Tag: Birthday Cards

Does Sending Greeting Cards in Times of Tragedy Really Make a Difference?

When I first heard about the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 10, 2011 I had tears in my eyes thinking of the terrible devastation and the thousands of people who surely lost their lives.

Working in the greeting card business I am surrounded each day by Christmas Cards, Birthday Cards, Get Well, Thinking of You and many other types of cards. But what type of card would provide comfort to someone who is surrounded by such tragedy? As the news stories grew grimmer, greeting cards started to seem…well hardly a necessity. It honestly got me thinking about how I spend my time working at a greeting card company…do greeting cards really serve a purpose? A legitimate question I think when you consider how much of our lives, how much of our time is actually spent on and at work. Was I really spending my life’s work on something worthwhile?

So I thought further and realized that greeting cards were really all about connecting with other people. It differs from any other type of communication when you really think about it. You might be giving it to someone sitting as close as the cubicle next to you or sending it to someone thousands of miles away. Unlike an email, letter, text or phone call, a greeting card always has a cover with a design or photo or some decorative text on it. It can feature something funny, touching or beautiful.  It is designed to invoke some kind of reaction or emotion upon receiving it. The sentiment inside is often chosen with care and conveying a certain message or thought. Many of us who might struggle to find just the right words to say, can find a greeting cards that appropriately expresses our thoughts. Yet, what would I say to someone in Japan in a greeting card? How does getting a greeting card from someone in the States even matter under the circumstances?

I actually think it could matter a lot. It is a way to show emotional support even from a complete stranger half way across the world. With an opportunity to write your own personal message it can bring hope, love and prayers to someone who has suffered so much loss. It could be one of the only bright spots in someone’s day. It carries with it the potential to be the only reason someone has to smile that day…perhaps even for the first time in a long while. I don’t happen to think that is any small thing. It just might remind them that beyond the destruction there still exists a world, one that truly cares about the fate of these unfortunate people. It has the power to connect one human being to another.

I remember the many sympathy cards we received after my father’s untimely death. I read each and every one – some of them more than once. I was continually surprised and amazed how we heard from people who we had not been in touch with for years, yet who dearly remembered my beloved father. Some wrote a brief funny little story, others simply remembered him fondly and expressed their deep regret at our loss. During such a dark and difficult time in my life, those sympathy cards brought real comfort and did so in a way that I could handle. I had the luxury of reading them in private and on my own time table, when I was ready to do so.

I think it was then that I realized that a greeting card can say a lot to the recipient but it can also speak volumes about the thoughtfulness of the sender. And so now, many years later and after some serious reflection, I have decided that I am, indeed, doing something worthwhile with my time. In fact, right now I’m feeling pretty good about what I do, but much more importantly, what greeting cards can do to others when selected and sent with real thought.

So yes, I do believe greeting cards really can make a difference…even in troubled times.

Design #232AR – Gift Bag Wishes

Design #232AR – Gift Bag Wishes Birthday Card, is one of the Gallery Collection’s classic corporate birthday cards that would most certainly impress your clients or employees when they open the envelope to reveal this beautiful card that greets you with an assortment of birthday wishes.

This birthday card is furnished on a glossy white background with a gift bag in different shades of sea foam, yellow, gold, lime & fuchsia. The gift bag is covered in embossed stars and stripes, making for a very festive presentation. The bag has sea foam tissue paper folded perfectly and peeking out from the top. Above the tissue paper are an array of tiny stars and all sorts of happy birthday wishes bursting from the gift bag in gold foil.

Design #232AR - Gift Bag Wishes Birthday Card
Design #232AR - Gift Bag Wishes
Birthday Card

What a feeling of thoughtfulness your business clients, partners or employees would feel when they open up the envelope to reveal this elegant and also fun corporate birthday card.

Design #861AY – Party Hats Galore

Design #861AY, Party Hats Galore Birthday Card, shows a colorful array of party hats, which is no doubt a stunning way to honor someone on their special day. The embossed hats are highlighted on a midnight black card stock that shows off brilliant bursts of rainbow foil colors in purple, fuchsia, orange, bronze, lemon, and lime, and the unique feature about rainbow foil is that every hat color will appear slightly different on each card so it’s as though you’re getting multiple designs with your business birthday cards. Some of the hats are outlined in rich gold foil to add depth, but every party hat is embossed with its own unique gold foil textured trim directly on the hats.

