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A recurrent question with clients has been how much information to include in your email signature block (from company logos and awards to the full postal address).
Recently I received an email where the logos and awards included in the signature block amounted to nearly 35KB which was more than both the content and the attached Word file. Three emails like this and that’s a third of a MB of unwanted storage space. I diligently deleted all the offending images in order to keep my inbox slim. Overweight email signature blocks are one of my pet peeves!
What constitutes good email etiquette for an email signature block? We are all looking to create a professional image which makes our email stand out in an ever crowded inbox. Including logos in an email means that you can:
• Impress clients with your awards;
• Reinforce your brand logo.
However, the downsides are that such images:
• Add to the size of the email and hence take up more storage space.
• Mean the email takes longer to download (as its bigger than it needs to be and not everyone has access to superfast broadband).
• Are often seen as spam and cause important emails to be trapped and quarantined.
• Not always rendered properly and can look naff (given the range of devices people use to read their email).
The other aspect of the email signature block is how much information to include. My other pet peeve is an email where the contact information is longer than the message itself. One 11 line email had a 23 line block as the sign off (person’s title full contact details etc) and it is on every email entry. How to annoy the recipient very quickly.
Always include as a minimum a contact phone number. After three rounds of email ping-pong, the other person might want to phone you. They too are time poor and if they cannot see a phone number quickly and easily, they will default to email which is often unproductive for everyone (and especially if building a new relationship is involved).
Conversely, not everyone needs all your contact details ie address, fax, mobile etc. So don’t clutter up the email with unnecessary verbiage. Be selective. As default, use the minimum (ie name and phone number) and only insert your full details when asked.
Small is beautiful for email and is the best form of email etiquette. This means the minimum of size and content. A good website, not an email is the place to project your corporate image, company values etc and full postal address.
For more on corporate email etiquette and especially how to close an email see previous blogs and of course ‘Brilliant Email’. If you still have any questions and need help, call us and ask about our Brilliant Email masterclasses.
What is your pet peeve?
Tags: corporate email etiquette, email best practice, email etiquette, Email signature block, Outlook
Top tips to reduce leaking confidential information through email and improve email security. Article published in Executive Secretary Magazine October 2013.
Tags: email best practice, Email management for PAs, email management training, email security, Managing the boss's inbox
Alan Coote CEO 5Digital
What is email best practice for including video within your campaign can increase click through rates by 300%. If you want to correspond with a company’s senior executives, you had better include a video link as 60% of them prefer receiving video to text. Yet click through only generates traffic. In order to be successful you really need to convert this into sales. That means generating compelling content. Whilst I could write a book on the subject, let’s break it down into three steps which also make for good email etiquette.
In broadcast media it’s standard practice to have a profile of a typical viewer or listener. We give them a name, we know how old they are, where they live, how many kids they have, what car they drive, the newspaper they read and what other programmes they are watching.This is your starting point; it steers the whole production in a single, clear direction informing not only how the video looks and sounds, but also how it’s filmed, edited and presented.
You may think being too specific could lose you business – it won’t. The more specific you are, the greater the clarity of your production.
It doesn’t take long in business to realise that nearly every marketing message your company puts out must have a clearly defined objective. If the aim is to make a sale then everything you do should point the viewer in that direction. If it’s to raise awareness you’ll need a mechanism for measuring that too.
Now we have to determine how we’re going to achieve the final step – the all-important conversion. This is where a significant number of people are lost. Imagine promoting a holiday destination with an enticing video of the hotel. The pool looks inviting and there are lots of happy people saying what a great time they’ve had. The video ends on a call to action to visit the website to book. That’s another hoop, more typing and more effort. To increase conversions include directions in the video to a simple tracking link included in the email. Autoresponders such as Aweber and GetResponse allow you to manage the success of your campaign.
Even with a compelling video, the maxims of email marketing still hold true – a captivating subject header, personalisation, call to action and click through tracking. To find out more on video statistics, watch this:
Alan Coote’s career spans 35 Years in Creative and Digital Media including the BBC, BAE Systems and numerous Independent broadcasters. He is the CEO of 5 Digital and broadcasts weekly on the national business radio programme Let’s Talk Business. Follow him on Twitter @TheAlanCoote
Tags: email best practice, email etiquette
Will you or won’t you? Should you or shouldn’t you … check your emails while you are on leave? These questions remain hot topics judging by recent press coverage. Some feel their bosses and today’s 24/7 way of working means it is required of you as a professional. Others say you can’t really switch off properly and get the benefits of your break if you are constantly on line.
