Of the many emails we receive each week at Better Business, less than 40% contain a signature file (or sig file) - the text that's inserted at the end of an email.

A signature file makes your business look more professional and ensures that all your communications are well branded. It also makes it easier for the recipient to respond, especially if they want to call or fax you, rather than reply to the email.

The ideal length for a signature file is six lines or less, and should contain at least:

• your company name
• your contact details
• your website address (don't forget to start your website address with http:// so that readers can click through to it)

You could also include your job title and a marketing slogan or positioning line.

Most email programs such as Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, and web-based applications such as Hotmail and Telstra's WebMail, let you create a standard signature file that's automatically inserted each time you commence an email. (Myob better business Nov. 2002)

We can produce your stationery based on the images/text you supply. Completed stationery is supplied to you on disk, with an installation program to automatically setup the stationery on your computer. Stationery is priced from $120.