Design #861AY – Party Hats Galore Birthday Card
Design #861AY – Party Hats Galore
Birthday Card

The birthday celebration continues with sprinkles of gold foil confetti, streamers, and stars floating around the hats, adding even more dimension to the front of this birthday card design giving it a fun and festive party theme. The entire design is framed out in a gold foil border and inside the border is where all the party hats and whimsical fun appears. Centered below the hats are the words “Happy Birthday” in gold foil script lettering. The special feature of this card that will make this design appealing as a business birthday card is the die cut window that appears just below the sentiment. This cut out on the card will display your business name in gold foil lettering in grand style, and when the card is opened, your company name is displayed on the black matte finish inside the card below the gold foil birthday greeting of your choice. This elegant business birthday card with its touch of whimsical fun will leave a lasting impression on all for years to come.

A Birthday Card and a Free Haircut

As the owner of a salon and spa, having as much personal contact as possible with my customers is vital. Throughout the year, we have promotions and raffles at the salon. Sometimes we choose to raffle off hair care products or even services. We have also started sending out Christmas cards. I believe that this is a great thing to do as far as promoting relationships with customers, but I also feel that because so many Christmas cards get sent ours may get lost in the “shuffle”. We were racking our brains trying to think of something else that we could do during the year where we actively reached out to the customer. We finally came up with the idea of sending birthday cards. In our minds, there wasn’t anything more personal to someone than their birthday and it is truly a special day.

We included a coupon for a free haircut in the personalized birthday cards that we sent. Our response was truly overwhelming – the customers felt so appreciated and were so surprised that we remembered their special day. Sending birthday cards truly boosted our business. Even though we give away a service (and that costs time and money), we’ve made up for it in so many other ways.

Sending personalized Christmas and birthday cards got us thinking that there were other types of cards we could send too. For instance, when we acquire a new customer we now send them a welcome card with a new customer discount for a haircutting service. We also send a thank you card whenever one of our customers refers a new customer to our salon. And you guessed it – they also receive a promotion of some sort!

With their envelope imprinting, personalization, and SealFast envelopes, the Gallery Collection has made it so easy for us to remember our customers in a special, elegant way.

Personalized Greeting Cards for the People who Matter Most

Personalized greeting cards, such as birthday cards, get well cards, and sympathy cards, can be taken for granted. But I can tell you from first-hand experience how important these greeting cards can be.

Losing a loved one can be such a tremendously devastating time. Not that sympathy cards can make this tragedy any easier, but to know that people are thinking of you and your family and are taking the time out in their busy day to buy and send cards can make a sad day a little better.

Get well cards can also make big difference in how you feel and how quickly you recover. Not to long ago I was out of work for approximately four months. I have to tell you that there was not one day of those four months that I did not receive a card in the mail from my co-workers, family, or friends. It was the highlight of my day to walk to the mailbox and find a new card. Most of the time they were funny get well cards, and laughter is great medicine.
In this economy it is often hard to buy presents for all the people we would like. However birthday cards can be a great way of telling friends and family that you are thinking about them and wishing them well on their special day.

Moral of the story – don’t hesitate to send different kinds of personalized greetings cards to all the people who matter most to you.

Employee Birthday Cards Show that Little Things Mean a Lot

Times are tough and it may be difficult to give the raises and bonuses to the dependable and hardworking employees whose productivity you need to stay afloat. Employee birthday cards, especially those of premium quality, send an important personal message to your valued employees. Even those who joke, “I’m not having any more birthdays!” appreciate having their birthdays remembered and acknowledged with birthday cards.

We tend to share a lot about our personal lives with co-workers with whom we spend so much of our time. Even so, in our professional atmosphere, we are more likely to “put on a happy face” rather than share some deeply personal worries and disappointments. The simple gesture of giving birthday cards may provide a needed emotional lift, even when you didn’t know it was needed.

When you send premium quality birthday cards, you’re making a statement about the high value you place on your relationship with your employee. A card that is proudly displayed says volumes over an easily deletable e-card or flimsy overstock item. And, don’t forget the importance of taking time to jot a salutation with the celebrant’s name, along with a short note and your own signature.

This gesture of respect for your employees will add to their respect for you and for the business that sustains you both. As a bonus, you’re more likely to find your own birthday remembered and celebrated with an impressive number of birthday cards!

Never Feel Sheepish About Sending Greeting Cards

My twelve-year-old was doing a report on sheep. As I read it over (she is still at the stage where I am allowed to see her work), it struck me that the word “carding” took on a different meaning for me.

Technically the term carding means to cleanse, disentangle, and collect together (as fibers) by the use of cards preparatory to spinning. When I thought of the hundreds of times I sent greeting cards for one occasion or another, I realized that I was carding too.

Get well cards are an attempt to “cleanse” a person of illness. Similar to prayers, they help the sender to express a wish for recovery, and at the same time help the recipient to feel cleansed and refreshed in the knowledge that someone cares.

Sympathy cards help us to disentangle some of the emotions that explode upon us in times of trial. Even if it is just for a moment, they take our thoughts to a different place – a place where we can reflect upon the thoughtfulness of others and feel some semblance of peace.

