Author: Franz Malten Buemann

For most of my life, I never thought I would be a business owner.For starters, both of my parents started businesses, and I saw firsthand the emotional and financial toll it could take. But I was also an introvert who struggled with anxiety. All of the founders I saw were confident and charismatic, seemingly able to calmly handle every business challenge that came their way and pitch their business on a whim to any stranger they met. Plus, when you’re dealing with anxiety mixed with introversion, you tend to talk yourself out of the risky moves and bold decisions that are often required to succeed in growing a company. It felt like starting a business would be even more of an uphill battle for me than it is for most. But then I had the spark of inspiration that starts every entrepreneur’s story—the idea I just couldn’t get out of my head, the vision for the impact I wanted to make on the world. I had struggled so much with finding mentors through the various stages of my career, and I wanted to build a platform to make this powerful development tool easier for anyone to access, Dreami. Around the same time, I was doing a lot of self-reflection around where I was in my life and my career. I suddenly felt this urge to step away from all the mental limitations I had and step into a more limitless version of myself—which is actually what my name means in Sanskrit: limitless. I wanted to embrace and honor my personality as much as I could, without letting it hold me back from taking steps that would make my life more fulfilling. I had my vision and the fuel to drive me forward: Now, here’s how I actually overcame my challenges to get my company off the ground, land our early customers, and even get into a competitive accelerator.Here’s what fuels us, even when it’s tough: we have the unique ability and opportunity to truly make a life-changing impact on someone’s life. That is a privilege, and we won’t take that for granted. #startups #mentorship— Dreami (@JoinDreami) March 31, 2022

I started small to build my confidenceIn the beginning, when I was just getting comfortable with the idea of being a founder, I spent a lot of time in Clubhouse rooms. In theory, this was the perfect platform for an introvert like me. The whole point of the app is to make the facilitation of conversation easier, and I already knew I had an interest in common with everyone in the room. I also didn’t have to show my face and could even have notes in front of me if need be. Best of all, I was listening to all of these conversations that would be perfect for getting the word out about Dreami: women in tech opening up about how they feel unsupported and don’t know where to look for help. But no matter how many times I found my finger hovering over the mute button, my crippling anxiety stopped me from pushing it. Who was I to say I had a solution? Where were my qualifications? What would others think of me? While anxiety was pestering me from one shoulder, frustration was shouting from the other. How could I keep letting great opportunities slide? Other people would love a forum to talk openly about what they’re working on! Finally, frustration won, and I wrote down in my planner a small goal that day to speak up in just one Clubhouse room. It went great! The positive feedback and new followers I got from that pushed me to speak up more, and the ball was rolling. It’s not that every speaking gig from that moment went swimmingly, but I understood the power of putting my voice out there. And I had the practice and confidence to say yes when bigger opportunities came my way, like speaking at TEDx and pitching my company to the Techstars accelerator. I delivered a TEDx talk about going from limited to limitless.I built habits to support my mental healthEven with practice putting myself out there, sales were never going to be easy for me. My introversion made constantly being on sales calls very draining on my energy, and my anxiety made me take every conversation that didn’t end in a “yes” personally. I would sometimes have days when I couldn’t get anything else done because my self worth was deflated by a rejection or lack of response, and I was ruminating on what I could have done better.I knew this wasn’t a good cycle and that it would lead to demotivation or burnout fast. But I also knew that sales is a numbers game, and that if I wanted to get us those early customers (to eventually be able to hire someone to delegate sales to), I’d have to find a way to make it work. While I worked internally on separating my self-worth from the success of my business, I also implemented some external habits to better take care of myself. 0:00/1×Here’s me on TikTok talking about making the ask. I started by batching all of my sales calls at the tail end of the week, giving myself a few solitary days to get strategic work done before any conversations wore me out or knocked me down. Since this would lead to long days of back-to-back calls, I also worked with a coach to figure out how to care for my energy. She recommended leaving enough time between meetings to do something that recharges me: write in my planner, do a short meditation, or take a walk around the block. I’ve been shocked by how big of a difference even just five to ten minutes of “me time” between calls makes. Ultimately, I think this need to be extremely intentional with my time and energy has actually turned out to be a superpower as a founder. Whereas other business owners may spend years figuring out their time management, it was an immediate necessity for me that came pretty naturally.I found mentors like me—and mentors who could push meAt Dreami, we always talk about building your personal board of directors—multiple mentors who bring different things to the table. When seeking other business owners to learn from, I found it helpful to take a similar approach, with a mix of introverted and extroverted mentors to help me both work with and push past my personality. For instance, my introverted mentors have helped me become more comfortable with saying no to meetings that don’t drive my business forward (even when it feels tempting to say yes) so that I can preserve my limited energy for the most impactful tasks. They’ve also taught me that it’s okay to be upfront about my anxiety or introversion. I always felt like it was something I had to hide, but I’ve been shocked by how understanding people are when I’m clear about the boundaries I need because of my personality.My extroverted mentors, on the other hand, give me something to aspire to. Every time I have a big meeting or speech, I envision the extroverted leaders I admire and try to embody their energy. Suddenly, I find my anxiety abating, my voice coming out a little stronger, and my presentation becoming more engaging. It’s a weird trick, but I swear it’s what got me through the final pitching process to get into Techstars, and it’s helped me every time since when I’m feeling nervous before a crowd. I know this all sounds like a real fake-it-til-you-make-it story, but I won’t sugarcoat it: There are still hard days where my introversion is making me hesitate or my anxiety is throwing me into a spiral. But, with time and some smart techniques, I’ve learned how to bounce back from these moments faster. And, more importantly, I believe they don’t have to hold me back from succeeding in business.

