Using Email to Promote Your Personal Brand
Every time you send out an email, you have the opportunity to promote your personal brand. The way
you communicate in email is important because every message you send tells the recipient something about you. If your email messages are curt or contain too many errors, this can be a big negative and detract from your personal brand.
We all get busy, but it is important to exhibit the same level of business acumen when creating business emails as you would if you were participating in a public speaking event. Your attitude and demeanor matter in terms of portraying your professional brand effectively.
One often overlooked strategy for promoting your personal brand via email is the use of information in
your footer. While most people have an email address and phone number and possibly their corporate web address, not everyone takes advantage of the branding possibilities that email footers offer.
- Using a powerful quote from a famous person you admire can offer your email recipients a glimpse into your personal values. A colleague of mine just sent me a message that had a quote from Mark Twain that said, “Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Choose a quote that has meaning to you and exemplifies your positive personal attributes.
- If you have a personal blog, include a link to your blog site. You could even change your footer weekly to include a specific blog title. If you have a Visual CV or Digital Résumé, you can include a link to your multimedia career portfolio as well.
- Add links to your LinkedIn and Twitter pages. You can even get the code to include icons. Consider including your Skype ID and your Facebook page, depending upon whether or not you use these for business.
- If you want to go all out, try making a short video. You Tube is one possibility, but there are some simple utilities out there that will allow you to generate a digital video signature.
By promoting your professional brand via multiple avenues, you will increase your visibility. Using your email correspondence as a way to advance your personal brand is a simple, but effective method of spreading the word about your unique product offering, YOU!