A THANK YOU CARD

Technology has taken away the human touch aspects of doing business. Our communications are primarily conducted via e-mail, text messaging or social media.

Your challenge this week is to design, print and to be consistent in sending “Thank You” or “Nice Meeting You” or whatever the meeting occasion was, cards. I recommend a good quality linen stock for both the card and envelope. Your logo, centered on the front of the card or placed in a corner, is all the printing that is required.

The inside of the fold over card is blank. Whenever you meet someone you send a card with a hand written note referring to the meeting occasion. This becomes part of your marketing budget. With postage being around $.50 a card, a marketing campaign of 10 cards a week will cost $5. Assuming you reach out to 10 people a week for 50 weeks, your annual marketing budget for this part of your marketing plan will cost $250 per year plus the cost of the cards and envelopes.

Cards should be sent out the day you meet someone or find a need to reach out to someone. This way your memory is fresh, and it is easier to write the personal note. Always include a business card in the note and make a reference to a future contact.

As cards are sent out, the name, and contact information, gets added to your preferred data base. If you are efficient, you may have also gathered additional information about your contact such as birthday and anniversary. This presents another contact opportunity, and yes, you can use the same cards. These names are also entered into your monthly mailing list and another contact opportunity is created. Remember, your monthly newsletter has to be about you, your personal doings as well as business happenings.

I have stressed the importance of having an active and growing data base. For many small businesses their data base is the most important asset that they own. Remember, people that know you, trust you and stay in contact with you are your greatest customers and/or referral source.

Don’t procrastinate, order your cards today. We have a BizQuack member in the printing business and they would appreciate your business. They service all my printing needs and do an excellent job.