I Don?t Smoke, But I Love a Good .sig!

.sig, or "Dot Sig" as it's affectionately known, stands for "Signature File" and is the text and (usually) other contact information placed at the bottom of email or other computer-based correspondence. It is traditionally used for things like phone numbers, alternate email addresses, mailing addresses, web site addresses, etc. However the real truth is, it can contain anything the author wishes to include. It is like having your very own piece of legitimate, non-intrusive, socially acceptable, 100% SPAM-free advertising space on every piece of email you send or posting you ever make!

Think about that a moment. Really think about it. Do you have a .sig on your emails? Have you ever noticed other people's signatures? Have you ever clicked their links out of curiosity? Have you ever noticed that the links can have absolutely nothing to do with the topic being discussed, and yet it is still considered acceptable to use this space for what amounts to advertising much of the time?

Have you ever stopped to think about how many eyes could potentially be reading your online postings for years to come? Or how far an email you type could go if it is forwarded a few times to various groups of people you don't even know? You may not realize this, but many online forums, Yahoo Groups, etc. are publicly readable; you only must be a member in order to post something to the group. But since anyone, including bots, can read the messages, they are some of the most widely "spidered" content on the internet (see sidebar). This means that your comments or postings could potentially be read by millions of people beyond the one, two, or ten people you intended it for. What would you pay for that kind of targeted advertising? Make sure your .sig is ready!

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Googlebot - Your Friend on the WWW
Googlebot is Google's web-crawling robot. It collects documents from the web to build a searchable index for the Google search engine. This automated process is commonly called "spidering" because these (ro)bots crawl the web in their search for information. The key is that they love text. Google tends to rank sites with lots of text content very high - especially discussion forums! Because of this, your online forum remarks can live almost indefinitely, and may be seen by people years from now. This means any .sig you include at the bottom of your post will be nearly eternal free focused advertising.
[/SIDEBAR]

So, what is the proper protocol for creating a .sig? The internet standard is to place two hyphens (dashes) at the bottom of your email, and on the next line begin your sig. For example, mine looks like this at the moment:

--
|----------------------------------------------------
|ARBITRAGE == Risk Free Trades, Profit Up Front!
|Why gamble, when you can win every time!
|www.ArbitrageBusiness.Info - For Business Builders
|www.SportsArbitrage.Info - For Pure Traders
|www.PMLinvestments.com - For All Investors
|----------------------------------------------------

Notice I said that this is what my .sig looks like at the moment. Your signature is a dynamic thing, and you are free to change it at any time. In fact, you don't even have to have a standard one. Though most email programs have a place for you to put in automatic signatures, you can also simply type two hyphens, hit return, and type whatever you wish to be your signature on that particular email or posting. Think of the possibilities, be creative! Play with formatting and layout, don't be afraid to create simple shapes & boxes as I did above. Beware however that formatting doesn't always survive in emails, especially in html format, so you will want to experiment with sending yourself emails a few times while you get it "just right."

As long as you follow the protocol of two hyphens followed by your content, and place this at the bottom of your email, this is a universally acceptable method of self-promotion. The absolutely most critical component is, that your actual communication whether it be email or a forum posting must be on-topic!

This means you can't just post a message saying "I agree!" followed by your signature, on a dozen forums and not expect to be criticized for it. So make sure whatever you have to say is relevant to the topic at hand, and then be sure to include your .sig at the conclusion of your writing.

I believe that too many investors, business people, artists, and more do not take advantage of this amazingly powerful method of nearly-viral marketing. The major players in web-based email have known about the power of this for years! HotMail for example was a success primarily because of this technique! Back when they first started, their only form of advertising was by putting a small message about themselves at the bottom of every email each HotMail user sent. This meant that, whether they wanted to or not, every recipient of a HotMail user's email was exposed to a HotMail ad with a link to sign up. Because of this, HotMail was my first web-based email account back around 1998. Today, I don't know of any major web-mail provider that does not include a link to themselves in each user's email messages. This technique works; people do click those links!

In closing, I'd like to make a confession. I myself only created my .sig very recently. Though intellectually I knew all these facts and benefits to be true, I just didn't take the necessary action! Now that I have done so, I have received many more website visitors, and participants in some of my business ventures, because they saw my signature and decided to click. Creating this signature was such a little thing, why on earth did I wait so long to do it?!

