Email Signatures and Auto Responder Tips for Improving Your Work Email Account

Your work email account says a lot about you: it is often the first form of contact potential clients and partners will have with you or your business.

Here are some easy and fast tips for making your email presence appear more "upscale"-and how to make it more efficient.

Create a solid email signature

On outgoing emails, you can have a signature added automatically-at least in most mail programs such as Microsoft Outlook and with many webmail applications, including Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.

Your signature should generally be a different color from your default color for text in your emails. If your default color is black, make the signature text dark blue, dark gray, or dark red (a shade of maroon will work).

Signature lines should include your full name, position title, name of the company, and your preferred methods of contact (such as your web site address, phone number, and possibly a fax number).

Only include pertinent information as a signature over 5 lines long can be perceived as "pretentious" or "over the top" by many.

Use a font that stands out

I recommend Helvetica Neue or simply Helvetica for most email clients. The default for many email programs is Times New Roman or Arial, so try to avoid using these fonts altogether as they are too familiar-your email won't stand out.

At the same time, don't pick a font style that is too exotic or amateur-looking. Comic Sans, in particular, is to be avoided in work-related emails.

Use "vacation auto-responders" when you are away

If you are out of town, it is unprofessional to simply not respond to important work emails for a week or two. Instead, establish a vacation auto-responder before you leave the office. You can set this up on most email clients and on Gmail and Yahoo! Mail under the Settings section.

A good auto-response will state how long you will be unreachable, provide alternate method of contact for emergencies, and offer a coworker who can assist with less urgent requests in your absence. Here's an example of a good, succinct auto-response message:

"Hi, I will be away from the office until January 24th and will be checking voicemail sporadically. If you need immediate assistance, please contact Kelly at 212.555.1212 ext. 35."

Avoid "sloppy forwards" and "long threads"

You should avoid emailing back and forth on the same subject line for a long time; over time the message will become extraordinarily long as previous messages appear at the bottom in the "original message" area. You can clear this area out from time to time, which will be much appreciated by whoever you are corresponding with-especially if they are using a mobile email device such as a BlackBerry or iPhone.

Also avoid the so-called "sloppy forward" where you have a long list of addresses in your "to" or "CC" lines; instead use "BCC" which will cloak these addresses from other recipients.