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Email is the darling of the marketing world, and for a good reason. With 99% of email users checking their inbox every day, it’s an excellent way to connect with customers. 
However, the popularity of email marketing means you have to work harder to stand out among competitors. It’s not enough to just write great content. You have to make your emails feel personalized and look professional too. 

We’ll show you how you can create a handwritten signature for your emails to give them an extra human touch.
Why You Need a Signature
Of the billions of emails sent and received every day, more than half of them are spam. As a professional, you want your emails to look trustworthy and credible so customers don’t discard them. 

Creating a high-quality, handwritten email signature helps you build trust with customers. You can also use the signature to reinforce your brand identity, evoke professionalism, and add a personal touch.
You can create a handwritten signature in five straightforward steps. Let’s dive in. 
1. Go to a signature maker website.
To create a handwritten signature, you need to use an online tool. The good news is that several websites like Signature Maker and Create My Signature digitize your cursive signature for free.
If you want your signature to match your brand colors and style, look for a tool where you can customize the thickness and color of your “digital pen.”
2. Select “Create My Signature.”
Once you go to Signature Maker or another tool, select the “Create My Signature” button. 
 
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If you use another online signature maker, you might be given the option of typing or drawing your signature. Select the “draw signature” option.
3. Specify your pen settings.
On the electronic signature maker page, you have two customization options for your pen: width and color. 
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Use the numbers to select the pen width. Higher numbers generate thicker lines. Then, you can choose a pen color. 
The tool has three categories for colors: basic, saved, and advanced. If you can’t find the right color in the basic selections, you can use the advanced tab to select your color and adjust lightness and saturation. 
In general, it’s best to use a black pen or choose a color that matches your branding. When using a color that fits your brand, ensure that it’s easy to read on a computer. 
4. Draw signature.
Once you have the settings customized to your liking, draw your own signature using your mouse. If you’re on a touch screen device, you can also use your finger or stylus pen. 

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You can use the “Clear” button to start over if you don’t like your drawing or want to change your pen settings.
Learning how to do a signature with your mouse or trackpad can be challenging, so you can always try on a touch screen device or generate a cursive signature using handwritten fonts.
5. Save and download your handwritten signature.
When you have a handwritten signature that you’re happy with, click “Save.” You’ll then see a button that says “Download Signature.” Click the download button to save your digital signature as an image file (.png or .jpg format).
Your downloaded image will have your personal signature against a transparent background. That way, you can add it to emails and even use it to electronically sign PDF documents.
How To Add Your Handwritten Signature to Emails
Now that you have a file with the image of your signature, it’s time to add it to your emails. 
Option 1: Create an Email Signature Using a Professional Template
If you want a more professional signature with more formatting options and social media icons, you can create one using HubSpot’s free Email Signature Tool.

Before you get started, you’ll need to upload the image file with your handwritten e-signature to Dropbox or Google Docs to get the image URL.
Once that’s done, navigate to HubSpot’s Email Signature Tool, and select a template on the left-hand side. 
Use the second tab to enter your signature details, including your name, job title, and contact information. 
Then, navigate to the fourth tab, with the picture icons, to upload a custom image. 

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Go to your Dropbox image and click on “Copy URL” to get the link to your digital signature image. Paste the link under “Profile Picture” on HubSpot’s tool to add your handwritten signature.

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You can use the third tab, with the paintbrush icon, to change the theme and colors of your signature to match your brand.
Once you have the perfect signature, select “Create Signature” to fill out your information and download your new email signature.
Option 2: Using Your Email Client Signature Settings
Since your signature file has a transparent background, you can upload and insert it as an image in your custom signature using your Gmail or Microsoft email settings.

Make sure you resize the image manually or use the “small” size to ensure the signature image isn’t too big. 
Final Thoughts: How To Create a Handwritten Signature for Your Emails
Email marketing is one of the best channels for reaching customers, and your competition knows it too. If you want to stand out, you have to pay attention to every element of your email, not just the content. 
Using a professional template with a handwritten signature balances professionalism and personalization in a way that helps you stand out from the crowd. 

Big Idea or Enduring Question: How do you send survey invitations using flows?  Objectives: After reading this blog, you’ll be able to:  Understand the salesforce survey data model Use flow to send survey invitations to a contact  Associate survey invitations to Survey Invitations and Response related list  and much more Business
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