How to make your email signature a headline - and where to use it (Headline writing course part 8)

Posted by Sean D'Souza on 13 May 2010

Headlines don’t always sit at the top of your pages. Sometimes headlines sit right at the bottom of your emails. Email signatures are powerful attractors but what do you put in your signature? And where else can your signature appear? Find out why your signature isn’t quite working as hard as it should in part 8 of Sean D'Souza's headline writing course.

(This is part eight of an 9-part series on writing perfect headlines by the author of "The Secret Life of Testimonials". The last 'lesson' will be published next week.)

Headlines don’t always sit at the top. Sometimes headlines sit right at the bottom. And if you post in forums, or have email signatures, you’ve actually got a headline sitting right there. And here’s why you would consider that bottom headline to be tops.

The headline is primarily an attraction device. It’s meant to draw you from one point to the next. And when a customer has finished reading your email or forum post, a signature does the job of creating curiosity. And in doing so, it more or less qualifies to be a headline. :)

You’re watching TV. It’s Extreme Makeover time.
They take this wallflower-looking person.

And they cut. And they snip. Boy, do they tuck! And about two weeks later, the Extreme Makeover artists transmogrify their subject into a work of captivating beauty.

You watch and say, no…can’t be…can’t be the same wallflower. Ah, but it is. So what say we have the same kinda fun? What say we do the Extreme Makeover on that darned email signature of yours. Yeah, yeah, the one that kinda hides under a bushel every time you send out an email.

And what say we do the makeover without all the cutting, snipping, tucking and la-dee-dah!

Ready for the Extreme Email Signature Makeover?

You bet you are! And best of all, there’s little or no creativity involved. In fact, you’ll need to look no further than at an article you’ve written, to get all the inspiration you need.

So what should you do?

Just paste your entire article in the email signature?
No, no, no. Pay attention dah-ling! We’re creating magic. And for magic, you need to know the tricks.

Stick with me, and you can learn how to have dozens of instant email signatures, based on your articles, in three easy steps.

So what are the steps?

Step One: Find an article you’ve written.
Step Two: Create an excerpt.
Step Three: Insert drama.

Step One: Find an article you’ve written

Just step back in time to your article archives, and pull out an article you thought was pretty cool. Or which customers thought was really thought-provoking. But hey, don’t take all day. Just find an article that works: don’t aim for perfection.

Step Two: Create a summary of the article

I went and pulled out an article that spoke about PowerPoint. And sat down, and kinda summed up what the article was all about. The core of the concept was how some PowerPoint presentations work so much better than others. And how other PowerPoint presentations just bore you to tears.

So boof… I now had my summary in a few lines.

But what’s next? Why it’s time to insert some drama, of course...

Step Three: Inserting ze drama

To insert drama, all you have to do is hit on the customer’s biggest concern. In this case, the customer’s real headache is giving a presentation that’s boring. So I have to make sure I get the ‘problem’ smack in the middle and create intense drama.

And about 15 seconds later, I have my signature:

Can PowerPoint Presentations Rival TV Ads? Ever wonder why some PowerPoint presentations are head and shoulders above others? Why do some have amazing powers of persuasion while others simply bore you to death? Here’s the secret to PowerPoint pizzazz. Go to: www.psychotactics.com/artpowerpoint

Notice the flow?

You create the drama by running sequential problems and solutions. And then you drop a dollop or two of curiosity. But remember, the curiosity effect is kinda like a bikini. What it reveals is interesting, but what it hides is vital. In fact, you’ll learn about curiosity, by learning what’s not curious. Of course, nothing like a few examples to show you how it all works, right?

Examples

This is Mark Silver’s older signature file. Notice how the newer one below has punch and vivacity, as compared with the old one.

Older example:
Making a difference and making a profit in business.

If you are in business, make sure you get our free newsletter:
Business Heart. It’s full of creative thinking, inspiring stories, and practical, grounded steps on how to make your business profitable, serve the world, and keep your heart.

When you subscribe, you also receive a free 3-chapter workbook excerpt from the book, “Unveiling the Heart of Your Business, How money, marketing and sales can deepen your heart, heal the world, and still add to your bottom line.” Please come get them both: at heartofbusiness.com

And the newer examples:
Example 1: In running your business there are things you love to do, and things you don’t...
Wondering how to hand off your most hated business tasks?

Read this article: heartofbusiness.com/articles/2006/Apr19.htm

And another new example:
Example 2: Ugh! Sitting down to pay the bills, balance your accounts...
Is there an antidote to the money grumblies?

The Kitchen Table Financial Summit
heartofbusiness.com/articles/2005/July28.htm

So what changed in Mark’s signature files?

