Hasn’t the year flown! It feels like yesterday that we were sitting down with family and friends for Xmas dinner and now it’s just 69 days before we’ll be doing it all again.

So now’s the time to start preparing your Xmas card list. Who’s been good, who’s off the list and what new friends, business associates,business prospects and customers need to be added.

Now that your list is coming together how are you going to let these people know you care about them at Christmas.

Are you going to send an email,e-card or a real card?

The first two are quick and easy but very impersonal. You’re definately sending a message of “you don’t mean much to me” as well as displaying your cheapskate nature.

Physical Christmas cards are better but they take effort. You’ve got to go to the card supplier or newsagent, look through hundreds of cards, read each message, select some and then fork out a kings ransom to buy them. You are going to buy something decent, aren’t you? I mean you’re not thinking of going to some trash n carry store and buying a $2 card for your best friends and business customers, are you?

Surely not for those customers who put thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars into your company’s profit barrel each year, which in turn pays you some hefty commissions.

Tell me you’re not thinking of doing that, are you?

Good. Now once you’ve got your cards home, it’s time to pull out your list and start writing. Now it doesn’t have to be much because the card company has filled most of the card with a heart felt message like “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your own personal message? Reserved for the rich and famous you think? Not really. But more on that later.

Once you’ve taken a full day of your weekend (when will you ever get a break?) writing and addressing these cards (and isn’t it a pain to find everybody’s address. Wouldn’t it be nice to have them all in one place?), you have to go to the post office to get the stamps and post the cards.

And isn’t it amazing how the que at the post office is always extremely long and more so around Christmas.

Sending Christmas cards is a very painful experience BUT it can be very worthwhile especially for your business customer relations. (as well as telling your friends you really care)

Here’s the 7 Etiquette Rules Of Sending Greeting Cards:

1) Send the real thing! e-Cards are entirely too common, and rarely show the attention to detail that sending a real card demonstrates.

2) Personalize it! Never limit yourself to the message that came in the card. Always add your own personal touch or flair. And stay away from your company card. Sounds like you are plugging something.

3) Never use address labels for the recipient, or metered postage. Use a stamp and handwrite or type the envelope.

4) When complimenting someone in your card, be specific with them about what it is you like about them. Don’t just say you’re a good person, be more specific (example: ‘I like having you as a friend because you take a sincere interest in the things that matter to me!’).

5) Make sending cards a habit instead of an occasional afterthought. You’ll find your relationships will grow as you express yourself to the people that matter to you.

6) Don’t wait for special occasions to send a card. Holidays and birthdays are great, but an unexpected card for no particular reason can have a great impact too!

7) Don’t print it, stuff and send it yourself. Let us do that for you!

Did you like that last point?

What if you could select a high quality card, personalise it and send it to all your friends and customers WITHOUT leaving your office desk.

You merely login to the software on your computer, select a card, write your own heart felt message, select your customer/friend and hit send.

Our company then physically prints your card, places it in an envelope including your return address, puts on the stamp and posts it!

And all for less than the cost of a cup of coffee. In fact most of our customers can do it for under $1.

Want to find out more, please visit Custom Christmas Cards 

But hurry there’s just 69 days to Christmas. Make this Christmas memorable for those you care about.