Laurie Delk's Blog

New Years

New Years is the world’s oldest and most widely observed holiday. New Year’s gifts and messages has been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to the 6th century B.C. Early Romans were known to have exchanged gifts symbolizing good will, including pictures on terra cotta tablets with inscriptions wishing a happy and prosperous New Year.

The earliest known holiday greeting cards appeared around 1450 in Germany. Cards from woodcuts were the most prevalent, and often had the Christ Child bearing good wishes for an auspicious New Year.

By 1770, greeting cards had went from woodcuts to finely printed messages. Engravers and printers supplied Europe with major quantities of New Year’s cards. The New Year holiday has become a part of the holiday season, and New Year’s cards are an expression of hope for the future, used by businesses and individuals alike.

Many people send out cards for New Year’s, to stand out from the crowd after the trail of all the Christmas cards have been sent.

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Valentine’s Day

The 1st Valentine was sent in 270 A.D. by St. Valentine on the eve of his execution for refusing to renounce Christianity. It was really a note of appreciation to his jailer’s blind daughter for bringing him food and delivering messages during his incarceration, it was signed “from your Valentine.”

The Romans used to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day as the Feast of Lupercalia, dedicated to the pastoral god Lupercus and the Goddess of Love, Juno. Roman maidens would place their names in an urn set up in the public square and courageous bachelors drew from it to obtain their “blind date” for the coming year.

The Christian Church denounced these “love lotteries” as pagan rituals. During the Middle Ages, love lotteries persisted in France as “chance boxes” that allotted couples one year to get married or part company. In England, men wore the name of the girl they drew on their sleeve, encircled with a heart.

Around 1400, written Valentines appeared as quaint love missives, usually given anonymously. In the 1700s, the familiar “roses are red, violets are blue?” verses came about, and in the 1850s, the French began to decorate their Valentines cards with metallic paper, ribbons, lace and other embellishments.

The 1st Valentines in America were exchanged during the Revolution, and were mostly handmade with sentimental verses written in a flowing script. Miss Esther Howland, an imaginative artist and entrepreneur, in 1840 became the 1st publisher of valentines in the US, eventually creating her own publishing firm that specialized in Valentine cards.

Many people send out cards for Valentines Day, to show others how much they love them, or just show that they care.

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Easter

Easter commemorates the Resurrection of Christ and is the most sacred holy day on the Christian calendar. It is a religious celebration that changes its date each year. The rabbit and the egg are the most popular illustrations for Easter cards. The Easter Bunny started where rabbits were used to symbolize new life. The decorating Easter eggs dates back to the Middle Ages.

Many people send out cards for Easter, to recognize that Christ has Risen, a remembrance of Him, or to offer a salvation message.

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Passover

Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and begins on the fifteenth of the month of Nisan on the Jewish calendar in the Spring, and continues for seven days. The name comes from the story when, during the 10th and last and worst plague inflicted on Pharaoh, God passed over the Israelites and struck down only the Egyptian first-born. That night, Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go.

Many people send out cards for Passover to remember this date in the Bible, so God does not bring his wrath like that ever again.

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Mother’s Day

Each year, the 2nd Sunday in May is Mother’s Day, started by Anna M. Jarvis of Grafton, WV in 1907 to honor her mother. Ms. Jarvis spent a good part of her life, after the death of her mother, in a crusade to have the date declared a national holiday. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Congressional resolution declaring, “The American mother is the greatest source of the country’s strength and inspiration.”

Many people send out cards for Mother’s Day to their Mom’s. It has been said that this is the one holiday that almost every one in the world sends out a card.
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Father’s Day

In 1910, Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane, WA was the founder of Father’s Day. She was one of 6 brothers and sisters raised by their father, William Smart, after their mother’s death. Mrs. Dodd organized the first Father’s Day celebration, held in Seattle. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended that Father’s Day be observed throughout the nation as a holiday.

Many people send out cards for Father’s Day to their Fathers to thank them for providing for them in their youth, and loving them.
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Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Rosh Hashanah is the 1st two days of the Jewish month of Tishri (in the Fall), and is considered the celebration of the beginning of the Jewish New Year. In the Torah it is the Day of Remembering and was not called Rosh Hashanah the New Year until Talmudic times.

Yom Kippur falls on the 10th of Tishri on the Jewish calendar and brings the end of the 10 days of repentance and atonement that started with Rosh Hashanah. It is the most solemn day of the Jewish year.

