I was reading one of my old favorites recently, The Book of Awesome. Written by Neil Pasricha, it’s a series of simple awesome events, products and stuff we too often don’t experience anymore. Many of the things are events we’ve all forgotten about, like one of my favorites, “Getting something with actual handwriting on it in the mail.”
We live in the digital world. We’re surrounded by emails, links, posts, tweets and voicemails. We live a life of default prompts. We rarely personalize anything. I’m not talking about your website or blog, but how you communicate with clients and associates, and where appropriate making them more personal.
Neil wrote:
“Checking the mail can be a bit depressing. Sometimes there isn’t anything in there. Nope, nothing at all. Just one big empty mailbox telling the world that everyone forgot about you today. Then again, the alternative is typically a fistful of bills and flyers…just kind of boring, kind of bland, kind of blah.
But that’s what makes it so great when something with actual handwriting on it turns up…those little, endangered parcels have something very special about them…”
Now, let’s apply this concept to a thank you note the next time somebody does something nice for you. It’s such an easy thing to do. Think about a hand-written note to a rep you met in a booth at a convention who took the time to help you understand a new feature or a new product. Maybe you want to thank a client for a referral or being a lot of fun to work with. How about an associate who makes your life easier?
We all understand and agree it’s a great thing to do, but there’s a second important aspect to sending hand-written notes; You need to send them on your personal, customized stationery! You need to use your own images, and on the back of a thank-you card for example, just like the Hallmark logo, should be your logo and contact information.
Designing your personal stationery is one of the easiest ways to help build more brand awareness. No professional photographer should ever be using store-bought stationery or holiday cards. Use your images and then take the time to help save those “endangered” parcels that Neil Pasricha talked about.
Making it even easier is Marathon’s ability to help you design everything you need! Take the time NOW to design your own notecards! Stop using store-bought stationery and take the time to create something AWESOME!
