The discovery phase of a new computer
Putting your e-mail signature on your new laptop
Last week, I had to buy a new computer. The beauty of the new computer process is once you get past loading the things you need to get your work done, there’s a discovery phase where you find out a whole bunch of things you can do. This is particularly true when you bump up from one system to another—like going from Windows 10 to 11.
That’s where yours truly found himself last week. After getting my e-mail to work, I began drafting up new e-mail signatures. That may not sound like too big a deal. Yet if you work from home, learning a better way to create something as mundane as an e-mail signature can be exciting. Particularly when you make a new discovery.
Like e-mail signature templates.
Creating an e-mail signature is fairly straightforward. In Outlook, Microsoft offers a free template. You can save it to your hard drive and then fill in your information on the card you select. You will want to do it on the template rather than after you’ve pasted it to Outlook. This makes it possible to put a photo of just about any size and have it fit into the template.
Then it’s simply a matter of filling in your information and image and copying and pasting into Outlook or whatever e-mail service you use. There’s a nice video on the download page that demonstrates.
I’ve long contended that your e-mail signature is one of the more underrated ways to attract traffic to your website, your newsletter or to get somebody to download your eBook or lead magnet. We’ll offer some suggestions on signatures next week.
What discoveries did you make when you purchased a new computer? Please share and we’ll add it to a future My Home Office Hacks.
But what about…The Addict Breaker
It can be a fine line between habit and addition. People who work from home are creatures of habit, good and bad. When some of those habits cross a line, it can spell trouble for your work and home life. One newsletter yours truly recently discovered, The Addict Breaker by Franck Djiometio, delves into addiction. There are several great reads. One that caught my eye in particular, The 10 main properties and benefits of coffee, reassured me that the newsletter has a lighthearted side as well.
Check it out.
A home office essential?…USB hub
Laptops do not have as many USB ports as they used to. If you’re using an external microphone or camera for video meetings or podcasting, you will want a reliable USB hub. Here’s a few recommended in a recent New York Times article, the best and one budget-friendly.
“The world only exists in your eyes... You can make it as big or as small as you want.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
In my email signature, I include a link to a helpful podcast or linkedIn live session where I've appeared. Placing a linked video thumbnail in your email signature is also useful to drive traffic to your top of the funnel video content. A video thumbnail can be made to look like a video player, which helps invite a click. You can get the look by taking a screenshot of your video player.
Folks who are using CRM’s can also create campaigns with trackable custom links for their podcast or videos.
Good stuff. Starting with a clean slate is both terrifying and exhilerating. Patience, bravery, and effort are required. Congrats.