Don't wait ? take action now. Needless to say, this advice extends far beyond just creating a good .sig!

Jonathan van Clute is a full time investor, educator, speaker, and online options and sports arbitrage trader. In addition to his business activities, he is also a musician, video editor/animator, and one of the world's greatest Segway Polo athletes. He can be reached via email at jonathan@PMLinvestments.com and is speaking at an upcoming teleseminar, visit http://snipurl.com/dotsig for details.

---

Google News Updated : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:05:30 GMT Kilpatrick's rise and fall - Detroit Free Press Washington Post Kilpatrick's rise and fall Detroit Free Press - 37 minutes ago BY BILL McGRAW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • September 5, 2008 Kwame Kilpatrick entered the mayor's office with extraordinary gifts -- charisma, savvy, flair, pedigree, connections, ambition and chutzpah -- everything a 31-year-old needed to make a ... Video: A Timeline of Detroit Mayor's Text Scandal AssociatedPress Detroit’s Mayor Will Leave Office and Go to Jail New York Times Chicago Tribune - San Jose Mercury News - DetNews.com - Wall Street Journal all 5,822 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:27:50 GMT Jesse Jackson hospitalized for stomach pains - Chicago Tribune United Press International Jesse Jackson hospitalized for stomach pains Chicago Tribune - 1 hour ago By Jeremy Gorner | Chicago Tribune reporter Rev. Jesse Jackson was being treated Thursday in Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago after falling ill. Video: Rev. Jesse Jackson Hospitalized AssociatedPress Jesse Jackson hospitalized after stomach pains USA Today Atlanta Journal Constitution - Entertainment Tonight News - CNN Political Ticker - AHN all 328 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:00:48 GMT Arthritis Drugs Linked to Risks From Infection - New York Times WNCT Arthritis Drugs Linked to Risks From Infection New York Times - 6 hours ago By AP WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration ordered stronger warnings Thursday on four medications widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses, saying they can raise the risk of possibly fatal fungal infections. Deaths Heighten Arthritis Drugs Warning WebMD Nation Digest 4 arthritis drugs get tougher warnings Seattle Times U.S. News & World Report - Reuters - Bloomberg all 491 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:38:34 GMT UN warns of Haiti flooding crisis - BBC News BBC News UN warns of Haiti flooding crisis BBC News - 1 hour ago Several hundred thousand people need help in Haiti, which is suffering severe flooding after being hit by a series of tropical storms, the UN says. Attempts to Aid Desperate Haitians Hindered by Floodwaters Washington Post Storms line up to slam western Atlantic, southeastern US AFP Telegraph.co.uk - The Associated Press - Chicago Tribune - Bradenton Herald all 2,575 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:05:26 GMT House committee widens probe of Vytorin safety - International Herald Tribune ChattahBox House committee widens probe of Vytorin safety International Herald Tribune - 7 hours ago AP TRENTON, NJ: A House committee investigating the safety and effectiveness of the popular cholesterol drug Vytorin and one of its components is turning up the heat on the drug's makers. Many Questions About Vytorin New York Times Drug Scare Shenanigans FOXNews Reuters - U.S. News & World Report - Forbes - MedPage Today all 547 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:32:18 GMT Stocks: A Terrible Thursday - BusinessWeek Washington Post Stocks: A Terrible Thursday BusinessWeek - 2 hours ago Major US indexes each tumbled nearly 3% as worries intensified over the health of the economy. All eyes are on Friday's jobs report Market players were probably wondering Thursday why they bothered to come back from their summer vacations. Stocks Are Broadly Lower Tracking Falls on Wall Street Wall Street Journal Stocks slide on economic worries CNNMoney.com Seattle Times - Los Angeles Times - Forbes - New York Times all 821 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:53:27 GMT Tropical Storm Hanna aiming for Massachusetts - Boston Globe ABC News Tropical Storm Hanna aiming for Massachusetts Boston Globe - 3 hours ago By Andrew Ryan and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to churn up the Atlantic coast and lash Massachusetts this weekend with winds gusting up to 50 mph near the coast and up to four inches of rain. Video: Hanna Nears US, but Stronger Ike Looms AssociatedPress Area departments gearing up for Hanna's arrival Attleboro Sun Chronicle Sun-Sentinel.com - Opelousas Daily World - The Associated Press all 5,279 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:23:14 GMT Datafeeds For Blogs Amazon RSS

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