The top website and online marketing links of the week.
Ever give much thought to your business email signature? Not for your newsletter – just your everyday email. I have to admit I hadn’t paid much attention to mine in quite a while, but this week a colleague pointed out that I could make that sig work a lot harder for me if I wanted to. While doing some research into this, I came across a post on 25 effective business email signatures from pros that might give you some inspiration as well.
One of the top tips I got from this post and others I found was to ask for referrals in your signature, if your business benefits from them. My colleague told me that he’d once asked his clients about referrals and most said they’d be happy to give them – but they’d never been asked. So ask! Here’s a guide on asking for referrals without sounding desperate.
This week I’ve been working on revamping my older launch documents – what a design/development client gets when their project is complete. Now I have a more cohesive launch package that includes a thank you letter, project sign-off form, training documentation, optional maintenance plan and more all presented in a Red Kite-branded folder for keeping. How do you deal with the completion of a project? Do you regard it as the end of the relationship, or more like a new beginning? Here’s something I found on building happy long-term client relationships for web professionals, but it can apply to other businesses easily.
Finally… a great post detailing 10 places to get free stock images for your blog or website. Adding a photo or two to your blog post is not just a way to build visual interest and better communicate the idea behind your post – did you know that they can also help with search engine ranking? If you use appropriate keywords in the image file name, and fill in the ALT text and image description, they can help your post get found more easily in searches. And social media shares are much more likely with posts that have images. Learn more about why you should include images in posts. Yes, I’m aware there’s no image in this post, thanks… it’s hard to find a single metaphor that works for email signatures/referrals/client relationships/stock photos.
Did you find this information useful? Please share with your friends and colleagues! And comment below with questions or observations.