumed I was giving people waaaay more ways to get in touch with me, but what I was probably doing was giving prospective clients and editors and heck, friends, a big fat headache with my ever-growing mishmash of info, links, colours and fonts. Contact me? Um, no. They were running from the notion, probably screaming, ‘My burning eyes, STOP with the messed up rainbow!’ (I did go a bit overboard on rainbow colours, admittedly.)
It’s crying out for a good declutter, especially considering how many emails I actually SEND per day, and how many potential opportunities I might be losing to leave a good lasting impression. So I’ve done my research and here’s how to craft a great email signature, if you’re looking to overhaul yours, too.
Seriously, do you really need to add three Twitter accounts, two Facebook pages, Instagram, LinkedIn, your personal portfolio, your street address, your postal address, your phone number, your Skype, your email and your mobile? This is not a trick question. Just pick a few ways to contact you that work best for you, because the more choices you give people, the more you’ll bamboozle them and send them running. Oh, and don’t forget to check that the links you DO include in your email signature actually work!
Experts suggest using a cross-platform font that works on both Mac and PC (like Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana) with a point size of 11-14 so it’s readable (and clickable) on devices and a variety of inboxes. Don’t be tempted to jam a few different fonts in there. Better to use one and change the size, etc, to differentiate between sections. Hard to read fonts, really teeny-tiny fonts and – goes without saying – that wacky rainbow colours should also be avoided. Unless you’re a PR for The Wiggles.
Trying to cut and paste an email address or other info to use from an image makes me want to go punch a tree. I have to painstakingly go back and forth to check the email as I type it out instead of just whipping it with a cut and paste and saving myself two minutes. Yeah, image signatures are bad, bad, bad.
If you’ve got a logo, of course that’s a no-brainer to use, but you might also like to use a picture of yourself. Just be aware that some people will have an email program that blocks images so they might never see your beautifully formatted signature in the way you intended. And, if your image is too large and takes too long to download, that can be pretty annoying so make sure you optimise it appropriately.
Especially if it’s an earnest, motivational quote like ‘Nothing worth having comes easy’… Grrrrr. Ditto the long and involved legal messages. Or a message telling people to save trees and only print the email if absolutely necessary. I think we all get the print-only-when-necessary thing. And maybe this is just me, but adding your last tweet to the end of your email signature using tools like WiseStamp… no. Just no. If we want to go read your wisdom on Twitter, we’ll go find you on Twitter.
Mine is currently ten lines, which is just ridiculous.
Haven’t updated your blog in forever? Then it shouldn’t be a link in your email profile. If someone does click on it and finds out you last wrote a post in January 2013, you’ll just annoy them and look totally unprofessional to boot. If you have different hats, create different signatures to attach to different emails when appropriate.
I just did, and it took me forever because of… well, sheer laziness, really. Also, because: does anyone really need to know that a) I have an iphone and b) I’ve just sent them a message from it? Does it make prospective employers and current clients think you just have no idea how to use your iPhone and delete the standard signature? If so, how embarrassing. For what it’s worth, you can delete it (or write something a bit more creative) in Settings / Mail, Contacts, Calendars / Signature.
I tried three in order to write this post and two didn’t work at all, throwing up error messages when I finished my signature, and the third plastered a big fat ‘Get an email signature like THIS!’ on the signature I created. To remove it, I had to ‘upgrade’ which costs around $50/year. If you think that’s worth it, great, but it’s not hard to create a decent signature for free if you know your way around design programs like Photoshop or online sites like Canva. Or, if you’re rebranding or having a designer do work on your website, to get them to design a bespoke signature for you.
…but not ALL your social media. A selection of the platforms you use regularly and, ideally, for work purposes are probably the best – like, say, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook. If clients want to check out whether you’re on Tumbler, Instagram, GoodReads, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, FourSquare, Yelp, Dribble etc etc, let them check out your website and find more about you from there.
Are you happy with your email signature? What are your top tips for crafting a great sig?
I actually keep my ‘Sent from my iPhone’ on because it lets people know I’m not currently at a computer and therefore have limited capabilities. I also think it excuses any typos or autocorrect mishaps. But those are some good arguments for getting rid of it 🙂
Me too Viv – in fact when I need to think long and hard about a quote or how to respond I will often turn to my phone as a buffer option even though I am at my desk.
It was the main reason I kept it too, Viv, but not anymore. GONE 🙂