Two simple (and often overlooked) marketing tips

In marketing, sometimes it’s the simple things that get forgotten when trying to drive traffic to your business. While hardly earth-shattering, I was reminded this week of two simple things that are often overlooked, yet almost guaranteed to help people find you more often and repeatedly. Put a signature block on every e-mail you send out, and include your website address in it.

This article is part of the Marketing Classroom series

Marketing 101 for appraisers, the Appraiser Classroom is a dedicated page providing appraisers with all the latest how-tos, tips and tricks, and guidance to get high-fee, non-lender work. Click here to go to the Appraiser Classroom.

Robert Smith
Senior Residential Appraiser
Baytown Appraisals
(405) 555-1234
Robert@BaytownAppraisals.com
www.BaytownAppraisals.com
(You can even include your logo image)

People save e-mails. They forward them, and there’s no telling where they end up and in what in Inboxes. People use this information to create Contacts in Outlook and other contact managers. Using a signature block makes sure people can not only find your name again, but can reach you. People nearly always look to the web first for information these days. Having a website and including your web address in your signature block will drive traffic to your site also does two important things. First, it lets them find the information they were looking for (hopefully to order an appraisal) quickly. Second, if you have a sharp looking, well put together site (plug for Appraiser XSites) it leaves them with the impression that you’re professional and “open for business.”

In Outlook 2007, here’s how to create a signature block and include it in every e-mail you send. For other e-mail programs, hit F1 on your keyboard to bring up the manual and search for Signatures.

First, create a signature block. Open a New mail message and click the Signatures arrow, and choose “Signatures.”

Create your signature block, and on the right, make sure to select the signature to use in New messages and Replies/forwards. This makes sure your signature is included every time you send or reply to an e-mail.

As I said earlier, this isn’t earth-shattering. But it’s often overlooked, and an effective, simple, and FREE way to market yourself over and over again. Think about it. How many e-mails do you send in a week to clients or potential clients? This is an easy way to reinforce your name, your company, and your brand. And it’s an easy way to push people to your website to get information and place orders.