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Halloween

The Halloween observance started with the Celtic Druids in 700 B.C. The Druids believed that the souls of the dead returned to inhabit the bodies of the living on October 31. Villagers would don masks and costumes and paraded to through town to trick roving spirits into leaving. October 31 was incorporated into the Christian calendar as All Hallow’s Eve, honoring martyrs and saints. Children wear costumes offered to fast for departed souls in exchange for money or an offering. Irish Catholics fleeing from the potato famine in the 1840s introduced the Halloween observance to the United States, including the practice of carving jack-o lanterns.

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Thanksgiving

In 1620 landing at Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims held a feast to give thanks after gathering their 1st harvest, inviting the local Indians to share in the celebration. This observance is commonly recognized as the first official Thanksgiving. It is a time to count our blessings and give thanks. The family-oriented holiday has the festive dinner with all the trimmings and many watching the annual Thanksgiving parade and football games.

Many people send out cards for Thanksgiving to tell others in their life how they have helped them, to thank them for that. Or just to share how God has been good to them that year.

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Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday coming from the 1st and 2nd Books of the Maccabees and in the works of Josephus and later accounts in the Talmud. The victory of the brave Maccabees against the Greeks with the miracle of the cruse of oil that burned for 8 days instead of 1. The ritual for the holiday is lighting one light of the menorah each night of Hanukkah after sundown, beginning with the 25th of Kislev on the Jewish calendar (December). While a tradition of giving Hanukkah gelt money is an old one, the closeness to Christmas has made gift giving a part of the holiday.

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Christmas

Christmas is the only religious holiday in America that is also a legal holiday. December 25 was selected as the date to observe Christmas by Pope Julius in 349 A.D. The legend of Santa Claus dates back to the 4th-century St. Nicholas, Santa Claus did not become a popular American folk hero until 1822, when Dr. Clement Clarke Moore wrote “A visit from St. Nicholas” for his children.

In 1863, Thomas Nast used Moore’s description to draw a Santa Claus for Harper’s magazine. That became the model for Santa Claus mostly used today.

The 1st Christmas card was produced by London artist John Horsley in 1843, the same year that “A Christmas Carol” was written. The card, created for London businessman Henry Cole, added “Happy New Year” to its message of “Merry Christmas”.

Many people send out cards for Christmas to pass around pictures of their kids, their pets, give updates to family and friends about their year to people they do not see as often, as well as for businesses to connect with their clients in between sales.
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Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a 7 day observance stressing the unity of the African-American families. It means “1st fruits of the harvest” in Swahili. It was created by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga, Chair of Black Studies at California State University, and is usually celebrated December 26-January 1st. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the 7 Passerines of Kwanzaa, each intended to serve as a guide for daily living: unity, self-determination, collective work & responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Most families share symbolic dinners and exchange handmade gifts with an ethnic theme.

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls.

The first known published Christmas card (1843),
by artist John Calcott Horsley
Courtesy of the Hallmark Archives, Hallmark Cards, Inc.
By the early 1400s, handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year?s greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400, and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in the early to mid-1400s.

By the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing and mechanization, as well as the 1840 introduction of the postage stamp.

The first known published Christmas card appeared in London in 1843, when Sir Henry Cole hired artist John Calcott Horsley to design a holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances.

Although the first known valentine card can be traced back to 1415, it wasn’t until the early 1800s and the Penny Post that they became popular and affordable. Esther Howland, a young woman from Massachusetts, was the first regular publisher of valentines in the United States. She sold her first handmade valentine in 1849, eventually establishing a successful publishing firm specializing in the elaborately decorated cards.

The American Greeting Card
Louis Prang, a German immigrant who started a small lithographic business near Boston in 1856, is generally credited with the start of the greeting card industry in America.

Within 10 years of founding his firm, he had perfected the color lithographic process to a point where his reproductions of great paintings surpassed those of other graphic arts craftsmen in both the U.S. and Great Britain. In the early 1870s, Prang began publishing deluxe editions of Christmas cards, which found a ready market in England. In 1875, he introduced the first complete line of Christmas cards to the American public.

Prang’s cards had reached their height of popularity in the early 1890s, when cheap imitative imports began to flood the market, eventually forcing Prang to abandon his greeting card publishing business. Between 1890 and 1906, there was a marked decline in U.S. greeting card production.

In the years immediately following 1906, the domestic business climate for greeting cards improved, and a number of today’s leading publishers were founded. Most of the cards by these fledgling U.S. publishers bore little relation to Prang’s elaborate creations. The expressed sentiment was the predominant element; the illustrated portions were incidental.

