Save Time By Creating Email Signature Templates

If you're like me, there are certain types of email that you send out regularly that follow a set form (client follow up notes, meeting notes, email article submission, etc). These can be irritating to have to recreate from scratch every time, but the tried and true method of creating a seperate document-file template, then sending that out as an attachment, may not always be appropriate. For example, email-based article submissions generally accept only plain text in-message formatting and require rigorous adherence to detailed submission guidelines involving the placement of bylines, the structure and length of the article body and the arrangement and length of bio-boxes and other inclusions - any deviation from which will result in a refusal of submission. Aggravatingly enough, these submission requirements are often so completely different from one submission site to another that it is difficult if not impossible to keep them straight without an entire set of templates.

To get around these and other problems, consider using the signature option in your emailer program to create individual email "signatures templates" for these commonly sent and repetitive emails. Using the above example of an email article submission email, I might create a "signature template" that looks something like this:

Title
Byline

Body (single spaced, 60-65 characters per line, no html)

Bio-box (no more that 3 sentences, no more than 2 links)


For a client follow-up or team meeting follow-up email, it might look something like this:

Client (or team member) Name
Date of Meeting

Summary of Meeting

Comments

Action Steps

Next Meeting Agenda


Once the "signature template" is complete, simply save it under a descriptive name ("articles-to-go submission" or "client meeting") and it's ready to use next time you're ready to send an email. Just insert the signature, then type around or over the contents as appropriate. Keep in mind, also, that you can add more than one signature to an email in most emailer programs, so using one of the above "signature templates" does not preclude your adding a standard business signature at the end of the email, as you would normal do.

I'm sure that if you think creatively and look at the emails you send out on a regular basis, you'll find many examples for which a simple "signature template" can save you time, trouble and annoyance. How many ways can you think of to use this time-saving trick?

(c) Soni Pitts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.

She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.

In The News:
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Bales-Worldwide-Boosts-Sales-Five/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BE1E4032F-2737-407C-BAB9-66DCE1F45950%257Dcid=1276803793ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNEGd2ufxTDy1TzVEluT5zDMajh9AQBales Worldwide Boosts Sales by Five Percent using Neolane Cross b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr5 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1According to the most recent DMA bEmail Marketing/b Council survey of the UK#39;s leading bemail/b service providers(4), in the first quarter of 2008, their unique b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20081202005191/encid=1276803793ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNE2p4NIGTcOmfht2BVmmezBgkhHQACross-Channel bMarketing/b Arrives: Aberdeen Group Defines the Next b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBusiness Wire (press release)/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1276803793hl=ennobrall 12 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/technology/2008/11/19/a_meager_1_growth_rate_for.htmcid=1273809014ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNHv26cYv_iTVyAbcJZHt8N5Ci_IJQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Tbx6NqcettkJimgurl=www.hispanicbusiness.com/_client_common/images/news/online_tech_shopping_lg.jpg width=80 height=53 alt= border=1brfont size=-2HispanicBusiness.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.digitalresponsemedia.com/news-1-email-marketing-news/black-friday-prompts-spike-in-email-marketing-activity-462.aspxcid=1273809014ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNFtfofb0zzjY2AvhvVK7XdIFN2OQABlack Friday prompts spike in bemail marketing/b activity/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDigital Response Media,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobrDec 1, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1bEmail marketing/b activity in the US retail sector surged by 14 per cent in the week ending November 28th - otherwise known as Black Friday, new figures have b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-0iz1s7QEc4cid=1273809014ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNG30UMXkacJ8o3y7yeSeaCUCZNBPwVideo: Online Retailers See Monday As Black Friday/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAssociatedPress/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/-0iz1s7QEc4/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/-0iz1s7QEc4type=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.bluhalo.com/news/view/721/black-friday-e-commerce-sales-beat-expectationscid=1273809014ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNE9eb8pAmEEHLp0JT2qpRPdG2LleABlack Friday e-commerce sales beat expectations/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBluhalo/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp%3Fymd%3D20081125%26content_id%3D3692420%26vkey%3Dnews_mlb%26fext%3D.jsp%26c_id%3Dmlbcid=1273809014ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNFtrsn6s2WutIX8zXd_Gca10LJpQQCyber Monday the perfect time to save/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMLB.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews%2Barticleid_2834965.htmlcid=1273809014ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNEPv0FJnssQo0GBzxDC8cfWEhUIRwnobristockAnalyst.com (press release)/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1273809014hl=ennobrall 1,486 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/12/prweb1673734.htmcid=1276442904ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNGB2rm2eIy9CswQN0TJIKe0S1g6awListrak Offers Weekly Podcast on bEmail Marketing/b Best Practices/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR Web (press release),nbsp;WAnbsp;-/font nobrDec 1, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Lititz, PA (PRWEB) December 1, 2008 -- Listrak, a leading bemail marketing/b solution provider based near Lancaster, PA, announced today that it is b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20081202005780/encid=1276862079ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNFvYmi98mr2st5AlSADpiESU6Ym-QContactology’s Real-Time Reporting Helping PASTE Magazine b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBusiness Wire (press release),nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“As we grew our contact database and expanded our online offerings, we required a new bemail marketing/b solution that would scale with our growing needs,” b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20081202005361/encid=1276863129ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNG2vjod9uNj62bIifbg5CuMeQFR5AInfusionsoft Chooses Message Systems Delivery Manager to Improve b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBusiness Wire (press release),nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1In 2007, Infusionsoft processed over $250 million in eCommerce sales and delivered nearly a half billion bemail/b messages for its bemail marketing/b customers b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Convio-Names-Sara-Spivey-Chief/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B16F90564-418A-4139-B9CD-CA45C599B9D7%257Dcid=1276827304ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNFJgAr0eznUcGqhpBtvJCtQQiuakgConvio Names Sara Spivey Chief bMarketing/b Officer/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr3 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The company#39;s online bmarketing/b suite offers integrated software for fundraising, advocacy, events, bemail marketing/b and web content management, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/CLX-Medical-Inc-Announces-Close/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BFA670943-6F61-424F-8074-CE9A8D97A39B%257Dcid=1276870166ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNGYCXp9ZnSp277DUl9_aWIgJAQFuACLX Medical, Inc. Announces Close of ThyroTest(R) Acquisition/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr50 minutes ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1To sign up to receive information by bemail/b directly from CLX Medical, Inc. when new press releases, investor newsletters, SEC filings, or other information b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/e-mail-newsletter/service/prweb1680134.htmcid=1276441813ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNFsFXm_QbVZLr3vrYxUMHwgLpuDLQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=3AhXZi11dXsJimgurl=www.prweb.com/prfiles/2008/11/28/227083/gI_0_WorkflowN2RPublicaree.jpg width=80 height=48 alt= border=1brfont size=-2PR Web (press release)/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/e-mail-newsletter/service/prweb1680134.htmcid=1276441813ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNFsFXm_QbVZLr3vrYxUMHwgLpuDLQNews-to-Response Package Increases Relevance of Newsletter Content/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR Web (press release),nbsp;WAnbsp;-/font nobr21 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Based on this philosophy, Publicare#39;s bemail marketing/b experts develop and implement a newsletter process founded on a thorough analysis of real-world b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/12/prweb1690374.htmcid=1276806485ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNF9E7W2y9zaBVoypJxikXWQPXznZASmart bMarketing/b for 2009 - How To Get More Business from Smaller b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR Web (press release),nbsp;WAnbsp;-/font nobr6 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1This is the area of quot;post click bmarketing/b.quot; Post-click bmarketing/b is what happens after a potential customer clicks on a link in bemail marketing/b, Google ads, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.skynews.com.au/business/article.aspx%3Fid%3D283007cid=1276307309ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNFpaw-4R7LPXRsHLG2eRQLduC4SgQbEmail marketing/b rises on back of economy/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSky News Australia,nbsp;Australianbsp;-/font nobrNov 30, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Emailing bmarketing/b is tipped to continue increasing as the economy slows, according to research company Frost and Sullivan. They predict it will grow from b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24729781-36418,00.htmlcid=1276307309ei=NEo1ScX6FqXg6gPdkeiTDwusg=AFQjCNG8BmAhBHvJpEuB3XWm57BiglgdSwbEmail/b the latest internet ad tool/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Australian/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1276307309hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
email marketing - Google News


