What’s in Your Email Signature Line?

We have all seen them. Those annoying email signatures that take up more space than the email itself, with crazy fonts and colors, irrelevant quotes from past leaders and crazy clip art inserts. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my email signature and it has certainly evolved from my freshman year’s:

Niki Ianni
Future PR Rockstar
(610) XXX-XXXX

In retrospect, its fair to say I was slightly uniformed but definitely eager at least. Now, as I have grown up, learned the do’s and don’ts and have actually gained a few titles for myself, my email signature has evolved into something more telling than “Future PR Rockstar.” While on ragan.com I found a great article by Arik Hanson that outlines a checklist of things to include in your email signature. So I put mine to the test. My current email signature includes:

Niki Ianni
Firm Director, PRowl Public Relations
Firm Director, Temple University PRSSA

(e): xxxxxxxx@temple.edu
(c): (xxx) xxx-xxxx

@NikiMIanni
http://www.prowlpublicrelations.blogspot.com

As outlined in the Ragan article, your email signature should include:

1. Name – First and last
2. Title
3. Phone – Work and cell (include fax number if relevant to your industry)
4. Email
5. Website
6. Twitter handle – Only if its fairly active
7. Blog – only if updated regularly

Luckily, my email signature stands up to the test (minus the website – currently a work in progress!)

So remove those inspirational quotes, delete any of those cheesy pictures, get rid of the rainbow colored font and remember to keep it clean, clear and simple.

How does your email signature stand up to the checklist? Let us know!