A signature in the e-mail world is a little different than signing your name. A good signature provides your recipient with your company information, contact details and perhaps a little promotion. They usually consist of around five lines of text separated from the main body of your message with some special characters. Here's an example:

============================ (the "equals" sign)
The Web For Business.com
Making the Internet WORK for Business
http://www.thewebforbusiness.com
Hosting starting at $9.95 / month!
============================

This is a pretty basic signature which is automatically added by my e-mail program. Here's how to set this up in Microsoft Outlook Express and Netscape Mail.

Outlook Express

1. Click on the "Tools" menu and select "Stationary" from the list.
2. At the bottom of the active screen, there is a button for Signatures. Click it.
3. A window will pop up with a screen in which you can type your signature message. Try to do it in plain text and make sure you check off that you would like your signature attached to all outgoing e-mail messages. Check for spelling and grammatical errors and click "OK" when you're finished.
4. When you get back to the next screen, click the "Apply" button and your signature file will be attached to all e-mail messages you send.
5. If you ever want to change your signature, just repeat these steps.

Netscape Mail

1. In some text editor, create your signature file and save it as a plain, ASCII text file (.txt ending) in a location that you'll remember.
2. Open Netscape Mail and click on the Edit --> Preferences menu.
3. Under Mail & Newsgroups, click on the Identity Setting
4. At the bottom of the active window, there is a box where you can enter the location of the signature file you created. Click on the <Choose> button to browse through your files and specify the location of your signature file.
5. Click on "OK" and you're done!

Signatures add a letterhead-like quality to your e-mails. Use them to promote your site, product specials and provide contact information. Used effectively, they are a good tool in the quest to generate repeat visits to your website.