has come along and I am looking forward to my new adventure. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a die hard card sender and letter writer. Throughout my formative years, I had it drilled into my head that thank-you notes and writing a proper letter were not only polite - it was the right thing to do. I'm fifty-four and I'm still doing it. About ten years ago, I started making my own cards (after having spent a good portion of my life keeping Hallmark in business!) and I not only love indulging my creative side, I am so pleased when the recipients of my little handmade greetings tell me how much it meant to them that I cared enough to send them a personal note. When I started my own business five years ago (has it been that long?) I decided to make birthday and Christmas cards for all of my clients as a means of keeping in touch throughout the year. Cards are an excellent marketing tool - and receiving a real, hold-it-in-your-hand card makes people feel good. But - and there is a but - I will have to admit that the last two years of making over three hundred Christmas cards has really taken its toll on me - both in terms of the work and the drudgery of making so many identical cards. In fact, I hated the design for the cards I made last year. Earlier this year, I switched to printing birthday postcards - more cost-effective in terms of time and postage. After tax season, I was even considering discontinuing my client marketing completely.
Enter my friend Joy and Send Out Cards. She sent me a lovely card to introduce me to the concept and the business. Signing up was tempting - but would my clients feel that my keeping in touch with them had lost its personal touch? I decided to try it for a month on my friends and see what I thought. Well, it's like this: I love it! The response I got was overwhelming. I started to re-think the client marketing thing.
I am not, by nature, a joiner. A couple of years ago, I joined Melaleuca at the urging of my friend, Richard, who loved the products and thought I would, too. He was right - I love the products and I continue to use them. I didn't join the organization with the expectation of making a lot of money; I joined because I liked the products, wanted to use them, and won't recommend anything to anyone that I haven't used and like myself. If I think something has value, is economical and adds to the quality of my life, I am more than willing to share my experience with people I think will benefit.
The other day Richard came over to put a curtain rod up for me. That's a long, funny story about oddball rod bracket design and two intelligent people who couldn't see the obvious, but I'll do a post about that when I have some photos of the finished valance to share. But I digress... While he was here, we had lunch and he was telling me about the new real estate office where he'd moved his brokers' license. Hmmm, I thought, a potential application for Send Out Cards as a marketing tool. I told him a little bit about the company and he seemed receptive; I gave him the DVD that Joy had sent me so that he would watch it, too. Later that evening, my phone rang. Richard was totally impressed and was ready to sign up. Wasn't I going to sign up as a Marketing Distributor so that he could sign up as my downline? At that point, I hadn't made up my mind yet. I forwarded him an email that Joy had sent me with a link to another video to watch and suggested that he sign up under Joy's number.
We agreed to talk more about everything later.
Joy is an encourager. She spoke with Richard and answered his questions - but they both believed, and told me, that this was an opportunity that I should not let pass me by. I was really on the fence about taking on a new business venture until Joy said something that resonated with me: "Quite honestly, you are being handed a gift here and it would be smart to
take it. It doesn't always happen that way. I asked Richard and I
believe he would like for you to be in SOC as a distributor. He is
ready and sees the potential with this." That made up my mind - and boosted my confidence. I decided to take a leap of faith and signed up. With all this encouragement, how could I not? Next I signed up one of my bookkeeping clients for the monthly service, and then Richard signed up as a Marketing Distributor. So far, so good. I'm not concentrating on the financial aspect of this new business right now - I'm concentrating on people and sharing a product I know they can benefit from using. I already know from my bookkeeping and tax business that if you provide people with good service, you will be rewarded accordingly.
I am excited about what
Send Out Cards has to offer. You can check it out yourself by clicking
here. It's a great service, combining technology with an old-fashioned, personal greeting card in that special someone's mailbox.
Or a client - however you choose to use it.
