Do you remember when you were a kid and getting the mail was the best thing in the world?
There was hardly ever anything there for you, or maybe I was the only one who had that experience. But it seemed my parents got mail every day and I rarely got anything!
Of course, now I know they were only getting bills, which is far less exciting than I had imagined.
Anyway, rarely was there anything in the mailbox for me.
Except for September and December.
In December I would get Christmas cards from my out of state relatives, and those were always fun. And if my mom was feeling particularly generous, she’d let me open her cards too. That was a big day!
But it wasn’t the same as September. That is when my birthday is and when I would get all the cards.
Sometimes there was money in them, other times it was just a card.
But whatever was in there I felt so special that someone had thought of me. Only me. On my special day.
Birthdays with my local extended family were always shared with my uncle, whose birthday is the day after mine.
But the cards. Those were all mine. I didn’t have to share them with anyone.
And it was fantastic!
And somehow my grandparents who lived back in Illinois always timed my cards so they arrived right on my birthday, waiting for me like an eager pet when I got home from school
Seriously, it was awesome!
And it was always such a stand out that I still remember what they sent each year. Sure, they were quirky and I rarely used any of the gifts they sent. (Our tastes were, different shall we say)
But I remember them.
Because they came in the mail, and that meant they thought of me. Even though I wasn’t close, and didn’t talk to them all the time, they still remembered me and thought of me in time to send me a card or a gift.
I felt so special.
And even today, as an adult who doesn’t get quite as giddy to see my age increase by another digit as my younger self did, I still enjoy getting cards in the mail.
Something that isn’t related to bills, or business, or something I need to take care of.
Something that just says someone took the time to think of me, even when they didn’t have to.
Do you still get excited, or even just a warm fuzzy feeling, when you get something thoughtful in the mail?
It seems no one uses traditional mail anymore, so getting something there is becoming more rare.
Now for the million dollar question.
Do you send your clients and subscribers something for their birthday? Do you send out cards or small gifts to let them know you are thinking of them?
If not, why not?
Is it the implementation of it that is holding you back? If so, don’t feel bad. You are not alone!
For many of us it is the actual implementation of these ideas that stands between us and execution.
So let’s talk about that for a minute.
To implement something like this, on any level and at any scale, you need a few things.
Gather Your Info
First, you will need a place to store birthday information. That could be in your CRM, a spreadsheet or some sort of database. Wherever it is make sure it is easily accessible and, ideally in a place that is stored with your addresses.
Choose Your Vendor
Next you’ll need to know what you are going to send out. There are a number of services that will send cards for you or even gifts. SendOutCards is a good place to start. If you will be sending them yourself then you’ll need to get the cards, envelopes and postage. (See end of article for a resource list)
Create Your System
Finally, you’ll need a system. Here’s where you have some choices. You can use a system like your CRM (I use Infusionsoft for all of my birthday and celebration campaigns), a tool like Asana or a paper tickler system if you prefer.
Whatever you use you will want to make sure your system is reliable and that you are using it. The best system in the world will do nothing for you if you don’t regularly implement it.
If you are going to be sending out cards manually I recommend your system happen once a month. On that day, whether it’s the first Tuesday of the month or whatever day you choose, you will get your list of b-days for that month, write and address all the cards.
Then either stamp and send them all out that day, or put the date where the stamp goes and, on that date, stick a stamp on it and send it out.
Either way will work and, honestly, either way will be effective. Remember, your goal is to let your clients and/or prospects know that you are thinking of them.
And that’s really it! It’s a fairly simple thing, once you set it up the first time you can let it become a habit if it’s manual, or let it run if it’s automated. And you will be making someone smile.
Now the only thing left to do is to collect those birthdays! You can send a simple email asking your subscribers and customers to update their information and add their birthdays to the list. Most people will be fine with that.
And there you go! A simple but meaningful way to make someone smile today. There’s really no reason to wait. Go ahead. Get those birthdays and start celebrating people today.
Resources
Send Out Cards – https://www.sendoutcards.com/app
Handwrite – https://www.handwrite.io/
Handwrytten – https://www.handwrytten.com/
Punkpost – https://punkpost.com/
Cardly – https://www.cardly.net/business
