Greeting Card Etiquette

One of my very favorite quotes from Maya Angelou is:

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."        

I think sending a real paper card is one of the nicest little tokens of appreciation we can give someone these days. I know when I open my mailbox, I'm excited when I find something personal, like a card.   I smile and I usually keep that card to remind me of that person especially if it was a genuine heartfelt personal card.

I find that society has become more and more dependent on computers and that the art of sending a real paper card is fading away.  However, there is a wonderful company that has found a way to use technology to send real paper greeting cards.

This is the time of year when there are a lot of occasions and events that we may find ourselves sending or receiving greeting cards, such as graduations, showers, weddings, etc.    

Like all forms of social communication, greeting cards come with their own set of established etiquette rules. Close friends and family members love to receive greeting cards from you regardless of whether or not you follow etiquette guidelines perfectly, but business colleagues and other influential contacts you'd like to impress will certainly have a more discerning eye. And typically more formal invitations, such as wedding invitations are more scrutinized and I have listed some basic guidelines at the end of this post.

Here are some general guidelines for sending greeting cards:

·       Put some forethought into your card selection Your card should match the style and intent of the communication.  This will ensure the greeting card indicates your warm wishes were given some forethought.

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·       Let your envelope set the stage.  Since the envelope is the first thing recipient sees, you want to ensure that it is addressed properly and the information is correct.  If you are addressing formal cards for weddings, etc.,      this is one place that Ladies are not always first, unless they outrank the man of the house.  (Refer to handout).

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·       Plan ahead.   Allow plenty of time for your greeting to arrive.  For a casual invitation, it needs to arrive at least ten day to two weeks in advance.  For more formal/wedding invitations, 4 to 8 weeks is the guideline.

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·       Add extra special touches. Although formal greetings for colleagues and clients should be more friendly than heartfelt, personal greeting cards for close friends and family members deserve an extra special touch. Writing and creating custom cards with a personal message, or including a gift makes your greeting card more memorable.

And if you are Sending greeting cards, then you are probably also sending Thank you cards.  I think one of best things we can teach our children is the importance of writing thank you cards and the proper way to Write thank you cards.   

Tips for Thank You Notes:

·       Be timely – Write and mail your thank you notes immediately or as soon after the event or receipt of the gift as possible.   Sending notes weeks and months after the occasion or event loses sincerity.

o     If you are late in sending your greeting card, try to make up for it by putting extra thought into your personal note.    

·       Mean it when you say thank you!  People get it when you genuinely mean something and also when you are just going through the motions.

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·       Keep it Short - Only one or two sentences at the most. Anymore than that and you are running the risk that it will not be read at all.

·       Be specific about what you are thanking people for.  Sometimes it means even more when people know what they are being thanked for e.g. ‘Thanks so much John for the book on resume writing.  I will certainly put it to good use.’  Or 'Thank you so much for the coffee pot with the timer.  You know how we LOVE our coffee.'  It makes the whole exchange richer and more meaningful than just a casual generic “thanks."

·        

·       Smile - Smile while you are writing the note because it will put a positive slant on your words and your happiness and enthusiasm will be conveyed to the reader.

·       Post It - Always use the traditional mailing method for your thank you notes. There is more of a chance that they will remember your note if it is delivered in an envelope, more so than they would if it is just another email on a long list of emails that may not be received or read.

The most beautiful thing about truly thanking someone is that it creates a deeper and instant bond between people.

In 1922 Emily Post wrote, "In writing notes or letters, as in all other forms of social observance, the highest achievement is in giving the appearance of simplicity and naturalness."

My interpretation of that statement is, it is better to write a simple note and mail it in a timely manner, rather than get hung up on what is proper etiquette or not.

Quoting Lydia Ramsey, business etiquette expert  – It’s not about the Rules, it’s about the relationships.

Such a small gesture of appreciation and gratitude should be a habit in everyone's personal and business life.  

Rules for addressing Envelopes for Business,

Formal Communication and Invitations:

·         Always write titles on the envelope. The card or invitation goes to "Mr. John Smith," not "John Smith." It is addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith," instead of "John and Mary Smith."

