Greeting Cards Used to Pay It Forward

A greeting card can be used in many different ways – just take a look at all the different types of corporate greeting cards available on this website! The first use that comes to mind is an expression of goodwill towards the recipient, be it for a holiday, a birthday, or to congratulate or thank. That goodwill, however, can be “paid forward” with just a simple act.

Many customers order their corporate greeting cards with a special imprint. Some thank patrons or clients at Christmas time with mention of their end-of-year donation to a favorite charity inside of their greeting cards. Others celebrate the birthdays of their employees by donating to an organization in the employee’s name.

Using a greeting card to pay it forward doesn’t always have to include such a grand gesture. Small acts of kindness are just as meaningful. Think of a colleague who may be having a rough time, and send her a thinking of you card. Perhaps a client is having her first child. Send a congratulations card. Did colleagues in the office pilot a recycling program for the company? Why not send thank you cards? You can even choose a greeting card made with windpower in light of the situation.

In my greeting card Googling (yes, I do Google greeting cards – it comes with the job description), I discovered what, to me, may be the most interesting use of greeting cards in the “pay it forward” aspect. Amnesty International annually asks members to send greeting cards with messages of support to prisoners and human rights defenders worldwide. This small act of goodwill lets those receiving the greeting cards know someone remembers them, and the message to write in the greeting card is as simple as “We’re thinking of you.” I was disappointed to discover that the 2007 Holiday Card Action program had ended in January, but it’s a great cause to remember during the 2008 holiday season.

Greetings, Great Service, Good Business

In this seemingly endless crazy world of business being reinvented every day and new communications devices cropping up each week there IS a staple, a basic, a fundamental unchanging and completely inalterable constant in this world. You might wonder what possibly in THIS world could remain unchanged, heaven forbid INALTERABLE!?

Yes, I write for you today of this magical, simple, amazing, unchanged-for-generations and inalterable for many many more generations THING. What is this thing? Call it manners; Call it courtesy; Call it kindness, thanks or decency. Call it what you like but I find most of the words and descriptions people tend to use for this THING limiting and too narrow. I’ll simply say that there is an undeniable fact and that is simply that we are human. This “human-ness” bestows upon us five (5) senses and an amazing intellect.

Our most basic and primitive human-ness is lost upon many of us and our children. We race around the planet in cars and airplanes. Even our poorest children live in a fantasy land of television screens, game consoles and computers. Our human-ness is often forgotten. But it is here. It is undeniable. And therefore our most basic and simple senses and psychology still do exist despite the “advancements” of society in communications and technology.

Sometimes when I think “thoughts” like this I wonder if I am maybe just getting older and starting to reflect on my life more but then actually I remember that in fact I spent much more time thinking thoughts like this when I WAS younger!? Anyhow, I’m not known for my brevity, maybe I just try and cut to the chase. It is simple. I sit before you today to write of a most basic, simple and too often forgotten simple thing. We are human. We are simple. We appreciate simple things. We understand. We understand the difference between a bulk email, a form letter, a quickly fired off email and a sincere effort that takes a precious few moments of the senders’ time.

Today, I sit to write a “Thanks” to Rocco in Volvo Service of Montclair Auto Group in Montclair NJ. I have never met Rocco. I have never spoken to Rocco. However, Rocco deserves my heartfelt thanks and Rocco will be receiving from me a thank you card stating this clearly. Rocco provided me with something simple that brought a smile to my face today and restored some small bit of my faith in humanity today. Rocco sent me a note that starts “Greetings!” which then goes on to explain, sorry this took so long but the parts for this are not available any longer…I managed to find an old broken one from which to take the battery cap…”

Rocco solved a problem for me. My 1997 Volvo wagon that my mother-in-law gave me was suddenly inexplicably not able to let me in with that new fangled wireless door lock because of a very simple reason. It had no battery. But much worse than that the battery cap was missing from the device. Now I know that I don’t NEED that little device and in fact I had lived for many months without it, but what to do? Throw away the device or fix it? Dangling on my keychain it was nothing but a sore reminder of the weakness of technology and an ornamental piece of garbage. I could not bring myself to just toss the little thing so I asked a friend if he knew of a Volvo dealer nearby. He did and in fact he said he would send it to his friend “Rocco” who might be able to help.

The “short” story… Rocco helped. And he reminded me with his kind note accompanying the fixed device that we are all human. That simple things like a note can make a big difference in people’s impressions and attitudes. Not hastily written form-letters, notes, cards, Holiday cards, Christmas cards, birthday cards, or in those unfortunate times, sympathy cards. Our psyches are simple. Our brains powerful. We know the effort it takes and we appreciate that time spent as it does correlate to the sender’s sincerity. So, Rocco, you can see that I am sincerely thankful. And you, my reader, who has made it this far…yes, you! You are human, and your friends, your family and your customers are human too. A simple and soulful thank you that presents to another humans five senses a small piece of paper expressing good will is the very least we can do for each other in this day and age…

Be a human. Send a greeting card to someone. Make them smile and you will have done a good deed that will know doubt revisit you someday.

Thank you Rocco and thank you Montclair Auto Group. My thank you cards are on their way! And, it is without hesitation that I recommend your services to others. For old world service with the human touch, visit www.montclairjaguar.com or www.montclairvolvo.com Though most importantly, be human! And visit them in person at:

Montclair Auto Group
654 Bloomfield Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07042
(973) 746-4500

Business Thank You Cards Add a Personal Touch

According to research, 58% of moms say their children write thank you cards. It’s great to see that thank you cards are making a comeback across the nation, not just with personal thank you cards but also with business thank you cards. People don’t always realize that you do not have to write a lengthy novel. You can be brief…just a few lines at the very least.

When I was a teenager, my mother had to force me to write thank you cards to friends and relatives for birthday and Christmas presents. Years later, I appreciate whenever anyone takes the time to send me thank you cards and I’ve come to enjoy writing notes to others for all different types of situations.

Business thank you cards are perfect for acknowledging an employee’s extra efforts. It reinforces the connection between you and makes a strong impression. Thank you cards express that something you did was really special because another person took the time to write a note. I also like to send thank you cards to business associates, thanking them for anything special they may have done or for gifts they may have sent. The business world is dominated by the impersonal, quick message. Handwritten business thank you cards are an oddity so if you write thank you cards or any type of greeting cards for that matter, you stand out from the pack.

My favorite way of saying thank you is to place a greeting card in my granddaughter’s lunch box every once in a while to say “thank you for being you.” It’s so easy to say thanks in a special way!