Model Talk: Tips for Email Signatures

When it comes to business, the devil is in the details. This especially applies when it comes to communication.

While text and DMs are a popular way to reach out and network, email continues to be a widely and heavily used method.

Regardless of your age and whether you have modeling experience or not, it is critical to pay attention to how you're presenting yourself when it comes to email correspondence.

The cool thing about technology is that it's always changing and adding features that allow people to personalize and customize the websites, platforms and devices they use frequently.

Email signatures have always been around but these days, there are more ways than ever to make your signature stand out. Plan on pursuing the modeling industry? Then that means you'll need to start tailoring yourself to be a professional on all fronts.

If that means creating a new email account that's just for agency submissions, communicating with photographers, submitting to gigs, or keeping in touch with your agent if you're represented, then take that step ASAP and make sure your email signature matches.

So what should your email signature consist of? Well, that all depends on who you are, where you're at in your modeling career and what your goals are.

NEWBIES

Keep it simple if you're brand new to modeling and don't have much to include in your signature. At a bare minimum, have a "closer" before your name.

For example:

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Other commonly used closers include (but are not limited to): Sincerely Yours, Best, Best Regards, Respectfully, Yours Respectfully.

Depending on what email service you use, there is even a way to customize the text, font and color of the closer and/or your name but don't get too carried away. An agency, photographer or potential client doesn't need your signature to be a gif that sparkles and dances or some crazy meme.

PERSONAL INFO: YAY OR NAY?

Adding your phone number is optional BUT I don't recommend it simply because of safety concerns. The same goes with your mailing address/place of residence--you can leave it out. Minors under the age of 18 (in the US) should never put their phone number or home address in the email signature.

INTERMEDIATE & EXPERIENCED MODELS

Got some resume experience and a bit of a portfolio going on? Then you've got a bit more you can add to your email signature. This is where branding comes into play. But as mentioned above, keep it simple. Your signature should reflect where you are in your career and what you want to share with recipients.

Example #1:

Best,
[Your Name]
Model/Actor
[Your Email]

Example #2:

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Freelance Model
[Social Media Handles]

Example #3:

Best Regards,
[Your Name]
Published Model
[Your Email]
[Social Media Handles]
[Official Website]

Of course, you can mix and match any of these items and place them in whatever order you like but those are just a few ways you can create a professional custom email signature.

SHOULD YOU INCLUDE IMAGES?

That's entirely up to you. It goes without saying that the image should ideally be of you. Adding a headshot (not a filtered selfie!) can be a nice touch with an email signature. Make sure the picture isn't too large in size or else it will take too long to load (when this happens, the person looking at the email may get a blank square where the image would have appeared). So choose images wisely if you want to include one.

SOCIAL MEDIA INFO & LINKS

At the end of the day, you don't want to overwhelm recipients with a super long or involved signature. Make it clear who you are and what you do. Instead of incorporating all of the links to your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Instagram accounts, stick with using the social media handles (@yoursocialmediahandle). Everyone is more than familiar with what that means when they see it.

If you're smart and you've kept your branding consistent, hopefully all your social media handles will be the same across all the platforms you use. If not, that's okay but it's definitely more convenient to have one universal social media handle to include with an email signature instead of 3-4.

There is also the option of creating a hyperlink out of text in your email signature but only do this if you know the links work and that the sites they link out to are functioning. Nothing is worse than sending an email, having the recipient click on the hyperlinked text, only to get an error message or a dead site.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Taking the time to pay attention to "small things" like your email signature will reflect well on you when it comes to communicating with others in the industry. First impressions are always important and knowing how to present yourself in an email will make it high likely the person on the other end will want to network with you further and really see what you have to offer as a professional.