Birthday cards gather together all of the fun and joy of celebrating most everyone’s favorite day.

Finally, I thought, these greeting cards are also preparation for spinning the thread that will become the story – the story of recovery, moving on, or subsequent birthdays for all of the people who are remembered with the greeting cards in their lives.

Two Birthdays and Lots of Birthday Cards

Business birthday cards are a great way to bring a little bit of sunshine to the recipient. Every year I look forward to receiving the company birthday cards that I know are waiting for me when I come into work. Since I have been with The Gallery Collection, I have gathered eight years worth. I haven’t been able to part with them. I enjoy pulling them out every now and again, still getting a chuckle when I read some of the messages from my friends and colleagues. Now some people are happy to have just one birthday, but I however, have two. How can that be you might ask? Let me explain…

I was born February 10th (the year is not important), or so I was led to believe. I even have my hospital birth certificate to prove it – footprints and all! So imagine my surprise when I went to City Hall to obtain a copy of my legal birth certificate, only to find that I was celebrating the wrong date of birth. The clerk asked me to write down my name, mother and fathers names, and my birth date, which I dutifully did. She went into another room and a little while later, came back with a huge black binder. Not only did she have this big black book in tow, she also had a very stern look on her face. I was only 14 at the time, so I was scared to death. I wasn’t sure what I could have done to warrant that look.

The clerk looked at me with this accusatory look and said that I had written the wrong date. I said, “No, I really was born on February 10th.” “No,” she said, “You were born on February 11th!” She then proceeded to shove the book in front of me and pointed to the birth date. It did indeed read February 11th and below that in what was clearly my mother’s handwriting was her signature. So much for proofreading!

Of course, I went home with my copy of the legal birth certificate and immediately handed it to my mother. My poor Mom was flabbergasted to say the least. From that day forward, I have had to use the 11th as my legal birth date. Mom was having none of that and refused to give me my birthday cards on any other day but the 10th. I used to explain this to anyone that would ask me when my birthday was. Now I just give them my legal birth date and let it go at that. However, when any of my family members ask me which date I plan to celebrate, I always answer with the following – “Both, of course!”

Business Birthday Cards and the Ripple Effect

We all realize that businesses are trying to save money now more than ever. With that being said, we must also find ways to bring some joy to the customers and workforces that are hanging in there with us and working for a better tomorrow.

Sending business birthday cards is one way to celebrate with business associates and employees that won’t break the bank. Everyone loves being remembered and respected. Whether a million dollar client, a young growing client, your CEO, or the high school kid in the mailroom is the recipient of the birthday card, your business will have earned the reputation of one that really cares.

The ripple effect of simple gestures like sending birthday cards is incalculable. Having worked for companies that did and companies that didn’t send business birthday cards, I do have a point of view on the subject. The difference it makes is in the subtle lift in the attitude of how you or your company is perceived by the recipient. As with all good gestures, the other benefit is that it also makes the sender feel good.

Your business birthday cards will help your business, but making sure they are green will help the world. Why not make a good thing better by ensuring that your purchase is from a company that is looking toward the future. In this day and age, most people do turn the card over to see if it is made with environmental awareness. Broaden your benevolence by including the saving of our planet.

The Business Birthday Cards Plan

Here is a plan I came up with that will surely keep your name in good with your bosses. The title of the plan is Birthday cards for Business Use. I think the idea has a great deal of merit, and it will only take a little of bit of effort on your part. It is essential when making a plan that you keep a list of what is needed. You can use old birthday cards to write lists on the back of them…this will keep you focused on your goal.

First, at the top of a birthday card, write your goal. Second, list the people who you would like to look favorably on you. This is essential as you cannot leave off anybody who is in a higher position or works for the higher person or is likely to mention that you sent business birthday cards to some and will be jealous that they didn’t get one.

Next, you must establish when the important birthdays are. This can be accomplished by casually mentioning your zodiac sign to the human resources people and by speculating on what signs your bosses are. Or perhaps, you can start a conversation with one of the higher ups and mention that you thought he had a birthday coming up. Or you could just ask someone in Human Resources point blank when so and so’s birthday is. Of course, you’ll have to explain that you are planning to send a birthday cards to these people and then they may expect you to add them to the list and then…hmmm.

Ok, this is the new plan. Put a suggestion in the suggestion box that everyone in the company would probably like to receive business birthday cards from their co-workers and wouldn’t it be nice if the company ordered some appropriate cards and someone could be in charge of seeing that the cards are signed and sent out. This will probably become your job, since you made the suggestion. Goal accomplished. Your name is in front of the bosses, everybody thinks you’re a nice person, and all you have to do is send out a birthday card every once in a while.