1. Instead of a long-winded signature, his are short, and evocative.
2. There’s a clear problem; a clear apparent solution; and lots of curiosity.
3. The signature file now has one thought, instead of half a dozen. :)
4. And best of all, it teeters on the edge, forcing the curiosity factor in your brain, and making you want to go clickety-click right away.

The best part of all is you never have to put up with drab, wallflower signature files. All you really have to do is let your article create the direction, and you’ll have a signature file 90% done - the moment you finish your article. Then add the curiosity, and you’re ready to run.

And voilà, you have your Extreme Email Signature Makeover. Yeah, just like that! And without the la-dee-dah!

(Sean’s Note: Thanks Mark Silver from heartofbusiness.com, for permission to use the before/after version of your signature files).

Exercise: You’ve read the information, but hey, you’re going to get tempted to write a whole chunk of information in your signature. So when was the last time you wrote three paragraphs when creating a headline? Never, right? Well, then don’t go about creating these massive signature files. Because signature files are headlines. And headlines need to attract. Nothing more, nothing less.

Which then takes us to part segundo of this article. Where do you use these bottom-up headlines? There are tons of applications. Some are more urgent than others. Find out for yourself...

So you know that email signatures are powerful attractors, right? But what do you put in your signature? And where should your signature appear? Find out why your signature isn’t quite working as hard as it should.

First, let’s handle the minefield of signatures

The purpose of the signature is attraction. Not conversion. (Yup, we covered it in the last chapter). So if you’re trying to convert, you’re jumping too many steps already. But let’s assume you’ve got your attraction factor spot on, in your signature. How do you know what to put in your signature?

What are you promoting?

Is it a workshop? Is it a book? Is it a consulting program? Whatever you are promoting at this very moment, you’d want to fill up to the brim, right? So if I’m doing a workshop, then my email signature has a signature that leads to the workshop page. If I’m promoting a book, then my signature has the link to the book. But hang on a second...that’s not the end of the advice.

Pay close attention to what the email is saying

If the email is going out from you to a client, then it needs to communicate whatever you’re promoting. But if the email is sent to you from the client, the rules above go whack out of the window. Because your signature now depends on what the client is saying, and not on your promotion any longer.

So if a client writes to me about workshops

What’s the signature going to promote? C’mon you can guess.

You can use a signature that creates curiosity. And that signature can promote a new product, or a new event. Or just something you think is important. Remember, you're not writing a book. All you're doing is attracting, creating curiosity. And draw the customer to the 'next step.' You can have a permanent signature that appears on every post, or you can have a signature that specifically appears as part of the post (with the subject matter relating to that post).

You see, you can’t just slap a signature in and expect it to work all the time. The usage of signatures depends on the promotion you’re rolling out (and remember, it needs to be an attractor, not converter). But if the client is talking about workshops, and you send out a darned signature of your book promotion, then the signature doesn’t become a call to action.

It becomes advertising. And advertising that’s so far away from the original question, that it’s a waste of space really.

But what if you don’t have loads of products and services?

Well, you got me there, didn’t ya? It’s really hard to tell what you’re going to slap into your signature if you don’t have lots of products/services. But what you can do is see if you can somehow personalize the signature to match the question of the client. If it doesn’t, ah well, you’re better off simply putting in a signature that’s pre-prepared. Even though the signature may not correspond to the question being asked, it beats having nothing.

And finally...

Put your signature wherever you possibly can. In your emails, in forum posts and at the bottom of all your articles. I know I’m going over the top, but remember to attract - don’t seek to convert.

Once you follow these simple rules, you’ll start seeing more traffic, and a heck of a lot more conversion than ever before!

Exercise: Do you have a book you’ve just written? Do you have a workshop coming up? Well, use the headlines in your signature file and get customers interested. Another headline that really helps is when you answer a question, say on a forum, and you post a related product/service at the end. You could always do it, as long as you don’t overdo it.

And finally, every email is an opportunity to get a message across. So go on and write a few headlines and then keep them in stock so you can use them in your email and other places such as forums etc.

This is part eight of a 9-part series on writing perfect headlines by the author of "The Secret Life of Testimonials". Find out more about Sean's book "The Secret Life of Testimonials" and order your copy now.

Read:
Part 1: How to write near-perfect headlines in minutes
Part 2: How too many thoughts ruin headlines
Part 3: How to create intensely powerful headlines
Part 4: Why being specific is critical for headlines
Part 5: How to avoid pot luck headlines
Part 6: How to construct headlines
Part 7: Testimonials as headlines