Greeting Card Promptings

Posted on February 12, 2010 by susanhobbs

You can make a significant impact in your relationships, whether business or personal, with the ability to send a greeting card the moment you’re thinking of someone. When a prompting comes into your mind, the passion behind that prompting allows you to create the message with certainty. No longer feeling that you need to remember it for later, wondering when you’ll get it done, pressuring yourself, then forgetting, and kicking yourself later. The opportunity to make the difference in your relationships becomes a “should of”, instead of a warmth about valuing the people you care most about. This is exactly what drives business, and strengthens the bond between family and friends.

Filed under: Client Retention, Family & Friends, Greeting Card Marketing, Keeping in Touch, Networking Tips, Prospecting, Relationship Marketing | Leave a comment »

Relationship Marketing-Reasons To Send Cards

Posted on February 9, 2010 by susanhobbs

While an email gets deleted as quickly as it’s read, a personalized greeting card serves as a professional introduction, and a reminder of you and the service or product you offer.

Business reasons to send cards:

After sale or service
Anniversary of business transaction
Announcement
Appointment confirmation
Appreciation
Birthday
Holiday
Invitation
Keep in touch
Marketing campaign
New product or service
Nice to meet you
Note to say hello
Press release
Recognition
Referral incentive
Referral thank you
Reminder
Seasonal
Sympathy
Thank you for your time
Thinking of you
Trade show follow up
Welcome new client
When they don’t return a call
When they don’t purchase
When they’ve gone elsewhere

Filed under: Client Retention, Greeting Card Marketing, Keeping in Touch, Networking Tips, Prospecting, Relationship Marketing | Leave a comment »

What to Write About In A Heartfelt Card

Posted on January 20, 2010 by susanhobbs

“No fancy words or platitude can beat the simple attitude of sharing love and gratitude.” Cait Stanley

Take time to appreciate, acknowledge, and send love to friends and family. Here are a few ideas of what to write about when sending a heartfelt greeting card in the mail:

~A time when they were there for you.

~A special place you went together.

~Appreciation for a favor they’ve done for you.

~Because they understand you.

~Favorite memory of a time spent together.

~Funniest thing you’ve done with each other.

~Just to say “I Love You”.

~Lessons you’ve learned from them.

~Something you are proud of them for.

~What you admire most about them.

~When you need to apologize.

~When they’ve come to your rescue.

Make it extra special by including photographs of times you’ve been together.

Filed under: Family & Friends, Keeping in Touch | Leave a comment »

5 Tips for Greeting Card Marketing

Posted on January 19, 2010 by susanhobbs

In today’s fast paced society of communication, Greeting Card Marketing makes a lasting impression. So how do we blend the traditionalism of greeting cards in the mail, while keeping up with the demands of today’s whirlwind of communication?

Here are 5 Tips to help you stay in touch in a way that’s personal yet time efficient:

1. Don’t Start From Scratch
Whether you are hand writing your greeting cards, or using a service like SendOutCards, keep a copy of the message you write inside your cards. Next time you need to send a similar message you can draft off of your previous writings. This gives you the opportunity to keep the message personal while including the general contents for greeting cards of appreciation, birthdays, nice to meet you, appointment confirmations, sympathy, etc.

2. Schedule Time
Make it a priority to schedule time in your week to send cards of appreciation and to celebrate the lives of those you care about. Whether it’s to grow your business with repeat and referral opportunities or stay in touch with friends and family, your success will depend on your regularity. Block off 30 minutes a couple of times a week to send cards that can make a difference in your relationships, while bringing joy to those you touch.

3. Keep A List
I’ve heard several schools of thought on how long we retain a prompting (quick to act on), however one thing is for sure…promptings leave our mind as quickly as they enter. When someone special enters your mind, write their name and the reason why you thought of them on your “list of cards to send”. During your scheduled card sending time, check off the names on your list as you send cards to acknowledge your prompting of them.

4. It’s About Them
When you send greeting cards to market and build relationships, your message should be about the person you are mailing your card to, not about your service or products. There’s plenty of time for that. Building value in your relationships builds trust. People like to associate and do business with those they like and trust. In your greeting card message, find a way to keep it sincere with the focus on them.

5. Personal With Photographs
Anytime you add a photograph in a greeting card, you make an extraordinary impact, especially when the photo includes the person you’re mailing your card to.

Filed under: Client Retention, Greeting Card Marketing, Keeping in Touch, Relationship Marketing | Leave a comment »

Marketing Yourself at a Business Network Event

Posted on December 21, 2009 by susanhobbs

When meeting someone for the first time at a business networking event, it is important to take a genuine interest in them and their business before you begin speaking about yourself. Focus on getting to know them, while building a relationship, that will last longer then the few moments of introduction.

Listen Carefully
Be sure to listen carefully, not only to what they say, but how they say it. There are clues in their actions and the words they use that give you the opportunity to appreciate who they are and how they might conduct business. Without surrendering your own style of communication, make adaption’s to offer a more comfortable interaction with you.

Add Value
Add value by considering how you can help them with their business. Is there a referral connection you can make for them, or an introduction to someone that can help them move their business forward? When you strive to build a relationship and serve others, good things come back around. Being sincere and allowing that natural process to happen, with out expectation, is the key.

When you are sincere about taking time to build and value your relationship with them, they begin to like and trust you. A good business practice is to mail a personalized card with a message that acknowledges your interaction with them. People want to do business with people they trust and like and a greeting card leaves a lasting impression far beyond the time limits of any “delete” style of communication.

Filed under: Greeting Card Marketing, Keeping in Touch, Networking Tips, Prospecting, Relationship Marketing | 2 Comments »

What is Relationship Marketing?

Posted on December 15, 2009 by susanhobbs

You may have heard the term “Relationship Marketing” used before. The dictionary defines “Relationship” as a connection, a kinship, or an association between persons, firms, etc.

Relationship Marketing is about reaching out to clients and prospects in a way that brings value to your relationship and builds a connection beyond the prospect or completion of a sale or service.

True Relationship Marketing is about reaching out and genuinely caring about clients and prospects. When we think about them in a way that brings value to the relationship we understand that they are not simply names in a database, or people we’re trying to market to for the immediate success of a sale. In taking time to get acquainted with them, beyond the satisfaction of doing business together, we position ourselves to build a long lasting relationship.  By showing a stronger appreciation for our clients and prospects, we create an opportunity for repeat and referral business based on mutual respect and care.

Filed under: Relationship Marketing | Leave a comment »

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