Do you have a signature file automatically attached to your email and newsgroup postings? Chances are your email program supports them, and if you don't have one, you're missing a big marketing opportunity.

A signature can spread the word about your website without any effort on your part, because it is automatically sent to everyone you send email and is added every time you post to a newsgroup. Everyone who reads discussion lists or newsgroups you participate in will hear about your website without you sending a single advertisement, spending a single cent, or lifting an extra finger.

"But," you say, "everyone I send email to already knows about my website, and I don't participate in newsgroups." Signature files can still help you! They make it easier for people to contact you by laying the information out for them. And signature files remind people to visit your website, even if they already know about it. (People coming back to your website are just as good as new people coming to visit, or even better: they're more likely to buy, more likely to visit your advertisers, and more likely to recommend your website to other people.)

It is nice to have an email program which allows you to create several different signature files, so you can send different messages to different groups of people, or on different occasions. If that isn't possible, you can use different email programs depending on your situation, or just keep your signature simple.

What should you include in your signature?

Your full URL, above all else. ("http://www.yourdomain.com" will almost always show up as a link in the recipient's email program, as long as there is no punctuation directly afterward.)

Your company or website title.

Your address, phone number, email address, or other contact information.

A short message advertising your website or business.

There are just a few things to remember about signature files:

1. A signature file should be text-only. Sound and graphics files are cool, but not everyone's email program supports them. If your email takes a long time to download, or worse, you crash your prospect's computer, you will only lose business.
2. A signature file should be short - no longer than six lines. This is especially true for newsgroups and discussion lists, where people are receiving a lot of messages and are likely to be annoyed by excessive sales pitches.
3. Your signature should match the personality of your business and website. If you are a lawyer, don't put cute ASCII graphics in your signature. If you're a graphic artist, an ASCII graphic would be a wonderful idea.

Now that you know what to put in your signature, you may be wondering how to create one with your email program. If you already know, stop reading and get to work.

I don't know how to create signatures for every email program, but instructions for these three popular programs may help even if you're using a different one:

For Outlook Express, type up your signature file in Notepad, then open Outlook Express and choose "Options" from the Tools menu. Click on the Signature tab. Click the "New" button for the Signatures box and copy your signature from Notepad. Paste it into the Edit Signature box. OR save your signature in Notepad and click the "File" radio button, then Browse for your signature file. (I think the latter option is better, since it makes it easier to edit your signature file later.)

If you're using Netscape, create a text file named "signature.txt" or whatever else you want. Visit the Mail and News Preferences under the Options menu, and type in where your signature file is located. You can just edit the file when you want to change it.

In Eudora Pro, look in your menus for Signature Files. I think it's in the Windows menu. Use the Normal template first. You can create as many signature files as you like. To send a signature other than your default, open the Signature panel on the left. (You have to click one of the tabs on the bottom left of the screen, under your email boxes.) Just hilight the signature you want to use and click SEND!

Altavista's free IName web-based email program makes it easy to make signature files and use different ones for each email. When you write an email, there's a button next to your signature drop-menu which allows you to create a new file. Once you've created one (or more), use the drop-menu to choose the signature file you wish to use.

If you're using a different email program, look through your menus for signature files or mail preferences. In web-based email programs, look for a button or a settings tab. If you still can't figure out how to create a signature file, look at your owners manual or email technical support. If your email program doesn't offer signature files, get a new one. (Netscape, Microsoft Outlook Express, Pegasus and Eudora are free programs, and IName offers free email over the web, so there's no excuse!)