christmas

The power of Christmas Cards in Business

The Power of Christmas Greetings In Your Business
Christmas is the biggest Holiday for card sending…

Christmas Greetings are sent each year to the tune of 1.5 billion cards, that’s more than any other holiday. Holiday cards account for 60 percent of card sales each year.

Aside from families and personal cards, businesses find it a great time to send out Annual Christmas Greetings saying Thank You for your business, to customers/clients, prospective clients and employees.
Here are a few other benefits of sending out Christmas Greetings…

You stay top of mind
Shows you appreciate your current clients
Business relationships are enhanced
Promotes Referrals and New customers
Retains your current customers

Some other tips to keep in mind when sending Christmas Greetings…
1. Be Sensitive to Traditions (seasons greetings or happy holidays)
2. Update Your List (organize throughout the year to save the last minute hassle)
3. Adding Personal Signatures
4. Mail to Home Address (for the biggest impact)
6. Use Titles (such as Mr. & Mrs. etc…)
7. Buy Quality Cards
8. Avoid the Mail Rush (mail on time for the Holiday)

Organizing your Holiday Card List & Preparing your Christmas Greetings or Holiday cards before Thanksgiving will help you to enjoy the Holiday Season and give you more time to celebrate.

If you find yourself to late for Christmas Greetings, don’t panic!

Simply send out a greetings that thank your customers/clients for their business for the past year and that you look forward to serving them in the New Year.

Also important, don’t forget these great reasons for sending greeting cards to enhance your business throughout the year, until the Holiday’s roll around again…

Birthdays
Thank You
Thanks for the Referral
Sorry to hear
Anniversary Date of Client Relationship

Thoughts for the holidays…..

Maybe it is because of the holidays, maybe it is because it is coming up on the 5 year mark, (those of you that might be new to following me, or might not know, I lost my husband Bryan of 20 years, in a tragic car wreck 2/2/13 www.BryanDelk.com is a page I made for honor of his memory.) maybe it is because I finally decided this year to actually say “yes” to a date, and then a few more, and then after I thought it was going wonderful, I found it was not so much as I had thought, (and I know some people will say and already have that it was too soon, or whatever, etc, same thing, you don’t know unless you were there and walking in those shoes, I definitely would not have posted pictures and added in so many cards, had I known things would change, we/I thought it was going to be so, and then some things were realized, it is what it is) before you feel sorry for me, don’t….I teach all the time that we need to learn to be grateful and thankful in every thing, and I am grateful and thankful for someone coming along and showing me that I can actually have feelings again, as I had turned off my personal side of feelings for so many years….I mean, I am a great friend, great mom, great sister, etc lol and great in business, but I know I had made walls to my personal side, and he helped me walk through some of the steps to allow those walls to not be so hard, didn’t work out the way I had thought, and that is okay, I have prayed very hard for God’s perfect will in my life, and I believe if/when that is to happen, I will know, and I want it with all my heart only with God’s blessing….. and then maybe it is because just in general this time of year, we tend to all be a little bit more emotional in the first place.

I read an article today, from another lady, who lost a child, I had read it before, but funny how when you read something at different times, it effects you in a different way.

She talked about people making comments, unthoughtful, not knowing her or the situation…..I remember seeing comments on the news reports w Bryan too….they’d say comments cuz of black ice, he didn’t know how to drive, or shouldn’t have been out on the ice, etc….they didn’t know he was a cop for 16 years and trained how to drive….they didn’t know he was driving for fedex n trained to drive there as well, and they made him go to work because people *just had* to have their packages you know, they didn’t salt the roads cuz there wasn’t time and our city is not used to that much that fast, and they didn’t close the roads, till 127 wrecks that morning, with one fatality, and that was his, they didn’t know that Bryan slowed to avoid hitting a truck, (which he ended up hitting) because that truck slowed to avoid hitting a wreck that was in front of him, and then he slid into Bryan’s lane and right into the front of his van….*they just didn’t know* before they unthought fully commented….

I had met another man this year, that initially told me his wife had died 6 years ago, and thankfully, I think from being married to a cop and also being internet savvy, I know how to check things, and I do, and I found he was not – and was sickened to the thought of someone even saying that about someone else, if he had any true feelings for her – whether he wanted to cheat on her or not – he’d not even remotely say something like that. I couldn’t imagine what she would think, if she knew, not only that he cheated, but that he’d say something like that. Maybe cuz I am old-fashioned or whatever, but I don’t believe in that – but even if I did – I could never imagine saying that about someone that wasn’t – like wishful thinking in an awful way. I don’t know….Definitely pray for this man, and this woman, they need it.