·         When addressing a couple, use titles, rather than professional initials.  It’s “Dr. and Mrs. John Smith,” not John Smith, M.D. and Mrs. Smith.”

·         If both the husband and the wife are doctors, you write, "The Doctors Smith." However, if they use different last names, address the envelope to "Dr. John Smith and Dr. Mary Brown." The husband's name is placed first.

·         If the wife is a doctor and the husband is not, send the invitation to "Mr. John Smith and Dr. Mary Smith."

·         Try to get it all on one line. When the husband has an unusually long name, the wife's title and name are indented and written on the second line:

The Honorable Jonathon Richardson Staniskowsky and
    Mrs. Staniskowsky

·         When a couple is not married and share a mutual address, their names are written on separate lines alphabetically and not connected by the word "and."

Ms. Mary Brown
Mr. John Smith

·         When sending to a married woman who uses her maiden name at work, address the cards to “Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.” If she prefers to use her maiden name for all occasions, work and social, address the card to “Mr. John Smith and Ms. Susan Jones.”

·         When the woman outranks her husband, her name is written first. It's "Major Mary Smith and Lieutenant John Smith."

 Note: The man's name is always written first unless the wife outranks him or if the couple is unmarried and her last name precedes his alphabetically. So much for "Ladies first."

The above information from http://mannersthatsell.com/index.html

Happy Card Sending,
Annette
Painted Lady Enterprises
"Helping You and Your Business Look Good"

Show Some H.E.A.R.T.

 It's almost Valentine's day and love is in the air.  Our thoughts are of hearts and love.  Do you Love your customers?  Do you appreciate their business?  When was the last time you let them know?  Did you at least let them know the last time they did business with you?

Over the past couple of months I have done business with several local businesses, i.e. HVAC, handyman, mover, bank, and carpet cleaners.  All of these people I know from various networking groups in which I participate.  I choose them to do my work because I trusted they would do a good job and they all did.  I have no complaints on their timeliness, the quality of their work, or their price.  So, you ask, what is my beef.  Two of the five sent me a Thank You card expressing how much they appreciated my business.  And just a side note, they didn't use my service, but at least they took the time to send a Thank You note.  The other three, not a phone call, not an email, nada, nothing.  Now I know that being 'in the business' I am a little sensitive on the subject of sending thank you notes, but not to get ANY kind of thank you from these three businesses really shouts volumes to me.

Following up and saying thank you is a simple little thing that makes a business stand out from all the rest.  It doesn't cost much and it doesn't take up that much time.  I believe it is essential to express appreciation to clients when they make a purchase, but I also believe it's important to let them know periodically that we appreciate them.  Valentine's Day is a good time to do that. So show some H.E.A.R.T. to your clients and let them know you care and appreciate their business.  I believe it will yield tremendous results and make some very loyal clients.

H  heartfelt

E  expressed

A  appreciation to clients yields endless

R  referrals in no

T  time

Happy Valentine's Day,
Annette
Painted Lady Enterprises
"Helping You and Your Business Look Good"

 

Happy Anniversary!

Hope your summer is going well.  I am pleased to announce that the greeting card system has had some recent upgrades.  We have just announced Picture Plus 2.0.  This is a wonderful upgrade if you want to create very custom cards.  It is like having PhotoShop in the card editor or like doing electronic scrapbooking.  I have really enjoyed creating some really cool cards.  Here is a link to my website to try out the new features, www.SendingCardsMadeEZ.com

For those who only have an occasionally need to send a card, we now have that capability.  You can now access my Retail Store Front at www.SOCRetail.com/paintedlady and send only one card at a time without signing up for any type of membership.  You can also send gifts from this site.  I invite you the next time you have the need to send a card to give this site a try.    


The Greeting Card business is booming. Due to economic conditions and challenges that many face throughout the world, people are looking for alternative ways to create additional sources of income. People are also looking for hope and a way to turn hope into actual possibility.  July 17 marks my 4th anniversary with and I am still loving it.  I love helping others become Senders of Cards at all levels, retail, wholesale, and Entrepreneur.