Wind Chimes and more...

Windchimes for great gifts!

Why Does Your Business Need An Autoresponder?

Suppose you have a website with 500 visitors a day,... Read More

Use Permission Based E-Mail Marketing to Promote Your Home Based Business

With all the negative Publicity that S.pam is Getting, Permission... Read More

How To Use a Message Sequence to Increase Your Sales

If there's one thing I've learnt in over 3 years... Read More

How to Do an E-mail Interview in 9 Easy Steps

Need a fresh idea for your e-zine content? Do an... Read More

Improve Newsletter Delivery with an Autoresponder Service

Another powerful reason for making the switch from using the... Read More

Use the ?Reply All? Function in Email Judiciously

Type "email etiquette" into the search bar of any popular... Read More

How to Structure an Email Follow Up Series

Marketers the world over use follow up autoresponders toincrease sales.... Read More

How Can You Be Sure That Your Marketing Efforts Will Generate Profits?

There are several ways to ensure that your adverts are... Read More

Personalizing Your Emails? An Amazing Technique That Doubles Your Click Throughs And Profits

Are you publishing an ezine or offering an email course?... Read More

Lesson #7: Three Extra Tricks That Can Boost Your Bottom-Line!

Let's recap what you've learned so far...In the first lesson,... Read More

Spam! Whats the Real Problem

Most people now know the official definition of spam- Unsolicited... Read More

3 Essential Tools for Email Marketers

Marketing your business with email is an art.It's very easy... Read More

Tips to Bounce-Proof Your Email List

Keeping your email lists fresh is critical to the success... Read More

Say More Than Thank You

Most Websites are gathering e-mail addresses. When you submit your... Read More

14 Ways To Persuade Your Web Site Visitors To Give You Their Email Address

1. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. It's a... Read More

Viral Marketing with Your Signature File

Computer viruses are usually a bad thing. They can compromise... Read More

Are Your Emails Being Heard

Yes, the headline is spelled right. What if you had... Read More

Autoresponders - Simple Tweaks That will Improve Your Return Rate

Autoresponders are, without a shadow of a doubt, one of... Read More

Newsletters that Work

Offer a newsletter in a time frame that will be... Read More

Analysing Autoresponders

An autoresponder is an automatic or software-mailing program. Why... Read More

How To Build Your Greatest Opt-In List

I get e-mails all the time from people on my... Read More

Learn How to Double and Triple the Size of Your Opt-in List by Helping Others

I think first of all, everybody deserves to have a... Read More

How Autoresonders Can Put Your Business On Autopilot

Owning your own online business is a lot of work.... Read More

The Power Of Email Marketing

Have You Considered The Power Of Email MarketingOld vs. NewIf... Read More

What?s the Value of an E-mail Address?

Although it may not be practical to put a dollar-sign... Read More