Following World War I, new publishers continued to enter the field and healthy competition produced important innovations in printing processes, art techniques and decorative treatments for greeting cards.

In the early 1930s, publishers increasingly adopted the use of color lithography, a move that would propel the U.S. greeting card industry toward continued growth and expansion.

During World War II, the industry rallied for the war effort, helping the government sell war bonds and providing cards for the soldiers overseas. This period also marked the beginning of its close relationship with the U.S. Postal Service.

By the 1950s, the studio card – a long card with a short punch line – appeared on the scene to firmly establish the popularity of humor in American greeting cards.

During the 1980s, alternative cards began to appear – cards not made for a particular holiday or event, but as a more casual reminder of our connections to one another. The popularity of “non-occasion” cards continues to swell.

Explosive growth in electronic technology, and burgeoning consumer use of the Internet, gave birth to the electronic greeting card or E-card in the late 1990s. The development of this entirely new medium for card-sending served to further expand the industry, producing new E-card publishers as well as E-greeting product offerings by traditional publishers.

Although studies have shown, that most people prefer, the actual heart felt card, in the mail, that they can cherish forever.

Reaching Out
After spending several years concentrating on personal fulfillment and “cocooning”, Americans are now focusing outward, seeking to connect, enhance and nurture their relationships with others.

Friendship cards, encouragement cards and other everyday non-occasion cards are proving popular in meeting this need, and continue to show the greatest sales growth of all card categories. The desire to reach-out with greeting cards appears to be strongest with Baby Boomers and Generation Xers, who are likely to view family and friends as the most important priorities in their lives.

The Designer Look
Greeting cards featuring high-style looks, inventive designs, unusual paper stocks and eye-catching embellishments are gaining favor with consumers who are seeking “something special” in their card-giving. This has led to the creation of more handcrafted cards, cards that are intricately designed or innovatively engineered, and cards incorporating ribbons, feathers, glitter, beads, etc. Despite their higher cost, the designer-fashion flare and artistic uniqueness of these cards continues to win the favor of many card purchasers.

Preserving Memories
Generation after generation, people have been saving greeting cards to remind them of the special relationships and events in their lives. Rather than tuck their keepsake cards in a dresser drawer or cedar chest, many consumers are now formally organizing and preserving their greeting card collections to enjoy time and again. “Scrapbooking” with greeting cards has become an especially fashionable way to document and share memories of special occasions. Similarly, many retailers now sell decorative boxes and files designed specifically for storing keepsake cards. They often include special pages or dividers for jotting down notes and dates.

The Internet and Greeting Cards
E-mail and other electronic methods of communicating have given Americans a convenient and inexpensive way to keep in contact with friends and acquaintances. Interestingly, the increased use of electronic forms of communications seems to be bolstering rather than reducing sales of traditional greeting cards.

Some sociologists believe this is because the Internet has allowed people to increase the number of relationships they are able to maintain, which they then subsequently strengthen by sending traditional greeting cards. Others believe E-greetings are a form of communication that both senders and recipients recognize as transient and treat accordingly. As such, they turn to traditional greeting cards to establish an emotional connection that can be saved and cherished.

I have 6 packages, starting from about $3 up to $457.

The 1st one is $2.99/card, that allows you to send out any 2panel greeting card to anywhere in the world, including postage. This package allows you to send any of the 15,000+ cards we have in our online system, even create your own CUSTOM (by uploading pics from your computer) cards.

The 2nd one is $49 (SOC Box) – ($29 for lifetime license of the system, $20 for 10 cards w/stamps). Allows you to send out 10 2panel greeting cards to anywhere in the world, including postage. This package allows you to send any of the 15,000+ cards we have in our online system, even create your own CUSTOM (by uploading pics from your computer) cards.

The 3rd one is $99 (one time fee) – this does NOT give you ANY cards to start with, but it DOES allow you to choose any cards we have plus allows you to create any CUSTOM cards (basic uploading pics from your computer) you want, and you buy postcards at .49 each, and greeting cards at .98 each (then add postage) (uploading pics is an additional .49 (total, not per pic)).

The 4th one is $199 (one time fee) – this gives you 50 greetingcards to start with, and it DOES allow you to choose any cards we have plus allows you to create any CUSTOM cards (uploading pics from your computer) you want, ALSO we have many templates, clip art and more you can use with this – like digital scrapbooking (create layers and more), and you buy postcards at .49 each, and greeting cards at .98 each (then add postage) (uploading pics is an additional .49 (total, not per pic)).

