Tag: business greeting cards

Take Your Child to Work Day 2010

For several years now children have been going to work with their moms, dads, aunts, uncles, etc. on Take Your Child to Work Day to see what goes on in that person’s normal workday. This was the first year that my eight-year-old daughter, Jessica, was old enough by my company’s guidelines to join me for the day. I asked her (in passing really) if she was interested in coming to work with me and after I got up off the floor from being tackled, I concluded that the answer was a resounding, yes!

Jessica and a friend at the Prudent Publishing headquarters on Take Your Child to Work Day 2010
Jessica (pictured left) and a friend at the Prudent Publishing headquarters on Take Your Child to Work Day.

She went through what I call the girl drama process of picking out just the right outfit with just the right accessories and shoes. She asked me many, many questions about how the day would unfold and couldn’t wait for the day to come. She was so enthusiastic that I hoped she wasn’t setting such high expectations in case she would end up being disappointed. Finally the big day arrived (April 22nd) which happened to also coincide with Earth Day this year. I have to admit I was even a bit anxious myself to see how things would progress that day. I warned my husband that we were likely to be home early if she ended up getting bored.

Well, there was no need to worry. Several of my co-workers came up with such creative ways to get the children involved in learning about our company, which primarily sells business greeting cards. Jessica had a full day that started with typesetting and designing her name tag, then meeting with our company president to discuss her future career plans, after which she entered her own order on our website (which she found very easy to use) and designed and photographed her own birthday card design for the mini-catalog that our graphics team produced for the children. After a fun pizza lunch, we headed over to eat some dirt, er, I mean dessert; a fellow employee made an edible flower pot with crushed up Oreo cookies made to look like dirt, complete with gummy worms. Yum!

Everyone gathered like flies when the dirt dessert was put out.
Everyone gathered like flies when the dirt dessert was put out. Thankfully, they weren’t really eating dirt; it was crushed up Oreos!

The afternoon consisted of listening to one of our customer service specialists take a phone order for thank you cards, testing her typing speed to see if she typed fast enough to take orders, and various projects that were assigned for her to complete. She was sad that the day was coming to an end but happy to receive her paycheck and company newsletter before heading home. She couldn’t wait to get home and tell her family and friends all about her experience. Does she want to return next year? Well, let’s just say the outfit is already being planned!

Elegant Business Sympathy Cards

Sending a sympathy card is a difficult task, especially if it is for someone who was close to you. Business sympathy cards, like design #019AT, With Deepest Sympathy Card, gives one comfort in knowing you are sending a distinctive, well made greeting card. The details in this card are remarkable; each time I see it, I notice another piece of art I missed the first time. Each flower petal in the panels is embossed, adding to the beautiful blue foil and the rich buff stock. This card is truly characteristic of The Gallery Collection’s fine design.

Design #019AT With Deepest Sympathy Card
Design #019AT With Deepest Sympathy Card

During this economic downturn companies are tempted to cut back on the quality of their products. Have you ever had a card split in half after folding it? This is definitely embarrassing, to say the least, especially if it is a sympathy card. The Gallery Collection’s cards are the epitome of greeting card quality.

Design #660AY, Sympathy Rose Card, is yet another example of The Gallery Collection’s specialty in producing fine quality greeting cards. This design is elegant. The rose and sentiment flow beautifully across the environmentally-friendly buff stock – simple, classy, and stylish.

Design #660AY Sympathy Rose Card
Design #660AY Sympathy Rose Card

If the time comes that you need to send business sympathy cards, the last thing you want to be concerned with is the quality and sophistication of your choice. By purchasing a sympathy assortment box, you can be rest assured that you’re covered.

Business Thanksgiving Cards – The Christmas Cards Alternative

I know you may think I’m crazy, but by the time Labor Day rolls around, all I can think of is Christmas. Christmas shopping! Christmas decorations! Christmas trees! Christmas carolers! And most importantly, Christmas cards! It’s enough to make even the most relaxed of us turn visions of sugarplums into visions of that mean one, Mr. Grinch!

For those of us already mentally making our list and checking it twice, the act of sending business greeting cards is not strictly a Christmas ritual anymore. This is a relief for a number of reasons. First of all, as much as I’d love to make a point to send my best wishes to colleagues and clients, if I wait until December, I’m taking a gamble on whether those business greeting cards will ever make it to the mailbox! Secondly, if I wait until December, my Christmas cards are bound to get lost in the shuffle with all of the other business greeting cards being sent at the same time.

That’s why business Thanksgiving cards are a great alternative. Thanking those you’ve done business with a month before the norm allows your message to stand out when it’s received and allows you to cross one more task off your list before the end of November. It also saves you the trouble of choosing between Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or Season’s Greetings for the face of the design on your business greeting cards.

There is plenty to be thankful for as autumn and winter are coming upon us, and one of those things is the option of business Thanksgiving Cards!