Then I talked another man this week, that lost his wife of almost 30 years, just this year, and how he is having trouble dealing with emotions of this new walk, new steps in life. He talked about friends just not understanding…..and I tried to tell him, they can’t – they don’t….they can have empathy, they can have sympathy, and that is wonderful…..but just like after I walked through those steps, I got reached out to some other friends that were widows, and apologized for being an awful friend…I mean in reality, I know I wasn’t, I had reached out, I had sent cards, I had texted, I had called…..but you just don’t know, you don’t get it – unless you walk those shoes, and I truly hope and pray that most never know what I had to feel and go through.

I remember after the wreck, I got a call from the lawyers, they wanted me to sign a paper saying that it was okay to destroy the van he drove after they did all their legal stuff. I couldn’t do it. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t, it was like signing something to say that I was okay with ending that part, making that *period*. I made an appointment, I went to go see the van, I made them let me take the tape off, and I remember I climbed in the van, I touched every part of the van that he might have touched, that last time. So many people warned me to not do it. I debated my own thoughts of doing it or not, but I knew I had a time-table if I was going to do it and be able to do it, I had to then, or never be able to. I chose to do it. It was hard, very hard, it was taped up like they left it that day at the wreck. There was still his blood all over it, there was glass shattered everywhere. I still climbed in it, sat in it, touched it all, cried for hours, till they finally came out and checked on me, and asked if I needed someone to come get me, as they were closing the lot, and I needed to go and they wanted me safe. I still never signed the papers, they moved forward I guess the same, I don’t know, I guess they had to right? lol, I just couldn’t do it.

I remember for months, even sometimes to this day, something exciting happens, or anything happens, that I would have normally called or texted him to tell him about, and I can’t…..same with my Mom….your spouse and a parent, some of the closest relationships you have in your life…..losing my Mom last year, I felt at first I was thrown back to day one, I couldn’t even deal with my emotions at the beginning. When I speak on stage at events you have your smile on, and helping others – I was good at that. I was not good at facing my own emotions. I have had to learn and pray and talk to God a lot these last few years with different things and trust and learn how to walk in these steps, these shoes He has given for me. I do know that for some reason, He trusts me with this, that in turn I will help others and help bring them closer to Him. I try to honor His trust and obey. I am not perfect and I fail every single day. But every day, I get back up and I try again, and I move forward again, and I take those steps, in those shoes again.

In this holiday season, and as this year comes to a close, and as we start to go into the new year, remember, the past is the past, we don’t live there – it is useful and I thankfully have lots and lots of very fond memories there, and I will always love and cherish them. I will learn from my past, I will grow from my past, and I will use that to launch myself in to my new future of this next year, being better than before, learning and growing and teaching others what I learn in the process to help them as well, personally and professionally, in this walk we call life.

Here’s to many blessings and prosperous beginnings in 2018,

Love and Gratitude,

Laurie

Are you ready for Thanksgiving dinner?

Are you ready for your Thanksgiving dinner? Before you know it, it’s going to be Christmas and then 2018!

We have SO much to be grateful for!

I know I am grateful and thankful that my life, every single day, is filled with helping people to better their lives, focus on their future on how to enhance it, helping people take actions on their goals and dreams, creating business and passive income streams that help care for them and their families….

Many times, starting out, it *is* about the money, trying to support or help support yourself and your family to be better and cared for better….after awhile, you see it is far more important than the dollars in your bank account or theirs that you help, but about the difference for good you are making in the world and in others lives’ for better.

I am SO blessed, every single day, I get texts, emails, phone calls, private messages, and more from people who say, that something I said or shared – made an impact on their life, helped them to think or be better, or get closer to their spouse, or God or their kids, or made them more money, or helped them to help someone else….

Don’t wait for the new year to make those new years resolutions….you can start and make changes for better NOW……There is still almost 60 days of this year left…..start now, get moving, and finish this year STRONG, and start the new year on a STRONG step toward better for you – whatever that *step* in whatever *shoes* that is for you.

Most of all – be thankful and grateful for ALL God’s blessings in your life and around you – friends, family, house, car, and if nothing else…..that pretty blue vase on the wall. <3

How would you spend this five dollars?

Picture me holding up a five dollar bill….
“How would you spend this $5?”

(Some people may say: Subway, Starbucks, etc)

If you are in business, how ’bout this –

How hard did you WORK to GET those CLIENTS –
what are you doing to KEEP them????
one card – “Thank you for the referral”
second card – “Happy Birthday”,
next card – “Sorry for your loss”,
next card – “I appreciate your business”,
last card – “Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays”

“For a few dollars per customer per year, we cultivate and build relationships and your customers will know they are valued and appreciated.”

http://www.SendOutCards.com/1999

The History of the Greeting Card

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls.

The first known published Christmas card (1843), by artist John Calcott Horsley
Courtesy of the Hallmark Archives, Hallmark Cards, Inc.
By the early 1400s, handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year?s greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400, and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in the early to mid-1400s.

By the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing and mechanization, as well as the 1840 introduction of the postage stamp.