The 5th one is $398 (one time fee) – basically gives you a system JUST LIKE MINE, where you can buy AT MY COST. this gives you 100 greeting cards to start with (reg $98), the personal handwriting font with 4 siggys (reg $49), and the ability to use all our 15,000+ cards and make your own CUSTOM cards, PLUS the option, if you want to do autoship, to get future postcards at .31 each, and greeting cards at .62 each. (uploading pics is an additional .31 (total, not per pic)).

The 6th one is the ENT package that is a ONE TIME $457 fee, ($59 yearly renewal) and you can earn $ – contact me for more info on this one.

General Facts
U.S. consumers purchase approximately 7 billion greeting cards each year, generating nearly $7.5 billion in retail sales.

More than 90 percent of all U.S. households buy greeting cards, with the average household purchasing 30 individual cards in a year.

The average person receives more than 20 cards per year, about one-third of which are birthday cards.

Greeting cards range in price from 50 cents to $10, although counter cards typically cost between $2 and $4. Cards featuring special techniques, intricate designs and new technologies are at the top of the price scale.

The exchange of greeting cards is one of the most widely accepted customs in the U.S. There are cards for virtually any occasion or relationship, and they are widely available. Approximately 100,000 retail outlets around the country carry greeting cards.

Women purchase more than 80 percent of all greeting cards.
Although women are more likely than men to buy several cards at once, men generally spend more on a single card than women.

There are two categories of greeting cards — Seasonal and Everyday. Total card sales are split approximately 50-50 between the two types.

The most popular Everyday cards are Birthday (60%), Anniversary (8%), Get Well (7%), Friendship (6%), and Sympathy cards (6%).

The most popular Seasonal cards are Christmas (60%), Valentine’s Day (25%), Mother’s Day (4%), Easter (3%), and Father’s Day (3%) cards.

There are an estimated 3,000 greeting card publishers in the U.S., ranging from small family-run organizations to major corporations. GCA-member publisher companies account for approximately 95 percent of industry sales.

Nine out of 10 Americans say they look forward to receiving personal letters and greeting cards because cards allow them to keep in touch with friends and family and make them feel they are important to someone else.

Although e-mail, text messaging and phone calls are valued by Americans for helping them communicate with family and friends, the majority of Americans say they prefer the old-fashioned handwritten card or letter to make someone feel truly special.

Studies show that people normally buy 10 greeting cards a year, but have a NEED for 70 greeting cards a year –
Why don’t they buy those? It’s more expensive, it’s inconvenient, it’s time consuming, and they forget – We have a fix for all the above – contact me today~

(A metaphor for any businessperson who seeks loyal clients & quality referrals.)
Once upon a time, the commander of an F-15E Strike Eagle squadron was issued a warehouse full of *fire and forget* missiles.

Surely, a no-brainer. Simply acquire the contact, launch the missile, then concentrate on the next target.(Like I said, an easy decision.)

Strange as it may seem, the squadron commander decided against employing this massively effective weapons system. His reasoning? It takes too much effort to attach those things to the aircraft.

You will recognize that this story, of course, is a fairy tale.

In reality, any manager or business owner (or salesperson) who fails to acknowledge that all business is a type of warfare, just doesn’t get it. But they will – eventually.

Why in the world would any businessperson leave to chance, whether or not a client decides to return (and refer friends)?

But, we gave them courteous service and a fine product, is the lament voiced too often by good and earnest businesspeople. Without question, service and product are essential to success. But they are not enough. And the statement is a little naive.

The answer obviously is to go after them (your clients). Make sure that they come back, again and again. Make sure that they want to come back (and refer their friends).

Nagging and cajoling won’t work. Postcards, brochures and letters rarely prove effective. The average consumer receives dozens of these each week. (Personally, I rarely open the ones I receive. Although, I sometimes read the postcards.)

The 7.5 billion dollar greeting card industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to indoctrinate every living American that those who care enough, send greeting cards.

(Why not take advantage of three decades of their successful, and extremely expensive, advertising stratagem?)

When you send your new or best clients a greeting card they know you care, because the greeting card giants have taught all of us that this is true. And we believe it, without exception.

Nobody leaves a greeting card unopened for long. In fact, studies show that a person is 11 times more likely to open a greeting card than any other piece of mail.

Your customers will respond, naturally, with greater client loyalty toward you, if you do this correctly. (Just as customers have responded since 1400 A.D.)

