Your Email Signature Another Personal Branding Tool - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Your Email Signature Another Personal Branding Tool I estimate that more than half of the emails I receive from executive job seekers have only one line in their email signatures . . . their name. Sometimes their signature is the default they use in doing business through their employers, which may not be appropriate to use in their job search. When communicating with potential employers via email,  your email cover letters need to include a potent, branded email signature. When creating your email signature, assume that the email recipient will know nothing about you, but will want to know about you and be directed to more information about your brand story. Once youve started a series of email communications with someone, back and forth, dont bog down the flow by including your email signature in each response, beyond the first one. Your email signature is another opportunity to position yourself as a good-fit candidate. It should include a brief description of what you do and who you do it for (that is, your target employers). Below your name, include your professional title (and/or areas of expertise relevant to your target), such as COO â€" Global Business Operations Leader â€" Biotechnology or CIO â€" Turnaround Management Executive â€" Healthcare You can also include a tagline to succinctly differentiate your ROI value and generate chemistry. An easy solution for the professional title is to use the branded professional headline from your profile, if you’ve already created one. If youre not on (you really should be!) or havent created a keyword-rich headline, check out my post, How to Make Your Profile Professional Headline SEO-Friendly. To give you an idea, heres what appears directly below my name in my email signature: C-level Executive Personal Branding Job Search Strategist â€" Executive Resume, Biography, Profile, Google+ Profile, Online Presence, Career Brand Communications Your unique ROI value proposition differentiated, strategically positioned, helping you Land Your Next Great Gig. Below that I note a few credentials, then list my social  media links â€" blogsite, , Google+, Twitter â€" and close with my contact info. Configure your email account with an automatic signature for outgoing messages, using the suggestions below. You can always delete the signature before sending an email, if need be. Here are some tips on optimizing your email signature: Use your full name, not a nickname. Even if you know the recipient well, as part of the hiring process, your email may be forwarded to someone else who will have no idea who Bobby is. Give them the best phone number to reach you anytime. Don’t confuse them with several numbers. Your cell phone is probably best, to avoid having someone at work, or someone you’d rather not, intercept the call. Use your personal email address, not your work email. For that matter, don’t use your work computer either, for job search or any personal business. If you’re doing job search research or emailing using the company network â€" even if you use your personal Gmail account â€" your employer can track your activity. Include a link to your personal blog or website About page, if you have one, leading your email recipient to your whole brand picture. Include a link to your profile and Google+ Profile. Either of these can stand in as your executive brand hub, if you don’t have a website. Include links to your Twitter,