You’re a one-person shop and you want to get your name out to the public. What do you do?

Before you buy ads, print business cards and start networking, take a look at your email signature. Do you have one?

If not, that’s the first step. Think about how many emails you send in a day. Each one you send is a personal calling card.

When the organization I worked for changed its name, we made sure that the signature included not only our logo, but also ways to reach us, including through the Web, on Facebook and on Twitter.

The signature also includes the person’s name, title and phone number. It does not include the email address, mailing address or fax number because those can all be obtained by calling or checking the Web site.

As we were creating our email signature, I realized my personal signature wasn’t working for me. To be honest, I didn’t even have one.

I needed to be able to promote my blog so I added the URL for it. I also included my LinkedIn profile URL so that people could contact me. And finally, I added that I’m president of NFPW so that I can share information about the organization with people who may not be familiar with it.

To create a signature, open your InBox and click on Tools. Click on Options, then Signatures.

Remember, the signature is an introduction, so don’t tell your entire story. Give the person enough information that they will want to contact you.