One of the most effective ways to promote your business is to create an email signature. 

It's a great way to advertise your products and services for free and is also an
important way of building brand recognition.

You may ask, what is an email signature?  It's the text which appears at the end of your emails, which identifies you, your company and your products or services.

It's advisable to include the following :

- name
- company name
- company logo
- phone number
- email address
- website address
- marketing strapline

Ensure that every email you send out includes your email signature by setting it up in your email software.  You can change the colours of the text to tie in with your company branding and add your logo.

If you need any assistance in setting up your email signature, please feel free to contact me .

Just think how many times your company gets exposure if you include these details in all your emails!

A signature file is one of the most powerful marketing and communication tools available to businesses.

Why not set yours up now?

You meet someone for the first time, they tell you their name when they introduce themselves, but a few minutes later, you've forgotten it!

The reason we don't remember people's names is because we're so focused on ourselves, busy thinking of what we're going to say to them, that we don't concentrate and actually listen to them speaking.

However, as Dale Carnegie commented :

'A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language'.

So it makes sense to try and improve your memory skills.  You'll find it not only helps create a good first impression in your business life, for example if you're networking, but also in your social life.

If you would like some hints and tips, please read on : -

Concentrate

You can only remember what you observe in the first place.  If you are not paying attention, you won't register the person's name, so you can't possibly remember it.

So, concentrate on firstly paying attention to the person's name when you first hear it and secondly, form an impression of the person. 

Repeat Repeat Repeat

Repetition helps engrave the person's name in your memory.

Use the name immediately.  For example, 'So, what type of business are you in, Yvette?'  Repeat it silently to yourself.  Comment on the name, if possible. Use it occasionally in the conversation (without overdoing it!). Use it when leaving. 

If, however, you realise that you've forgotten their name by the time you come to the end of your conversation, politely ask them again.

Association

Some people find it helpful to associate a person with someone they know, either a friend, relative or a well-known person. 

For example, if you meet someone called Bruce, you could associate him with Bruce Forsyth from 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

Being able to remember people's names is a valuable asset in both your business and social life, so why not try out a few of these tips the next time you meet a new person?

Email is an amazing communication tool, however it can become a distraction and prevent you from getting things done.

Having recently listened in to a conference call by Mike Song, who wrote the book 'The Hamster Revolution', please find below some of his suggestions on how to control your emails, rather than let them control you.

• Disconnect your email notification, so that you don't receive an alert every time an email comes into your inbox.
• Work on email in batches, e.g. every 45 minutes, spend 5-10 mins reading and replying to emails. Don't process one email at a time when it appears in your inbox, as it breaks your concentration and disrupts your workflow.
• If you use your inbox as a To-Do list, set a target for the number of emails you want to have in your inbox at any one time. For example, you may decide that it is 35.  Then, if you have over 35, use this as a trigger to work on your emails
  and reduce the number.  Scan through them and see which ones can be deleted immediately.
• Then, select those emails which can be deferred and using the functionality in Outlook, drag them into your calendar or task list.  Alternatively, flag emails to act as a reminder to follow them up.
• Create rules for low priority emails, like newsletters. Set up a special mail folder for low priority emails and when going through your inbox, right-click on a low priority email, click on Create Rule and follow the instructions.  Then read those emails when you have a free minute or schedule regular time in your calendar.

Good luck!

Well, for all of us, there will only be 24 hours in the day.  However, some people manage to accomplish more than others.

One tip is to regularly write a To-Do List each morning. 

I, personally, find it useful to split my list into two columns, Work and Personal.  Then, under each column, I have three sections : red, amber and green.  Red means I absolutely have to do it today, amber means it would be great to do it today and green means it's a nice-to-have.

The secret is to review your list at the end of the day, transferring 'untackled' items to the next day's list.

Also, another tip is to make sure that you handwrite your list, as opposed to typing it up.  Somehow...don't ask me how...having tried both methods, I find more tasks get done when they're handwritten!

Why not start writing that To-Do List now.....?

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