I am looking for those who are interested in learning how to create income with with this system. If you know of anyone who might be interested please forward this information to them.  From now until the end of July, I am offering a $50 AMX gift card* for any referrals that sign up at the Entrepreneurial level.  To learn more about the company and the opportunity log onto  www.BusinessIncomeOpportunity.info and watch the video.

If you need an ID number to access information, my ID# is 12466.  Please let me know how I may be of help.


Happy Card Sending,
Annette
Painted Lady Enterprises
"Helping You and Your Business Look Good"


*One gift card per person.

Mamas Teach Your Children to Write Thank You Notes

I find that society has become more and more dependent on computers and that the art of saying thank you in the form of a real paper card or note is fading away.   But I think sending a real paper card is one of the nicest little tokens of appreciation you can give someone these days. I know when I open my mailbox, I'm excited when I find something personal, like a card.   I smile and I usually keep that card to remind me of that person especially if it was a genuine heartfelt personal card.

This is the time of year we usually receive a lot of thank you cards from such occasions and events like graduations, showers, weddings, etc.  I think one of best things we can teach our children is the importance of writing thank you cards and the proper way to write thank you cards.

The key is very simple – you really have to mean it when you say thank you!  People get it when you genuinely mean something and also when you are just going through the motions.

The most beautiful thing about truly thanking someone is that it creates a deeper and instant bond between people.

In 1922 Emily Post wrote, "In writing notes or letters, as in all other forms of social observance, the highest achievement is in giving the appearance of simplicity, naturalness and force."

Keep it Short - Only one or two sentences at the most. Anymore than that and you are running the risk that it will not be read at all.

Post It - Always use the traditional mailing method for your thank you notes. There is more of a chance that they will remember your note if it is delivered in an envelope, more so than they would if it is just another email on a long list of emails.

Time it Right – Write and mail your thank you notes immediately or as soon after the event or receipt of the gift as possible.   Sending notes weeks and months after the occasion or event loses sincerity.

Be specific about what you are thanking people for.  Sometimes it means even more when people know what they are being thanked for e.g. ‘Thanks so much John for the book on resume writing.  I will certainly put it to good use.’  Or 'Thank you so much for the coffee pot with the timer.  You know how we LOVE our coffee.'  It makes the whole exchange richer and more meaningful than just a casual generic “thanks."

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow” – Melody Beattie

Smile - Smile while you are writing the note because it will put a positive slant on your words and your happiness and enthusiasm will be conveyed to the reader.

Such a small gesture of appreciation and gratitude should be a habit in everyone's personal and business life.  

You may also reference the Seven Rules for Sending Greeting Cards  for more information on sending thank you notes and other greeting cards.

In Appreciation,

Annette

Painted Lady Enterprises

"Helping You and Your Business Look Good"

Customer Loyalty

April is International Customer Loyalty Month – What better time to send customers a Thank You card for their continued business?

People do business with people they know, like, and trust. It is five times harder to get a new client and it cost six to seven times more money, than it does to keep an existing client. Statistics say that if a business retains only 5% of their customer base, it can increase their business by 50%.

68% of all customers are lost due to perceived indifference! A customer who feels appreciated will not go elsewhere when the competition comes calling.  Repeat customers spend 67 percent more. They are your referral engine After 10 purchases, a customer has already referred up to 7 people.

Customer service = Good
Customer Loyalty = Great!

Only 3% of the postal mail is personal. Imagine going to your mailbox and there amongst the bills and junk mail is an unexpected greeting card and you open it and it’s from someone you know and the person is saying thanks, or congratulations, or you made a difference to me. Someone thought about you and followed through and sent a card.  It feels good.

Electronic mail comes and goes but hardcopy thank you notes last.  66 % of consumers surveyed indicated that business greeting cards sent to show appreciation for a purchase or a referral makes them more likely to do future business with that company.

