Founders – don’t forget your sig files!

I end up doing quite a bit of email with the founders I mentor and other people in the startup ecosystem. While email has its well known drawbacks it’s the lowest common denominator means of digital communications. And while Slack and other tools are better than email it doesn’t make sense to set up a Slack account for a founder whom I may only exchange one or two emails with.

What I find remarkable is that very few founders bother to create a sig file – signature file – for their email. Founders you need to do this! Sig files provide the recipient with valuable information about you. Here’s a list of what can be included in your sig file:

• Email address – yes recipients get it automatically, but it still can be helpful to list it, but you do run the risk of getting it snarfed up by spammers.
• Phone number – personally I don’t do this as I get a lot of spam phone calls already
• Title
• Web site or blog url
• Twitter handle
• Skype handle
• LinkedIn url

Here’s my sig file as an example. Note I use ————————— to divide the sig file from the body of the email message.

Author: Mentorphile

Mentor, coach, and advisor to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. General manager with significant experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Focus on media and information. On founding team of four venture-backed companies. Currently Chairman of Popsleuth, Inc., maker of the Endorfyn app for keeping fans updated on new stuff from their favorite artists. View all posts by Mentorphile