Many of you will be just about to go away or just coming back. So I thought you might like to take a look at the coverage and be reminded of some useful things you can do to minimise email intruding on your vacation and making your return a misery.
Lucy Kellaway in the Financial Times, not surprisingly, dislikes those Out of Office messages saying you are on leave and feels that staying connected is the right image for those who want to survive in today’s full on business world.
Email stress free vacation
My view? – well I believe in disconnecting if possible but being realistic. I would say restrict yourself to logging on once a day but don’t let yourself get dragged back into work detail.
Delegate responsibilities and do some work to cut your inbox before you go as summarised in an article by Darren Slade business editor of the Daily Echo.
With respect to Out of Office message, I agree with Lucy about banal ones. However, setting a professional Out of Office message can help manage sender’s expectations and reduce cyber crime risks.
Whether or not you disconnect or stay connected you will undoubtedly return to a bulging inbox and Timothy Stenovec on Huffington.Com provides five very useful top tips to take back control of your inbox.
Click here for the full article by Tim Stenovec.
For more tips and hints on how to deal with email both on leave and on your return see my recent blog on email security over the vacation and the seven step plan for dealing with the vacation back log.
But this is not just about individuals making the decision to log on or not during the holiday season. Companies need to give clear guidlines about what they expect. Just as you should provide guidelines on what is acceptable email etiquette/style for your business, you should also include what is expected from employees on leave and especially in relation to their Out of Office message.
This is an area where we can and would be delighted to provide advice and guidance on email best practice to ensure you and your most valuable asset (your employees) have stress and email free vacations and minimise the cyber crime risks associated with Out of Office messages.
Have a great holiday.
Tags: email best practice, email free vacation, email on vacation, email overload, email security, out of office message
Email overload is a problem for businesses of all sizes across the world. A client of mine recently upgraded his email server. While going through their requirements, an IT consultant understood that no email server was going to help them if they had no knowledge on managing their email inbox properly. Poor email management is the biggest distraction for most small businesses. So, what is the reason that made him so disappointed? The executives had no filters, no folders and more than 44,000 emails in their inbox.
Email overload
Email is one of the most ideal communication platforms in the business world. It is important for entrepreneurs to take control of their inboxes. So, don’t waste one more day running a component of your organization improperly. Here are five suggestions for arranging your inbox and boosting up your overall productivity and reducing email overload.
1. Separate Personal From Business Emails
Just like you have different accounts for personal and business finances, you must also have different email ids for every account. Family email chains during a winter reunion may really clog up the inbox. If you haven’t separated them initially, then create a new personal email id today and send a mail from your business account asking your family and friends to send all personal mails to your new email id.
2. Set Time Aside For Finding A Solution
Email is usually used every day. If there is a problem with it, you shouldn’t delay. Dedicate the time, which is needed for finding an apt solution.
3. Set Up An Email Policy For The Company
If the email system of your company needs overhauling, invite chief decision makers for a consultation to weigh in on the setup. Also, talk about your expectations regarding separating business and personal emails and response times to customers.
4. Create A Backup Plan
Did you ever think what you would do if your business mail server stopped functioning for an extended period? How are you going to interact with your vendors, customers and salesperson? Never wait for this scenario to occur. Make preparations beforehand. Copy your contacts list and put them on a different email provider’s system as a backup.
5. Create Folders
If you want to keep your inbox at zero and manage your inbox effectively, you need to make sure you have a place for putting emails that you can use for future refence. For example, I have created eight folders for corraling my emails. The folders are unsubscribe, reading, business development, today, this week, clients, office and miscellaneous.
Are you the one who struggles with managing inbox content? Then, do something about it. You can follow all the suggestions that I have mentioned above and you will see measurable improvements in efficiency, productivity and time management. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
For more help contact Mesmo Consultancy and ask them to run one of their Brilliant Email workshops (as either a webinar or traditional class room based workshop). Too busy for either and wanting a personalised serviced. Ask them about their on-t0-one coaching.
Adriana Sopi is a freelance tech journalist based in the USA. For more information she recommends www.8acertification.net.
Tags: Brilliant Email, email best practice, email overload