Did you know that your email signature is the easiest, cheapest marketing tool in your toolbox?

Think of your email signature as your digital business card. You “hand it out” every time you contact someone. No printing costs. No awkwardness. (“Can I, uh… um, give you my card?”) Send an email and BAM. Digital business card, right in their inbox.

What you should include

What you should include varies based on your business and your goals. You don’t have a blog or a Twitter account? No worries. These are just some suggestions: Read the rest of this entry »

Feeling kind of cranky? Maybe even a little bitter? Yeah, I was too. It’s Monday, it’s cold and dreary in Chicago, I have jet lag from my trip to LA and I didn’t have any caffeine today. And then I did this one quick thing, and I felt a lot better.

Stop whatever you’re doing right now, go over to LinkedIn or Biznik and write someone a recommendation.

I mean it. Right now.

Scroll through your list of contacts and pick one person that you think does something awesome — it could be a client, a former co-worker, a professor — anyone. Take a few minutes (it really won’t take more than 15 minutes) and write a few sentences about them.

When you are done, I guarantee that you will feel awesome. Better than when that first sip of coffee starts kicking in on Monday morning. I can also guarantee that the person you just wrote about will feel awesome when they read it. It is a genuine, unexpected display of appreciation. Who knows, they may even feel inclined to write a bit of praise on your profile. Even if they don’t, I think writing recommendations looks great to prospective employers or clients — who wouldn’t want to work with someone that openly applauds and recognizes the work of others?

I know that you’re busy. I’m busy too. (As a side note, you might want to check out Chris Guillebeau’s article: “I’ve just been so busy lately.”) But, being busy isn’t an excuse not to acknowledge and thank the people who have positively impacted our lives — AND both LinkedIn and Biznik make it incredibly simple to display that positive message to the public.

Now, go for it!