"Even though business thank you cards offer a tangible way for companies to demonstrate customer appreciation, only 44 % of the consumers surveyed received a thank you greeting card from companies with which they do business," said Marc Wagenheim, product marketing director for Hallmark Business Expressions.

Greeting Card campaigns can be used for customer retention which will increase loyalty and referrals.
A campaign is a simple, easy way to set up a series of cards to go out to a client at different pre-set intervals. Just set it up once and forget it. If the campaign is only 4 to 5 cards, the cost per customer would be about $5 per year. So it is a very inexpensive way to keep a company’s name in the fore front of their customers mind.

Example Card Campaign for Insurance Agent –

Card #1 – Thank You card sent to a New Customer
Card #2 – Follow up card mentioning other services – (if you sold them car insurance, then ask about Home Owners. Or vice versus. Or Life Insurance
Card #3 - Who do you know?  Ask for referrals
Card #4 – Birthday Card
Card #5 – Yearly Anniversary - Reminder to call for review of current Policy

Example Card Campaign for Travel Agent –

Card #1 – Thank you for booking your trip
Card #2 – Bon Voyage - Sent to be received right before the client leaves on Vacation
Card #3 – Welcome Home - To be received when the client returns from Vacation. Asking for feedback.
Card #4 – 6 months later. Time to plan for next your next Vacation
Card #5 - Birthday and Anniversary cards

Example Card Campaign for Veterinarian -

Card #1 - New Client - Congratulations on your new pet and/or Thank You for your business
Card #2 - Reminder of Follow up wellness visit
Card #3 - Birthday Card
Card #4 - Send card for National Pet Month which is April
Card #5 - Follow up card mentioning other services, i.e. grooming, dental, etc. and/or ask for referrals

Tip – When sending a card, make the card about the customer and not just getting business. Send to give not to get.

Other possibilities for sending cards throughout the year are Non-Traditional Holidays.  By sending a card other than or in addition to the end of the year holidays, sets a company apart.  People tend to get so many cards that time of year, they all become a blur.

Examples of other holidays and Non-traditional Holidays -

o Ground Hog Day
o Procrastination Day
o St. Patrick’s Day
o April fool’s Day
o Easter
o 4th of July
o Labor Day
o Halloween – (Finances and taxes can be scary) (Credit Cards can be scary)  (The 'Scary' aspect can be used for almost any business).

In my previous blog was a list of websites for major holidays and non-traditional holidays:

And of course sending cards for the following is always a good idea:

- Birthday cards
- Anniversary cards –
       - On the anniversary the client made a purchase, i.e. purchase of home
       - On their traditional anniversary
       - The anniversary of a company being in business. Send a TY for their continued business/loyalty


- Congratulations – Send a card for the new job, promotion, accomplishment, marriage, new baby

With April being International Customer Loyalty Month, what better time to send customers a Thank You card for their continued business?

To keep relationships strong, companies need to regularly remind clients that they are important to them. They also need to remind them who they are, what they do, what services they offer, and why they are their best choice for their product or service. Busy people tend to choose the fastest solution to a problem. By keeping in touch with greeting cards, a company makes themselves stand apart from the rest of the crowd and their clients are more apt to call them the next time they need their product or service.

Tradition says greeting cards are personal. Greeting cards have a traditional feeling of warmth and sincerity; our culture maintains that greeting cards are personal and are sent from someone with whom there is a relationship. In a world of impersonal form letters and mass email, memorable greeting cards are a refreshing marketing tool that will add a personal and memorable touch to the interaction with clients. By incorporating greeting cards into a retention strategy, the message is being sent to the client that an important relationship exists.

“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
                                                                                 - Marian Wright-Edelman

I invite you to check out a simple and easy way to send greeting cards directly from your computer with just a few mouse clicks.  Pick a card, personalize it and our company will print, stuff, stamp, and mail your cards for you.  You can set up campaigns with several cards, as mentioned above, to go out at pre-set intervals. Act now and be entered in a drawing for the book 'Appreciation Marketing.'  Log onto  http://www.cardsforbusinessuse.com/ and register for a gift account today.  Be sure and state that you read about this offer on my blog and I will send you the link to send two complimentary greeting cards and register you for the drawing for 'Appreciation Marketing.'

