Every professional needs to develop and then maintain his reputation. We often create our reputations by the impressions that we give. There’s the first impression, which I believe that counts the most, and the overall impression which is built in time. Always leaving a good first impression is often a tough job.

Many types of people out there, and impressing everyone of them is almost impossible. But, if we develop our presentation strategies and skills, making that first good impression won’t seem so hard.

Because we’re currently experiencing a digital era boom, where most of our communication is happening online, creating the first impression is a bit trickier. A big percent of today’s professionals prefers e-mail communication over any other communication channel for their business or job matters.

Therefore, E-mail signatures are those components that could totally improve your image. Whenever you’re sending an e-mail, you get the chance to leave an e-mail signature to the recipient. This signature should be professional and clean. It should also serve a purpose, but more on that later in the article.

Why is It So Important? Can’t I just Skip It?

Can you skip it? Nope, you definitely can’t. Why’s it important? Well, every time you’re communicating, you’re:
a) Grabbing the recipient’s attention.
b) Improving your personal brand awareness.
c) Improving your credibility and social status.
d) Providing contact details that will always be accessible, so if someone needs your services, he will always know where to look for them.

Practical Tips to Create a Professional E-mail Signature

Creating a professional e-mail signature is not rocket science. After all, we’re talking about few lines made up of few dozen words. Still, it is truly important to get it right.
Let’s get straight to our tips:

1. Keep it Simple and Relevant

The e-mail signature of a professional should always be simple, relevant, and clean. This is the place to be concise and on point. After all, an e-mail signature’s role is to leave extra details about you. If anyone is interested, they’ll be glad to see that they could find your contact details.

You need to keep it simple and clean because there already are enough distractions. Whenever people read e-mails, they might have to split their attention to other things. If your e-mail signature is not clear enough, it won’t grab his attention. Boom, an opportunity is gone!

2. Social Media Integration

Social media is used by everyone nowadays. LinkedIn, for example, is the place where most professionals spend their time networking. Twitter and Facebook are good too.
Either way, if you truly want to brand your name, a professional social media presence is necessary. Then, you can implement buttons in your e-mail signature, so people can directly find and possibly contact you through social media channels.

3. Call-To-Action Signature

A call-to-action could also be a great choice, especially if you’re into a B2C (business-to-customers) field. A strong CTA is going to generate a lot of leads. You can do whatever you want with those clicks: make them subscribe to your e-mail list, follow you on social media, buy your book, etc. Don't forget to check the text you've written. If you're facing problems with it, or you write in a different language, you can always ask someone to check it for you. Another option is sending your email to the essay writing companies, some of them will do it even for free.

4. Your Picture Means a Lot

Researchers say that people tend to remember pictures that contain people. It’s been concluded that the most memorable photos are often containing persons. Let the research be, and think about it yourself. When you see a professional photo near a name, doesn’t it feel more professional?

Two Custom E-mail Signature Creation Tools

You can also take advantage of certain automation tools which will ease the process of creating your signature:

Newoldstamp

With the use of this software, you can stop worrying about crafting your own e-mail signature design. The tool comes with 11 beautiful and professional e-mail signature themes. You get to choose between more colors and features, so you’re able to personalize it a bit.
You can also instantly incorporate social media buttons and a photo of yours.

Wisestamp

Wisestamp is an automation tool and a generator of e-mail signatures which can be directly integrated with your e-mail clients. The tool loads awesomely designed e-mail signatures into the compose window. You can also customize them according to your wishes and be a part of the personalization process.

Developing one or more professional signatures is a great time and effort investment. More opportunities, more brand awareness, and more success will come into your way. Keep in mind all of our tips and put them into action as soon as possible. Good luck!

Author's Bio: 

Robert Morris is a freelance writer and a blogger. His articles are published on Lifehacker, Huffington Post, Simplemost and other blogs.