For Part I of this article, please click here.

7. Center and Item in an HTML Email

  • Highlight the headline, image, text, etc. that you want to center on the page.

  • On the menu, on the formatting bar above, you will see three little boxes -- located Left, Center, Right -- in a group, with teeny horizontal lines in them. Click on the center box to center stuff that you've highlighted.

Obviously, you would also click on the left box to move something to the left and on the right box to move it to the right. So easy! This is good for centering subheads in an email and that can make YOUR HTML-formatted emails stand out from everyone else's.

8. Insert Signature

All your business-oriented emails should carry your contact information, either in a text signature or in an HTML one. The all-text signatures are most acceptable today, because HTML ones can become quite garish if overdone in a business context, or they might be perceived that way by more conservative clients. Still, to the right audience, they have more impact.

Before you can insert a text signature though, you have to create one. Microsoft does a better job of telling you how than I would:

  • From the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.

  • In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that you want to use the signature with.

  • Under Signature, click Signatures, and then click New.

  • In the Enter a name for your new signature box, enter a name.

  • Under Choose how to create your signature, select the option you want.

  • Click Next.

  • In the Signature text box, type the text you want to include in the signature. You can also paste text to this box from another document.

  • To change the paragraph or font format, select the text, click Font or Paragraph, and then select the options you want. These options are not available if you use plain text as your message format.

  • To add an electronic business card -- vCard -- to the signature, under vCard options, select a vCard from the list, or click New vCard from Contact.

  • Click Finish when you are done editing the new signature.

9. Enlarge Subheads and Use Different Colors

What if the next National Geographic Magazine that you picked up was printed solely in the same single size type, and in only black on white paper throughout? Sort of takes away from the storied mystique, huh? Borrrrring! Well, there's no reason that your emails have to be boringly mono-type or monochrome, either.

Make Type Bigger: Increasing the size of your text for adding subheads that stand out is so easy. Just type the line that you want for a subhead and then highlight it. Then, go up above to the formatting tool bar, and change the text size number there -- look in the little menu box to the left of the bold letter B -- and change the number from say, 10 or 12, to 16 or 18. That size is sure to stand out and signal to the reader that a new subject follows.

Use Different Colors: Want to color that subhead? Highlight the words of text that you want colored. Then, go up to the top of your email blank to the formatting toolbar where you see a little capital A. Click on the tiny down menu triangle to the right of the A, which opens a palette of colors. Click on a color ... and, Bingo, your highlighted text is now colored. You can also make ALL your type a certain color, right as you type it.

There are other tactics, too, that make your emails more vibrant and interesting. These include adding bullets, numbers, stationery, colored backgrounds, signatures, and much more. But the ones cited above are among the fastest to learn and easiest to use.

10. Use Different Font Types Most of us fall into a habit of typing emails by using our pre-set defaulted type face, size and colors. But you CAN make impact in your emails by using a different font sometimes either for entire emails or for just parts of them.

Look above on the formatting toolbar just to the left of the little window with a number showing in it. That name (Times New Roman, Arial, etc.) is the name of a specific font (the shape of a typeface) and if you click on the little down triangle there, you open up a long list of typefaces. As you scroll down, you can even see what each typeface looks like. How handy.

Now that you know where to go to change a font, go type something in the email box. Highlight it. Go back up to the list of fonts. Choose one from the drop down menu. Bam! Just like Emeril, you've kicked it up a notch to a different font or type face and the look stands out. Do single words, paragraphs, phrases or subheads this way. But if you do it throughout an entire email, be consistent with your choices so your email message looks organized and thought out.

Try one of the above enhancements today on your next email. Once you do and see the results, you'll want to try several at a time. Soon, you'll find that your friends are improving the look of their emails, too. What if EVERYONE started doing this? Gosh, wading through dozens of emails might not be so tedious after all!