Congratulations Cards are Nothing to Sneeze At

As one of the most recently employed members of the Gallery Collection, I’ve been learning new things on a daily basis. And apparently, there is a lot to learn about business greeting cards. I suppose my experience has not been very different from anyone starting a new job, but what has impressed me the most about my novel surroundings is the genuine kindness of the people here and the lengths they go to show their appreciation for one another. There are even some of my now fellow co-workers who will go so far as to offer congratulations to a person who has sneezed. Yes, that’s right…sneezed!

Now there was, as I later discovered, a much more elaborate reason behind this; a story perhaps better saved for another blog entry, but the idea of someone congratulating another person for something seemingly so simple aroused my curiosity. It got me thinking about the numerous reasons why people are recognized by those who care enough to commemorate them in some way, shape, or form.

And that’s when I saw the light, heard the trumpets blaring and the angels singing…well, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but I did realize something. Congratulations cards! I wondered, being just a callow trainee, if we had any of our own. Sure, I already knew about the Christmas cards and birthday cards, but what about this other possibility? I decided to check it out on GalleryCollection.com, and low and behold, I found several unique styles of congratulations cards. And what also makes these all occasion cards so great, just like all of the other greeting cards our company offers, is the availability of personal customization.

So whether it’s a graduation, an engagement, a marriage, a promotion, or a newborn child, the reasons for letting someone special know that his or her achievement is extraordinary are abounding. But sending people greeting cards to congratulate them for sneezing? Well, like I said, that’s a story for another time.

Business Congratulations Cards Inspired by My Cousin

In the business world, congratulations are often rare while negative comments are more common. Every once in a while, I ask myself “Why do you stay at this job?” when my hard work seemingly goes unnoticed. I mean, I don’t want flowers or gifts, nor do I expect a raise every time I achieve something at the office. But it would be nice to receive business congratulations cards for my better efforts. Small gestures can mean a lot.

Other companies give congratulations cards to their employees. I know this because my cousin flaunts her corporate greeting cards every time she gets one from her boss. She keeps the greeting cards in a scrapbook for Pete’s sake! Obviously, receiving these greeting cards gives her a sense of pride.

The last time I hinted to my boss that there was such a thing as business congratulations cards, he looked at me as if I had two heads. I persevered, however, adding that my cousin had a whole collection of business greeting cards that were given to her by her supervisor and that she confided to me that she works a little harder each time she gets a greeting card. OK, maybe that last statement was a slight exaggeration.

Well, needless to say, when I had an important company inventory report completed a week before it was due, I was totally blown away when I found two greeting cards on my desk. Were they congratulations cards? You bet they were! One was from my boss and another from our production manager. When I thanked my boss for the greeting card, he smiled and said, “I am glad you like my idea!”

I held my tongue because it really didn’t matter that the idea for business congratulations cards was mine. What mattered was that I could now buy a scrapbook for my own collection of greeting cards. Maybe I’ll display all of my employee birthday cards in this scrapbook too!

Business Greeting Cards…A Golden Opportunity

Holidays and Special Occasions come and go…very much like an opportunity. Some opportunities are often very obvious while others may be somewhat obscure. As a business, whether small or large, the use of greeting cards can offer a golden opportunity to keep your company’s name and image in front of your customers throughout the year, strengthen relationships with business associates, and foster goodwill amongst employees. Here are some tidbits for a properly executed business greeting cards program:

Holiday Cards – extend your good wishes of the holiday season. But keep in mind that the card design and greeting should reflect the holiday that the individual celebrates.

Birthday Cards – can be sent to employees as a form of promoting goodwill and adding a personal aspect to these relationships. Birthday cards sent to business associates or customers can be a means of building relationships and offers the opportunity to express your gratitude for their valued business. In either case, be mindful of the type of card that is sent. For instance, a humorous card may not be appropriate for everyone. Birthday cards can be sent to the office or to the home depending on the type of relationship. If the relationship is one that is more casual and personal, then it is appropriate to send to the home. If the relationship is more formal, then it would be best to send to the office.

Thank You Cards – provides a way to thank a customer for an order or a business associate for a sales lead or referral. Thank you cards can also be a means of offering a promotion or discount to customers and clients as a special thank you for their continued business. Thank you cards may also be used to provide encouragement and thank an employee for a job well done. These greeting cards can be customized with your message and company name but should be hand signed and hand addressed. If the card is blank on the inside, at least three sentences should be written with the first sentence specifically mentioning the specific item or deed which you are thankful for. Remember to check for any spelling and grammatical errors.

Get Well, Sympathy, Thinking of You Cards – can be sent to an employee or business contact who is ill or has experienced a loss. Thinking of You cards can be used interchangeably with either of these occasions in which you may not want to specifically mention an illness or death. A hand written note should be included and the card should be sent to the home.

Keep the above in mind and your business greeting cards will surely turn into a golden marketing opportunity.