The first known published Christmas card appeared in London in 1843, when Sir Henry Cole hired artist John Calcott Horsley to design a holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances.

Although the first known valentine card can be traced back to 1415, it wasn’t until the early 1800s and the Penny Post that they became popular and affordable. Esther Howland, a young woman from Massachusetts, was the first regular publisher of valentines in the United States. She sold her first handmade valentine in 1849, eventually establishing a successful publishing firm specializing in the elaborately decorated cards.

The American Greeting Card
Louis Prang, a German immigrant who started a small lithographic business near Boston in 1856, is generally credited with the start of the greeting card industry in America.

Within 10 years of founding his firm, he had perfected the color lithographic process to a point where his reproductions of great paintings surpassed those of other graphic arts craftsmen in both the U.S. and Great Britain. In the early 1870s, Prang began publishing deluxe editions of Christmas cards, which found a ready market in England. In 1875, he introduced the first complete line of Christmas cards to the American public.

Prang’s cards had reached their height of popularity in the early 1890s, when cheap imitative imports began to flood the market, eventually forcing Prang to abandon his greeting card publishing business. Between 1890 and 1906, there was a marked decline in U.S. greeting card production.

In the years immediately following 1906, the domestic business climate for greeting cards improved, and a number of today’s leading publishers were founded. Most of the cards by these fledgling U.S. publishers bore little relation to Prang’s elaborate creations. The expressed sentiment was the predominant element; the illustrated portions were incidental.

Following World War I, new publishers continued to enter the field and healthy competition produced important innovations in printing processes, art techniques and decorative treatments for greeting cards.

In the early 1930s, publishers increasingly adopted the use of color lithography, a move that would propel the U.S. greeting card industry toward continued growth and expansion.

During World War II, the industry rallied for the war effort, helping the government sell war bonds and providing cards for the soldiers overseas. This period also marked the beginning of its close relationship with the U.S. Postal Service.

By the 1950s, the studio card – a long card with a short punch line – appeared on the scene to firmly establish the popularity of humor in American greeting cards.

During the 1980s, alternative cards began to appear – cards not made for a particular holiday or event, but as a more casual reminder of our connections to one another. The popularity of “non-occasion” cards continues to swell.

Explosive growth in electronic technology, and burgeoning consumer use of the Internet, gave birth to the electronic greeting card or E-card in the late 1990s. The development of this entirely new medium for card-sending served to further expand the industry, producing new E-card publishers as well as E-greeting product offerings by traditional publishers.

Although studies have shown, that most people prefer, the actual heart felt card, in the mail, that they can cherish forever.

How much would you be willing to pay to keep customers each year? $5?

The $5.00 Solution?
It does not matter whether you market yachts, fix teeth or trim trees. With enough loyal clients (customers or patients) you will exceed your financial goals.
A basic concept.

Will a single birthday card transform your clients into loyal, raving fanatics, who paint your business phone number on the side panels of their SUVs?

It seems very unlikely. (Although, even one card makes a difference.)

If you want fanatically loyal clients picture this scenario.

Scene #1: Shortly after she becomes a client (customer, patient, etc.), Mary Johnson receives a greeting card from you, thanking her for her business. Nice touch on your part.

Scene #2: Then Mary receives a birthday card on her 36th birthday. She’s growing more impressed with your professional client follow-up. She shows the card to a girlfriend.

Scene #3: Then Mary receives a greeting card wishing her a happy anniversary. She is stunned with your professional courtesy. Mary mentions your business to a couple of her friends.

Scene #4: Then, while finalizing the birthday party details for her pride and joy – who will turn nine-years-old in a week – Mary notices a birthday card from you to her son. Beyond stunned, Mary has never before experienced this level of thoughtful professionalism.

Scene #5: Finally, Mary receives your standard six-month follow-up greeting card, offering a discount, or something similar, if she refers a friend. How will Mary respond?

——————————————————————————–
This is The $5.00 Solution?. You sent 5 greeting cards, which cost you $5.00, plus postage.
Did you get your money’s worth? It seems like you did.

While greeting cards are always the first piece of mail people open, because they always contain good news…. a single greeting card is merely a great idea. But greeting cards exert a remarkable snowballing influence on people.

The amazing part is this. In less than a minute (when Mary first became your client) you scheduled an automated follow-up campaign. The Greeting Card Company printed, stuffed, stamped and mailed the cards for you.

Impressive, to say the least.

Aggressive client follow-up the easy, effective way.

($5.00, plus postage, and a minute of staff time makes good economic sense for a business program that works, especially when it works beyond your expectations.)

This works – beyond your expectations.

Examples of The $5.00 Dollar Solution?

Through this site are a few excellent (and quite successful) examples of The $5.00 Solution? in action. The companies that commissioned these custom cards can send them out individually or by the thousands. They can send them immediately, or schedule each card to go out on a different date, whenever they decide, automatically.

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