Do you send birthday cards to your clients?

Anniversary cards?

What about holiday cards????

Birthdays, anniversaries and holidays are master keys to client loyalty.

This is a simple concept. Your clients will demonstrate dramatically increased client loyalty to you, naturally, when you communicate that you value the importance of their personal and family celebrations.

Does this ring true for you?

With enough loyal clients, any business will exceed its financial goals.

Is there a magic bullet? Yes. Of course. It has been proven over and over again, for 600 years – send your best clients a greeting card.

Basic, but very, very effective.

Then, why is it so difficult to act on this truth?

Because it is a staffing nightmare to organize and execute. Remembering dates, buying cards, writing the message, stuffing, stamping, mailing!!!

It takes determination, but wait….

We have a system that has solved the greeting card problem.

Never again address, stuff, stamp and mail another birthday card.

In less than 60 seconds, enter your client’s basic information online.

As easy as sending an email, except that your client receives a “photographic quality” greeting card in the mail.

The greeting card company prints, stamps and mails the card.

Choose from over 15000+ cards. Custom cards are easy to create.

Even upload your current database in mere minutes.

The online data manager never lets you forget a birthday or anniversary.

Send multiple cards as a follow-up campaign, automatically, whenever you say, even months from now.

Add your signature, even use your own handwriting font.

Add a picture or image from your computer – they print it next to your message.

Compassionate client follow-up the easy, effective way.

This works – beyond your expectations.

Has This Ever Happened To You????

Scene #1:
You meet someone at a business luncheon (or by chance in a long line at the hardware store). After a brief discussion, your new acquaintance suggests that he might swing a little business your way. You exchange business cards. Will your new business contact become your new customer?

Scene #2:
Not all customers (or clients) are created equal. Some are (how shall I put this politely) just customers. They drift in, then drift out of your life. However, a smaller percentage of customers power your business forward. Perhaps they are regulars or they refer their friends. Sometimes they are just good folks and they always brighten your day. Will they remain your clients, customers or patients?

In scene #1, rather than rely on chance, why not make certain that you convert your new business contact into a new client?

In scene #2, why not make sure that those special customers know how much you appreciate their business, in a way they will remember?

Success in both of these scenarios is simple to achieve and the costs are negligible compared to the returns.

Is this a new or revolutionary business system?

Hardly. In fact, it is more than 600 years old, yet, remains the world’s favorite form of written communication.

However, today’s technology has changed the playing field. What took hours of effort a year ago, takes little more than a few clicks of your computer mouse, today.

(And yes, if you have an Internet connection, your current computer and software will do the job just fine.)

This works ~ beyond your expectations.

Ask me how, or visit my site at www.ILoveCards.net for more information on how to keep in touch with your clients.

You never know when the person you meet by chance will help your business in ways that you cannot imagine.

Some people call this synchronicity.

“Business Networking” is the more common name.

And building a network of business contacts (expanding your circle of influence) is a “no-brainer.” That’s why you have business cards.

The big question, what’s your next move, after you exchange business cards with your new contact?

You need an edge, something to set you apart from every other person with a business card.

The ideal solution has a 600 year history and remains the world’s favorite form of written communication – send your new acquaintance a greeting card.

Without question, it’s the most vibrant way to say:

“I’m glad I met you.”

It’s also a stunning way to tell a new or favorite client “Thank you.”

You say this sounds too simple (not as transcendent as promised)?

Think about it. When was the last time you received a “glad I met you” greeting card from someone you just met?

Try this experiment. Send a “glad I met you” greeting card to the next ten people who give you their business cards.

The results will knock your socks off.

Greeting cards have a powerful impact – far beyond their pretty exterior.

But greeting cards present their own set of challenges~
buying the cards, writing the message, stuffing, stamping, mailing!!!

It takes determination, but wait….a radical new idea in business networking.

A national greeting card company has solved the problem.

No greeting card company has ever offered anything like this before.

In fact, this technology is new, just in the last few years.

Never again address, stuff, stamp and mail another greeting card.

In less than 60 seconds, enter your contact information online

As easy as sending an email, except that your contact receives a “photographic quality” greeting card in the mail.

The company prints, stamps and mails the card for you.

Choose from over 15,000+ cards. Custom cards are easy to create.

Even upload your entire contact list in mere minutes.

The online data manager never lets you forget a birthday or anniversary.

Send multiple cards as a follow-up campaign, automatically, whenever you say…..even months or years from now.

