Greeting Card Etiquette

When it comes to sending holiday business greeting cards to your sphere of influence I don’t think there is any question whether to send or not to send. It just makes sense to send greeting cards. I will even go so far as to say that if political correctness even crosses your mind then you are completely missing the significance of this gesture.

Now that you have decided to send greeting cards you have to determine who to include on your list, what kind of business greeting card to choose and how to address the envelope.

Why send greeting cards to your sphere of influence?:

• enhance your current business relationships
• attract new customers
• remind old clients that you exist
• show appreciation to supportive clients

Use proper business greeting card etiquette. What is a well-meaning gesture can offend the people you want to impress when it is not done properly.

1. Buy Quality Cards: Start with a good quality business greeting card to show that you value your clients and colleagues. Skimping on your selection can be interpreted in a number of ways. Your recipients might take it as a sign that business has not been good or that they aren’t worth a little investment.

2. Update Your List: Make sure your list is up-to-date with correct names and addresses. If you do this on a regular basis, it does not become a dreaded holiday chore. As you gain new contacts throughout the year, take time to add them to your database for your business greeting card group. This way you won’t embarrass yourself by sending the card to the old address.

3. Sign Cards Personally: Even if you have preprinted information on the business greeting card such as your name, you need to add your handwritten signature. The most elegant business greeting cards should have your personal signature and a short handwritten message.

4. Handwrite the Address: If you are ready to throw up your hands at this point and forget the whole project, then have someone else address the envelopes for you. Don’t use computer-generated labels. They are impersonal and make your holiday wishes look like a mass mailing. You may save time and even money, but can lose a client in the process.

5. Mail to Home Address: Mail your business greeting card to the home if you know the small business owner. Be sure to include the spouse’s name. The card is not sent to both husband and wife at the business address unless they both work there.

6. Use Titles: Whether you are addressing the envelope to an individual or a couple, titles should always be used. It’s “Mr. John Doe,” not “John Doe,” or “Mr. and Mrs. John Doe, rather that “John and Mary Doe.”

7. Be Sensitive to Traditions: Find out whether your business greeting card recipients observe Christmas, Hanukah, or Kwanzaa. Make sure your message is appropriate for each individual. If you decide to go with one card, choose a generic one that will not offend. “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” are safe bets.

8. Avoid the Mail Rush: Mail your business greeting cards in time to arrive for the designated holiday. If you find yourself addressing the envelopes on Super Bowl Sunday, keep the cards until next year and send out a high-quality note thanking people for their business during the previous year instead. To avoid the last minute greeting rush is to have all your envelopes addressed before Thanksgiving. Then during December you can leisurely write a short message – one or two lines are all that is necessary on each card, sign your name and have them in the mail with a minimum of hassle.

Top 10 Videos To Change How You View The World

To be a good marketer you need to know what is going on not just in your city, region or country; you need to have your fingers on the pulse of the world. Everything around us influences how people perceive marketing messages.

A great source for staying on top is a website called TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives .

Another one of my favorite websites for keeping in touch is called Lifehack and they compiled a list of the Top 10 Videos To Change How You View The World.

Here is a summary of the videos they featured:

1) The Myth of Violence – Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker tackles the myth that today is a more violent era than in the past.

2) 10 Ways the World Could End – Stephen Petranek
While some of Petranek’s top ten doomsday problems might seem a bit farfetched, many are definitely worth a
look.

3) New Insights on Poverty and Life Around the World – Hans Rosling
Statistics generally aren’t described as beautiful, but Hans Rosling comes close in showing the information about
our changing world.

4) Toys That Make Worlds – Will Wright
Are games becoming a serious medium?

5) Technology’s Long Tail – Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson talks about the four key shifts that occur with most new technologies.

6) Why Are We Happy? Or Not? – Daniel Gilbert
Daniel Gilbert describes some surprising information about your happiness.

7) Universe is Queerer Than We Can Suppose – Richard Dawkins

8 ) Sliced Bread – Seth Godin
Seth Godin shares some of his ideas on marketing.

9) Redefining the Dictionary – Erin McKean
Erin McKean speaks with passion about how the dictionary and the English language is changing.

10)What’s So Funny About the Web? – Ze Frank