The Write Spot, LLC

Sending out holiday cards

Should you send out holiday cards to your clients? What about business partners and people you network with? You bet.

Holiday card rules

1. Notice that I say HOLIDAY and not Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hanukkah. In order not to offend people, keep the holiday message generic - peace on earth, happy holidays, and seasons greetings are all good choices. However, if your business is religiously based, for example a Christian bookstore, a religious message is appropriate.
2. Keep the graphic snon-religious too - winter scenes, snowmen, animals, and so on.
3. Your graphics should say something about your company, if possible. If you own a business directed towards families, scenes of children playing in the snow would be be a good choice.
4. Be careful with humor. Someone might find not find grandma getting run over by Santa's sleigh very funny.
5. Use quality holiday cards, preprinted if possible. VistaPrint.com is a good choice, but try your local business supply or stationary store.
6. Include your business card or a business magnet in the envelope.
7. Use a holiday postage stamp and don't forget your return address (pre-printed with your logo if possible).

Why bother with holiday cards?

1. Customer and Partner Appreciation - To thank people for doing business with you.
2. Marketing - With my Usborne Book clients, I sealed the envelopes with a label. On it was information about using my website for direct ordering and that rush shipping was available.
3. Referrals - Last year I sent a holiday card to a graphic designer I knew with a note that I was interested in providing his clients with copywriting services. I enclosed some business cards. Today, he's one of my biggest resources for referrals.
4. Networking - I'll be sending cards to people I've networked with. It's another great way to touch base and send out a few business cards.

For more advice on sending out cards, see Business Christmas Cards from Susan Ward at About.com. (BTW - I disagree with her on hand-addressing envelopes. Many people don't care or never see if there is a pre-printed label on the envelope since their assistant opens the mail. However, including a hand-written note is a very nice touch.)

Offering value to your customers

I just finished reading Jeffrey Gitomer's book, Little Black Book of Connections: 6.5 Assets for Networking Your Way to Rich Relationships.* In it, he talks about bringing value to your customers (or potential customers) as a way to generate sales and business. As Jeffrey writes in his GitBit on Personal Branding,

"Become a resource. It's much more powerful than someone perceiving you as a salesman or entrepreneur. People will want to be around you, and pay attention to what you say, if they believe what you say and do has value to them and their business."

So with this in mind I will be sharing with you what I'm learning as I develop my copywriting business - everything from tips on networking and marketing, to books, website and article reviews. Of course, I'll be announcing new clients, partnerships, and awards, too.

To get these on a regular basis, enter your email address in box on the upper right hand column. You'll be emailed my latest post as soon as it goes live.

My first recommendation is get a copy of Fast Company's December 2006 issue and check out "Bottled Up" about Branson B., a long-time, influential player in the hip-hop scene. The article chronicles his efforts in marketing a champagne to rap clubs and fans. It's an interesting lesson in how he's attempting to transfer his personal brand to a product, the challenges of marketing it to a specific niche, and how hip-hop artists market their image and product tie-ins.

For full access online to the December issue of Fast Company, go to their website and type in access code FCDECSOCAP.

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*I highly recommend this and some of Jeffrey's other books like The Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness and Little Red Book of Sales Answers: 99.5 Real World Answers That Make Sense, Make Sales, and Make Money. I'm also looking forward to the December 5th release of Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude: How to Find, Build and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of SUCCESS.