In appreciation,
Annette
Painted Lady Enterprises
"Helping You and Your Business Look Good"
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Good Home Training

Today, January 11, is International Thank You day. In my research of this wonderful day, I came across this great article by Michael de Jong. He consented to allowing me to post it here. One of the points in the article is to teach our children early the importance of sending thank you notes. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

"Thanks to the morning light, thanks to the foaming sea, to the uplands of New Hampshire, to the green-haired forest free." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

When receiving a gift, my bother John sometimes reacts with, "Well...Thanks a lot!" And when he says it in "just that way" you can bet that he's already mentally digging a hole way back behind his house for it to be buried. (He's got a heart of gold, but he can really be that transparent.)

Said with fussy embossed and engraved cards, a two-second email, a bouquet from the corner deli, or even a bottle of re-gifted Chablis -- the thank-you gesture and the words "merci," "gracias," "xie xie," or just plain old "thank you" can go a long way when you really mean it.

When I was about eight years old my mom's sister bought me a box of greeting cards, each with an image of Charlie Brown and Snoopy hugging on top of a doghouse. With mom's encouragement, I then scribbled a few thoughtful words to my aunt on my new stationery, stuck it into the envelope mom had addressed and stamped, sealed it shut with a swipe of my tongue and then ran and tossed into the corner mailbox. Easy lesson learned -- someone gives you a gift, you're happy; acknowledge that gift, they're happy. (Our dear friend, Clarence, calls this "Good home-training.") Our nieces and nephew, Lindsay, Hayley and Matt, are so good at it that often (so it seems) we get a thank-you card even before the arrival of presents...now that's good home-training.

I grew up in a home where the importance of "an attitude of gratitude" was stressed. We were taught to bring little gifts when we visited others (as a thank you for their hospitality), to write thank-you notes for everything we received, and, if the giver was in earshot, to say it out loud.

Understanding how to form those two golden words and knowing when to speak them greatly influenced the kind of person that I am today. Sure, just like the next person, I can be irritable, grouchy, unpleasant (and, even at times, a downright "B!+@#"), but I'm never ungrateful.

Therefore, when I'm expecting a "thank-you" and don't receive one in any of it's many potential incarnations, I'm usually thrown off course. I rationalize it as other people being too busy, or just forgetful, but deep down inside, it feels like my social order is out of balance.

Appreciations are those deep-seated, primal reactions, yet some people are either reluctant, too rude, or were just never "home-trained" to openly show theirs. But even the teeny-est of gestures can let others know just how appreciative we are. International Thank You Day (Yes, there is such a holiday!), which was January 11, is a wonderful opportunity to identify and reveal things for which you're grateful, and express them with simple acts of thanks.

Are you overdue in expressing thanks to your family (hmmm, when did I last thank my partner Richard, sister Mags and hubby Jim, brother John and wife Lori?...you get the idea), pets (in my case, our deaf dog 'Jack,' and four goldfish: Phil, Jill, Bill and Gill), friends, co-workers, neighbors, the mail carrier, or the Universe (God or whatever you like to call him or her)? If so, now's the perfect time to put that "thank you" out there.

Say it and show it again and again and again because practice makes perfect.

And in the event that someone, like my brother, should actually bury a gift? Remember the old adage "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt."

Michael de Jong is the author of a forthcoming series of books on clean, green living, the next of which is Clean Body. Future companion books will cover food, first aid and other topics. Michael's website is www.mykindofclean.com

Thank you Michael for this insightful message.

Who needs aThank you from you? Have you sent those Thank Yous out yet from the holidays yet? Visit www.WeHaveACardForThat.info for a simple and easy way to get all your cards out in a simple and timely manner.

In gratitude,
Annette
Painted Lady Enterprises
"Helping You and Your Business Look Good"

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