Add your signature, even use your own handwriting font.

Add a picture or image from your computer – they print it next to your message.

An aggressive and radical new idea in business networking – the easy, effective way.

This works – beyond your expectations~

The $5.00 Solution?
It does not matter whether you market yachts,
fix teeth or trim trees. With enough loyal clients
(customers or patients) you will exceed your financial goals.
A basic concept.

Will a single birthday card transform your clients into loyal, raving fanatics, who paint your business phone number on the side panels of their SUVs?

It seems very unlikely. (Although, even one card makes a difference.)

If you want fanatically loyal clients picture this scenario.

Scene #1: Shortly after she becomes a client (customer, patient, etc.), Mary Johnson receives a greeting card from you, thanking her for her business. Nice touch on your part.

Scene #2: Then Mary receives a birthday card on her 36th birthday. She’s growing more impressed with your professional client follow-up. She shows the card to a girlfriend.

Scene #3: Then Mary receives a greeting card wishing her a happy anniversary. She is stunned with your professional courtesy. Mary mentions your business to a couple of her friends.

Scene #4: Then, while finalizing the birthday party details for her pride and joy – who will turn nine-years-old in a week – Mary notices a birthday card from you to her son. Beyond stunned, Mary has never before experienced this level of thoughtful professionalism.

Scene #5: Finally, Mary receives your standard six-month follow-up greeting card, offering a discount, or something similar, if she refers a friend. How will Mary respond?

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This is The $5.00 Solution?. You sent 5 greeting cards, which cost you $5.00, plus postage.
Did you get your money’s worth? It seems like you did.

While greeting cards are always the first piece of mail people open, because they always contain good news ? a single greeting card is merely a great idea. But greeting cards exert a remarkable snowballing influence on people.

The amazing part is this. In less than a minute (when Mary first became your client) you scheduled an automated follow-up campaign. The Greeting Card Company printed, stuffed, stamped and mailed the cards for you.

Impressive, to say the least.

Aggressive client follow-up the easy, effective way.

($5.00, plus postage, and a minute of staff time makes good economic sense for a business program that works, especially when it works beyond your expectations.)

This works – beyond your expectations.

Examples of The $5.00 Dollar Solution?

Through this site are a few excellent (and quite successful) examples of The $5.00 Solution? in action. The companies that commissioned these custom cards can send them out individually or by the thousands. They can send them immediately, or schedule each card to go out on a different date, whenever they decide, automatically.

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that greeting cards will help your business grow and increase your income in every way that we have outlined.

This means that greeting cards are the ultimate business tools in three critical areas:

1. Converting new business contacts into active clients (customers, patients, etc.)

2. Transforming casual customers into loyal clients.

3. Making sure that your best clients remain your best clients.

Hurray for greeting cards!!! What could be better?

How about this concept? Any photo on your computer can be uploaded in about 20 seconds. The greeting card company prints the image inside the card, in bright vibrant color, next to your message.

If you want fanatically loyal clients, and multiple referrals, picture these possibilities:

Scene #1: You take a digital photo of your clients standing in front of their new house. You ask them “Why don’t we send this picture to 10 of your closest friends?”

Scene #2: You take a digital photo of your customers standing in front of their new car, or their new boat or their new recreational vehicle. You ask them “Would you like me to send this picture to a few members of your family?”

Here is the really fun part
-check back with your clients in about 10 days.

This is what you will discover:

* Most of their friends and family have called to offer their congratulations.
* Your clients are overflowing with enthusiasm about a simple photograph that you sent to their friends and family in a greeting card.
* They think you are the greatest. (Consider the future referrals.)
* You, in turn, contact your clients’ friends and relatives (who are now turbo-charged referrals.)

Could anything be more simple and effective?
Not really.

The potential is limited only by your imagination:

* A picture of you shaking hands with your clients, printed inside your personal “thank you” card that says, “I appreciate your business.”
* A picture of you and a new business contact at a luncheon or business event, printed inside your personal “I’m glad I met you card.
* A picture of your son or daughter playing a sport or a musical instrument.(Just for the fun of it.)
* A picture of your vacation in Maui, uploaded from the hotel computer (in Maui) “Wish you were here.”

Armed only with an inexpensive digital camera, a shrewd businessperson could double his or her bottom line, if they utilized greeting cards correctly.

Is this merely hyperbole?
To the contrary, this is not only possible, it is being accomplished all across the country as you read this.

This works – way beyond your expectations.