FREELANCER TIPS How to send some Christmas Cheer to your clients More freelancer tips on www.freelancermap.com...
Š freelancermap.com
16.12.2013
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Winter holidays The winter holidays are just around the corner. Whether it is Christmas, Hanukkah or the winter solstice you celebrate, it is a time of joy, cheerfulness and good spirit. What better time to remind your clients that you, as a business, personally care for them? Sending a card with holiday greetings is a simple way to show those you’re working with how much you appreciate them. It’s not only a source for positive emotion, but could be a competitive advantage which sets your business apart from others as well. But how exactly do you go about sending your cards? Sme of the most important ground rules:
1) Selecting Recipients The first and most important step towards planning out your winter holiday greetings is deciding who to actually send them to. Include not only present clients, but those of the past as well. In case you want to send a card to a big company, chose the team or person you’ve dealt with as part of the project. A good rule of thumb when picking out the recipients is to stick to the people who know you. And this could include personal assistants, accountants, or legal advisors.
1) Selecting Recipients Furthermore, it might be very helpful to build categories, in order to make sure your greetings are more personal. You can, for example, divide your recipients in present clients, past clients and / or fellow freelancers. Make sure you don’t spread yourself too thinly by sending hundreds of cards. Drastically increasing the number of recipients will inevitably lead to giving up that personal touch, which is the one thing you definitely don’t want.
2) “Real” cards There are two basic types of cards you can send, let’s start out with the “real” ones. An obvious advantage is that they could be much, much more personal. Writing out the card or simply signing your name conveys the feeling of importance to your client. Furthermore, it means you actually went out of your way to buy cards, sign them and send them out. Going that extra mile is bound to leave a lasting impression on any recipient.
2) “Real” cards There are some drawbacks, which might force you to give up on actual cards, however. For one, they are more expensive and depending on the size of your business, you might not be willing to spend hundreds of dollars to send out holiday greetings. Furthermore, they take some time to arrive so you have to be careful not to send them too late. So if you don’t have the time or the money for real cards you should try…
3) eCards eCards, they can offer you everything “real” ones can’t. They don’t cost anything most of the time, unless you buy a really fancy design somewhere online. But if you’re going with eCards, I would suggest either designing them yourself if you have the skills or just looking for something on the Internet to suit your needs. What is more, eCards arrive instantly, courtesy of the tool we can’t seem to live without anymore, our email. Not only do you save on paper, money, and time, you can always integrate a link to your site, flash animations, and much more.
3) eCards Although eCards beat their “real” predecessors in a lot of ways, the personal touch is something that the latter definitely delivers better. Someone might think you’re too cheap or too lazy too buy real cards, but this can be negated or avoided altogether. If you put some time in your eCards instead of just picking something and writing the recipients’ name in it, eCards can be as personal as it gets.
4) Content Finally, you should think about the content as well. Remember that everyone celebrates different holidays around the same time, so avoid an unintended insult by sticking to neutral greetings like “Happy Holidays”. Whether you go for eCards or real cards, including your contact info is a must since you are acting on behalf of your business. However, don’t try to sell them anything. Sending a card with holiday greetings is a great way to strengthen business relationships if you do it right. So Happy Holidays! Don’t forget to wish them to your clients as well.
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