A colleague called recently to thank me for a card I’d sent – yep, an actual card that I personally wrote, stuffed, stamped and mailed.
After thanking me, he mentioned that he “always wants to send” cards to friends, colleagues, clients, family “but never has the time” and asked how I do it.
My process is simple…
- A stack of personalized note cards with stamped envelopes (return address already on) sits on my desk.
- Before I shut down each evening, I write at least one note – whether thinking of you, birthday, congrats, anniversary, here’s an article you may be interested in, thank you, what’s up… the list goes on. Sometimes it’s a pre-printed card, sometimes it’s on my personalized stationery (here’s the two I got from Etsy – you can see a picture of mine on the review I wrote).
- Birthdays are annually recurring on my Google Calendar a week before the day (with mailing address) so I don’t need to remember or search for an address.
- Put the card(s) by the door with BudBud’s leash and into the mailbox next time we leave the house.
If I hadn’t created a system to make it easy, it’d never get done.
Does sending handwritten cards/notes really make a difference?
Years ago I was vacationing in Vermont and met a colleague for lunch. She showed up with a folder and in it was every card I’d written her over the 3 years we’d known each other.
She told me how much every one of those notes meant – from getting her new puppy, to when her Dad passed to winning a local award and a few magazine articles that related to her industry.
And then she asked if she could hire me.
All told, it took maybe two hours over three years.
In full transparency, I’ve sent thousands of cards over the years that I never heard a word back on. And that’s okay. I write them as much for me as for the person I’m sending them to.
There’s just something about the transfer of energy from our brain to the pen to the paper that can’t be matched by anything digital.
It takes us back to a time when people connected more deeply.
It reminds me of when I was growing up and calling overseas to speak to my grandparents (I’m a first generation American) was a luxury saved for birthdays and holidays so we wrote letters back and forth.
What are you willing to commit to in connecting offline?
- A handwritten card/note/letter weekly?
- Using a service such as Send Out Cards or Postable?
- Picking up the phone and calling someone without a calendar invite?
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